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Developing B&W negatives at 18 deg C instead of 20... newbie questions

snusmumriken said:
. If your tap water was pretty cold, that might be an overnight job, I guess. So my question is: Does a 1:50 working solution of Rodinal suffer from standing around for that length of time - for instance, does it oxidise?
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When I read this I had a vague notion that I had seen somewhere a statement about working solutions. Well I have found it. It is in my Rodinal instructions leaflet

Here's what it says: "When diluted for use, Rodinal only keeps for a short time and therefore should only be mixed immediately before use"

The "short time" is not specified as in minutes, hours, days and maybe if overnight was say only 8/9 hours it might be OK but I suspect and this is only my opinion that if overnight was say 12-15 hours then I'd have thought that this time exceeds Rodinal's definition of short time and introduces an element of risk at least

I have no experience of mixing and leaving overnight and have always used it immediately after I have mixed it so cannot furnish any info on such an experience

All I can say is that using it immediately has always worked fine

I hope this helps

pentaxuser
 

I always wait until just before processing to add the Rodinal to the water. There is so little of it, it should not affect the temperature.
 

I like the photograph too. I also thought of hockey.
 
I do miss a great ale. I gave up beer to stay alive, now I'm trying to give up chocolate for the same reason. I'm running out of stuff to give up.
 
mshchem said:
I do miss a great ale. I gave up beer to stay alive, now I'm trying to give up chocolate for the same reason. I'm running out of stuff to give up.
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For Lent I always give up abstinence.
 

Hello,
18 degrees Celsius is a very good temperature for sure, talking about films and developers in a general way. And Rodinal works extremely well at 17 and 16 too. Any temperature chart will guide you perfectly: you'll add a bit more development time over your own functional times at 20 degrees, and everything will be more than fine.
About the MDC, well, it gathers lots of different types of information, both from manufacturers and individuals: apart from wrong data, recommended times are in general a) close to 15% longer than those needed for condensor enlargers, b) just starting guides for your own testing, and c) commonly right for bright overcast and not for darker and dull overcast with low contrast, and they're never for sun. So there's not a single development time: you'll learn how to treat film differently depending on the scene and its light.
Finally, standard developers (metol+hydroquinone, MQ) are called like that because they are great for most situations, and they allow you to do several things with a film: mastering any classic grain film, with any MQ developer (like D-76 and ID-11) is the fastest way to really understand film. If you use, say, HP5+ and D-76 exclusively, for two years, your brain will see things you won't see if you try several films and developers.
Have fun!
 
mshchem said:
I do miss a great ale. I gave up beer to stay alive, now I'm trying to give up chocolate for the same reason. I'm running out of stuff to give up.
Click to expand...

When you've given everything up that is enjoyable and are existing on water and lettuce leaves do not be tempted to go to the doctor and expect him to give you a guarantee that you will live longer. If he is anything like mine he will say "On lettuce leaves and water I can only guarantee that it will seem longer

pentaxuser
 
I have used the Ilford Time/Temp chart for many years and it's been very accurate for my methods. I believe the biggest thing to consider is that all the chemicals and wash water are very nearly the same temp. I was off a few degrees from developer to stop and boy did I have reticulated film with Tri-X. Interesting effect though.
 

Great to know. Thank you!


Yes, that makes perfect sense. So long as the MDC / Ilford chart get me "in the ballpark", I'll be very happy... I can take it from there, tweaking as necessary

Again, thank you sincerely to all who've replied with helpful information and advice, and my apologies for not responding to every post. I'm very grateful for the assistance!
 
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