Best films for Rodinal?

PKM-25 · Sep 15, 2006

I know, reverse thinking, for sure. But, I have a lot of it, stocked up on Rodinal for my Techpan and then got ahold of a good amount of Technidol so that frees up the Rodinal.

The thing of it is, I am shooting very little black and white for the next few years as I am on a color film project. So I would like to stock up on a couple different films that really sing in Rodinal. A good shelf life of say, 10-20 years would be great, this is an investment into my future.

A good 100 and 400 speed film would be awesome.

Amund · Sep 16, 2006

Just about any 100 speed film is good with Rodinal IMO. But my favorite is Agfa APX 100, that combo just rocks. You can still get APX 100 as Rollei Retro, with expiration date 2010. 10 years freezing shouldn`t be a problem, but 20 years is maybe stretching it...?

jim appleyard · Sep 16, 2006

You can still get APX 100 in 35mm by going to ebay or ultrafineonline.com without paying for the Rollei name. A 100' foot roll is $22.00-$24.00 +-. Agreed, it rocks in Rodinal.

I don't shoot much 200 speed film, but Tri-X (ISO 400) in Rodinal is good; not fine-grain mind you, but great tonality.

Max Power · Sep 16, 2006

Delta 100 and Fomapan 100 are amazing in Hotrod at 1+50...Actually, Delta 400 is too.

Just MHO,

Kent

Ole · Sep 16, 2006

Anything bigger than MF is quite good in Rodinal...

srs5694 · Sep 16, 2006

I'd suggest you avoid Fuji Neopan 100 SS in Rodinal. I've tried it once, and the grain turned out ugly and a bit on the big side. Of course, you might not agree with my "ugly" assessment, but I've seen similar comments from others, so at the very least I'm not alone in my subjective opinion. Let me just emphasize that I'm talking about Neopan 100 SS, not Acros 100. The Neopan 100 SS is rather hard to find in the US (I got mine from B&H). I've never tried Acros 100 in Rodinal, so I can't comment on that combination.

Stephanie Brim · Sep 16, 2006

Neopan ACROS at 100 is nice. Tri-X has an interesting look and is rather good pushed in Rodinal, though now I have Diafine for that. TMAX 100 is one that I really like in Rodinal. Fomapan 100 is supposed to be good and can be had for a song.

I try a few different films in a developer before I end up choosing one. Get a few rolls of things, shoot them, and see what you like.

PKM-25 · Sep 16, 2006

Thanks everyone, I am definitely going to test a few out then. I know T-Max 100 can be had in bulk rolls which will store easier. keep it coming!

PhotoJim · Sep 16, 2006

Ilford Pan-F Plus...
Efke 25 and 50 ...

If you can shoot sheet film, probably any type will work well since grain is not an issue.

jim appleyard · Sep 16, 2006

Each to their own, but I like Rodinal for my APX 25 and Pan-F in 35mm.

Markok765 · Sep 17, 2006

Stephanie Brim said:
Tri-X has an interesting look and is rather good pushed in Rodinal,

Yes, it has REALLY tight grain in 1:50 for 30 min for plus 2 stops

Mike Richards · Sep 17, 2006

PKM-25 said:
I know, reverse thinking, for sure. But, I have a lot of it, stocked up on Rodinal for my Techpan and then got ahold of a good amount of Technidol so that frees up the Rodinal.

The thing of it is, I am shooting very little black and white for the next few years as I am on a color film project. So I would like to stock up on a couple different films that really sing in Rodinal. A good shelf life of say, 10-20 years would be great, this is an investment into my future.

A good 100 and 400 speed film would be awesome.

I like the "Scala" look, and use Rodinal to develop Scala as a negative. (1:20 8.5min, 65F). Now I'm curious about TP in Rodinal. What's your recipe and what do the results look like, compared to Technidol?

David Lingham · Sep 17, 2006

Each to there own, and it depends on the look and feel you like. I use Rodinal with HIE and Trix, but prefer HP5+ in ID11. I am 35mm only.

Mackinaw · Sep 17, 2006

I like the results I get with Ekfe 25 in Rodinal 1:100.

