Neopan 1600 in R09

[mcgrattan]

Hi,

I took some low-light shots at a gig at the weekend and decided to process the Neopan 1600 in R09 (the 'rodinal' copy). I followed some instructions (PC Headland's) on here for a rough guide to developing time -- 8.5 min at 1:40.

The results were surprisingly good. Some of the lighting conditions were really poor and I could really have done with 3200 ISO film, but the shots in better light were fine and really not that grainy.

 

[clogz]

You're right. Good quality. R09 is an underrated developer. Did you use box speed?

 

[mcgrattan]

Yes, more or less. I was using an f2 lens (Jupiter 8 on a Zorki 2c) wide open at 1/25 most of the time, which more or less matched the exposure the meter in my Pentax P50 (also loaded with 1600 ASA film) suggested.

The shot on the left was taken a stop or two down from that as the lighting was better.

I'd have gotten better shots with an extra stop of exposure, to be honest, as the negs are quite thin. I think they'd print OK though.

 

[P C Headland]

Glad to see you had success.

Rodinal (or clones) and Neopan 1600 film seems to go against the grain (ahem) of what speed film Rodinal is supposed to work well with.

 

[bjorke]

That's the same combo I've been using in my G2, albeit with F09 rather than R09 (which I think are the same). I run 1::40 instead of 1::50 and use std Rodinal times.

I'm on my last-ever 100' spool of Neopan 1600, however, since that format has been discontinued

 

[mcgrattan]

That's a great photo.

I tried the R09 at 1:40 rather than 1:50 too. I've had it in the house for ages but never got round to using it except for a couple of stand developing experiments.