R09 & Plus-X

wclavey

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My usual developer with Plus-X and Arista.EDU Ultra 100 has been Microdol-X. But lately I have been using Fomodaon R09 1+40 with the EDU.ultra and I thought I would try it with the Plus-X. The Massive Development Chart has no entry for the combination. Has anyone used that combination? I tried to deduce a relationship between R09's time with various fims and the time for Rodinal 1+50, whose charateristics it is said to mimic, but I was not able to find a consistent relationship. Thanks.
 

Lee L

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There are a number of threads and posts on APUG regarding R09 and Rodinal. I saw several references on the web indicating the opposite of what I found through a single, simple test, described here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists) You can search APUG for other threads.

It appears that R09 at 1+40 is roughly equivalent to Rodinal at 1+50, the Rodinal being slightly more highly concentrated as delivered. So you'd not be too far off the mark using R09 at 1+20 with Rodinal 1+25 times, R09 1+40 with Rodinal 1+50 times, or R09 at 1+80 with Rodinal 1+100 times.

Lee
 

Lee L

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AgX said:
Isn't R09 just another name that after the splitting of the German Agfa, the Orwo company gave to Rodinal?

no Plus-X however:
http://www.calbe-chemie.de/prod/pdf/R 09 en.pdf
Click to expand...

The formulas diverged after that split took place. Most sources regard R09 as closer to the older formula, with Agfa Rodinal going through more reformulation since then. Results, however, are regarded by most users to be essentially equivalent as long as the relative concentration/activity levels are taken into account.

Lee
 
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wclavey

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Thanks to all for the feedback. What Lee said was what I suspected. I did some looking before I posted my original question and came up with a table of films that I use and the development times in each by using the massive development chart.

It seemed that sometimes the R09 was 1-2 minutes under and other times was 1-2 minutes over the Rodinal 1+50 time. Not knowing the developer well, I wasn't sure of the significance of the 4 or so minute swing (max over to max under). I figured that it might be good to ask first... there are so many folks here who seem to know so much.

So I'll take the average of the over and under and start with the same time and go from there.

Thanks, again.
 

srs5694

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wclavey said:
It seemed that sometimes the R09 was 1-2 minutes under and other times was 1-2 minutes over the Rodinal 1+50 time. Not knowing the developer well, I wasn't sure of the significance of the 4 or so minute swing (max over to max under).
Click to expand...

Keep two things in mind:

  1. All published (by manufacturers, on the Web, etc.) developing times should be considered suggested starting points. There's no such thing as a "correct" development time in any absolute sense, because so many variables come into play -- agitation technique, whether or not a pre-wash is involved, the desired negative contrast, etc.
  2. Times in the Massive Dev Chart are derived from multiple sources. I don't know what these sources are for Rodinal and R09 specifically; however, it's possible that one or both include times from different sources. If so, they might not match very well -- that is, if you use those times, you might get thin negatives for one and dense negatives for the other, because these different sources vary on factors such as those mentioned in point #1.

In sum, take the times you find with a grain of salt. You may want to tweak the times up or down depending on the results you get. Inconsistencies such as the ones you've noted are to be expected. Before developing an important roll in a new (to you) combination of film and developer, run a test roll through to be sure you know what to expect.
 

r-brian

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I can't remember off hand what times I use for Rodinal and Plus-X but I think the combo is magic, like they were made for each other.
 
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