Jim Bielecki

P C Headland · Sep 17, 2006

Efke 25 & 100, Agfa APX100 or Fuji Acros, developed in Rodinal 1+100. Out of all of those, Efke 25 would be my favourite.

tom_bw · Sep 18, 2006

tom_bw · Sep 18, 2006

Whoops - accidently posted a 'da' in the previous post. HP5+ 1:25 for 7' is grainy, but does some amazing stuff with textured surfaces such as wood or rocks (in my opinion). I also like this combo for people when I want fairly light skin rendering...

Earl Dunbar · Sep 18, 2006

What is good in Rodinal? A B&W film. The "secret" to Rodinal is dilution and agitation. There are tons of posts on APUG about those factors. Basically, 1:50 and 1:100 are the "standard" dilutions, with reduced agitation contributing to controlled grain size and structure. 1:200 stand development is loved by many, but I haven't tried it yet. Right now I'm shooting Tri-X @ 200 and processing in Rodinal 1:100 for 20 minutes with good results. I may tweak that as I work with the negatives, but it got me in the neighbourhood.

And I concur that APX100 in Rodinal (same dilution and time as Tri-X for me, so that's convenient) is quite wonderful. I have some PAN-F+ that will go next and I expect that to be very good.

So, you can't go wrong with a wide range of films, but in my little world, best practice is to really learn one (or two at the most) film/developer combinations and exploit it to death. YMMV, yadda, yadda.

Earl

PKM-25 · Sep 20, 2006

Great stuff guys ( and gals ), This is definately steer my choice of what films to store. Right now, room is an issue as I am working on a tribute to Kodachrome and have some 1,400 rolls of it filling the freezer to the top.

Keep it coming!

Gerald Koch · Sep 20, 2006

srs5694 said:
The Neopan 100 SS is rather hard to find in the US (I got mine from B&H).

Adorama is also selling this film for $1.89 for 36 exposures. I have used this film for decades and rather like it. It is an older style emulsion and quite popular in its home country, Japan. Rodinal works best with very slow speed fine grain films like Efke 25.

Earl Dunbar · Sep 20, 2006

PKM-25: If you try Neopan 400, Gene Wilburn (GeneW on RFF) is an expert on Neopan in Rodinal as well as HC-110 (1:100). Tell him I sent ya.

Sportera · Sep 20, 2006

I have used rodinal with Delta 100, nice tonal range and biteing clarity.

I also like the look of Trix in rodinal too, for 35mm enlarged to 6x9 it has a unique look to it.

I have been using Xtol a lot these days but still have rodinal on hand fro when accutance and grit are most important.

Rolleijoe · Sep 21, 2006

Films for Rodinal

PKM-25 said:
I know, reverse thinking, for sure. But, I have a lot of it, stocked up on Rodinal for my Techpan and then got ahold of a good amount of Technidol so that frees up the Rodinal.

The thing of it is, I am shooting very little black and white for the next few years as I am on a color film project. So I would like to stock up on a couple different films that really sing in Rodinal. A good shelf life of say, 10-20 years would be great, this is an investment into my future.

A good 100 and 400 speed film would be awesome.

Efke 100 is fantastic (in fact I'm printing today from 3 rolls onto Efke [Fotokemika] fiber paper and the look is unbelieveable), fine grain (IMO).

Will be trying out the AristaEDU/Fomapan 100-200-400 films this weekend in Rodinal. Results from back in the 90s with this combination were good, but somehow I'd forgotten all about it until recently.

Of course Tri-X is another legend in Rodinal, as is Acros. Both are completely different looks, but for my $$ Efke 100 is my main 100speed film since the demise of Agfapan. Also, Neopan 400 is silky smooth in Rodinal.

Forget Fortepan. Their films & papers are not in the same league (again IMO) as Efke & Foma. Someone mentioned J&C's return policy in an earlier thread. Not sure how theirs works, but with Freestyle, you can return anything within 30 days (includes paper as well) opened or not for a refund or exchange.

Have never had any issues with them. Just my $0.02

Hope this helps you out.

PKM-25 · Nov 9, 2006

Thanks folks. I went with 500 feet each of Efke 25, HP-5. Those go in the deep freeze. I'll get about 40 rolls of each to shoot in the here and now to get the jist of it.

....From freestyle of course...

Schlapp · Nov 9, 2006

Tmax400 MF - I'll duck now

Best films for Rodinal?

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