Is R09 One Shot essentially the same as Adox Rodinal?

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Does anyone know if these developers are essentially similar to each other? I understand developing 35mm Tri-X in Adox Rodinal, and the negs come out fine. But I had some iffy results in the past shooting Shanghai GP3 in 120 format that had been developed in a clone of Rodinal. It may have been called just R09, w/o Hotshot in it's name. It went bad quickly too, the bottles had issues.

Those Shanghai negs weren't really like Rodinal negs, just similar, and seemed to have less punch and contrast. But I was thrown off because the Shanghai film was 120 format and tended to be low contrast anyway. This is 35mm Tri-X that I have now, and w/ both developers in front of me, I'm not sure which one to go with.
 

MattKing

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If it is truly R09, it actually is one of the many (over time) versions of Rodinal.
In your title you refer to One Shot. In your post you refer to Hot Shot. What is your source of R09?
 

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From current offerings I believe only Adox makes "proper" Rodinal formula under both Rodinal and Adonal names. I used R09 and it seemed to work at least similarly, but never used it since discovering existence of Adox's offering. While R09 may be doing same thing, I cannot say how it lasts in opened bottle as I used it pretty quick. Adox's stuff appears to last "forever" just like original Rodinal did.
 
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pentaxuser

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Silverprint, a U.K. retailer, refers to it as a focus-boosting developer - whatever that means and it also has a R09 Spezial which is more expensive and this is a contrast compensating developer that is fine grain but sharp so would appear to square the illusive proverbial circle of sharpness and fine grain. It seems to do more that One Shot but it would have to in order to justify the extra price. I wonder if the ingredients are the same?

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mshchem

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Maco direct has the Compard line. All the datasheets are just old Agfa Photo sheets. It's a treasure trove of Rodinal information. I use the Adox Rodinal works well.
 

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I believe all of these variations on Rodinal are virtually identical, for all practical purposes.
 

pentaxuser

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paulbarden said:
I believe all of these variations on Rodinal are virtually identical, for all practical purposes.
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What! You mean that the "blurb " from the retailer that I mentioned may mean nothing and worse the Spezial may not be that special compared to the "stock" Rodinal

pentaxuser
 

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The Adox version of RO9 has a very long shelf life but doesn't last for ever. I'd been making my way through a bottle over about four years (I dilute 1+50, so it lasts me a fair while). It was absolutely fine as it progressed to the dark brown stage but then suddenly one day ..... blank film! Fortunately it was only a short length of an unimportant subject.
Steve
 

Anon Ymous

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pentaxuser said:
What! You mean that the "blurb " from the retailer that I mentioned may mean nothing and worse the Spezial may not be that special compared to the "stock" Rodinal

pentaxuser
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The only common things between Rodinal and Rodinal Special are the "Rodinal" part and that they're both film developers. But they really are very different developers. IIRC, the Special was also called Studional.
 

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Is there another developer that lasts in open bottle fractionally close to Rodinal (not replenished)? Hence my "forever" remark. I had used original Rodinal some10 years after opening the bottle (with a long stretch of not using it) and that was no good any more. Just faint indication of something on film. So yes, at some point it will collapse.
 

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Anon Ymous said:
The only common things between Rodinal and Rodinal Special are the "Rodinal" part and that they're both film developers. But they really are very different developers. IIRC, the Special was also called Studional.
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Yes, and chemically completely unrelated to Rodinal.
 

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I use R09 1+100 ...my 500cc? bottle dates back 5 years and threatens to last a decade further. At that time I'll mix up some Emofin (better with fast film).
 

pentaxuser

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Based on AgX's #16 it might be that Spezial is special because it is made to a different recipe and according to others might be formerly called Studional but for some reason the name was changed. Certainly the "blurb" suggests that it is made of different stuff from the description of its qualities compared to standard Rodinal but it was written in a marketing-speak way that seems so often to have the objective of being all things to all people. What one person reads into what is written may be different to what another reads into the words

As long as each thinks it will do what said person wants it to do then the marketing-speak has worked. The problem only arises for those seeking accurate information and maybe the writer who is fluent in the marketing-speak language regards those seekers of truth as largely unimportant as an audience

As a point of information and it is only my own experience, I bought a bottle of original Rodinal about 16 years ago from a store called Jessops who have long ceased to exist. This particular store seemed keen to sell off all its remaining analogue darkroom items at bargain prices but it was of course at the time that digital was sweeping all before it so the manager may have felt that it was either sell it then of be left with stuff that no-one would shortly want There was a feeling "abroad" that what photography was experiencing was the kind of revolution that was similar to the replacement of gas mantels for lighting by Mr Edison's light bulb from which there would be no turning back

I used some of it then with success but after which it sat in a cupboard until about 4 months ago when fearing that my Xtol was near the end of its life I used it. It was fine. I could see no difference from how it has worked some 16 year earlier

Was I lucky? I can't be sure but all I can say is that if I was lucky with my bottle of Rodinal then it begs the question of what might have been different about that bottle of Rodinal compared to all the other bottles that were made at the same time?

pentaxuser
 

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The ultimate answer: mix some up at 1+50 or if 35mm 1+100 and run a snip test (or even whole roll of in-date fillum) per your favorite agitation (I like 45.minutes stand with 35m Nikor reels obviously) ;->
 

MattKing

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The 16+ year old bottle may be the biggest difference.
Those old, glass and rubber stoppered Rodinal bottles which held what I consider to be original Rodinal (~ 45-50 years ago) probably had a lot to do with the longevity.
 
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Thanks, I was leaning that way since the dilution specs on the R09 Hotshot bottle are in non, Rodinal-like dilutions. I'm pretty sure the name of that other developer that went off quickly was Fomadon R09. It was dead in 3 months, which was about what I was getting from D76 stock at the time (if I was lucky).

I was shooting one roll of Tri-X today at 800, and at 1000 in the other camera. This is new, I usually rate the film at 250, so grain may be a fun thing this time around. Maybe.
 

mshchem

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500 mL of Rodinal is cheaper than some rolls of film. The Adox bottle has a nice flow restriction inserted in the bottle, this makes it easy to dispense and reduces exposure to air.
 

pentaxuser

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MattKing said:
The 16+ year old bottle may be the biggest difference.
Those old, glass and rubber stoppered Rodinal bottles which held what I consider to be original Rodinal (~ 45-50 years ago) probably had a lot to do with the longevity.
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That's true of glass Matt but mine is a plastic bottle

pentaxuser
 

Steve Roberts

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I also did very well out of Jessops. In Plymouth they had two shops for some years. When the digital revolution made them re-think their strategy and contract into just one shop they sold off equipment, chemicals and paper at huge discounts. At that time I was working only a couple of minutes away from the shop that was to close and made a point of visiting every lunchtime to see what bargain-priced goodies had been hauled out, marked down or marked down even more. Jessops all but vanished from UK high streets yet I have a feeling that a handful of shops still exist (no doubt primarily trading in digital matters).
Steve
 
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