Rodinal nut looks for new developer

kbeatty · Nov 9, 2007

I've finally exhauted the last of my stash of Rodinal (okay more than a few rolls ago) and am looking for a replacement. I've tried ifosol s, hc 110, d76...hate them. Any sugestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW mostly ilford line of films with the occational tri-x and apx 100/400.

richard ide · Nov 9, 2007

IIRC Rodinal is still available

Ian Grant · Nov 9, 2007

Either buy more Rodinal, or if you want a change try Pyrocat HD which is superb.

Alternately you could try Pyrocat-P which uses P-aminophenol so closer to Rodinal. I'm very ahppy with PyrocatHD so haven't tried this version yet.

Ian

JBrunner · Nov 9, 2007

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=&pid=4697

http://www.digitaltruth.com/store/c...oper-250ml-Similar-to-Agfa-Rodinal-p-606.html

Marcust101 · Nov 9, 2007

I can get Rodinal in my local Shop a mile down the road, I could get you some an send it if you like

Erik Hartmann · Nov 9, 2007

TRY APH-09.... a Rodinal clone....

JMcLaug351 · Nov 9, 2007

Rodinal

Rodinal is still available.. I got 500 ml bottles.. from borred101 on e-Bay. Good seller. Shipping was rather slow.. but he's got most, if not all of the former Agfa chemistry.

I hope this helps.. JOHN

Ole · Nov 9, 2007

I still have some Rodinal left, and as others have said it's still available.

Yet after a lucky find on ebay I've shifted completely to Ilfotec HC. I like the results better, and it lasts just as long.

Ian Grant · Nov 9, 2007

Re-reading the original post it does say "looking for a new developer" to replace Rodinal.

Ian

Andy K · Nov 9, 2007

Kbeatty, where are you? Rodinal is still available. There is also available the superb Rodinal Special fine grain fast developer (PAN F 3 minutes, FP4+ 3.5 minutes, HP5+ 4 minutes!).

dancqu · Nov 9, 2007

kbeatty said:
I've finally exhauted the last of my stash of Rodinal
(okay more than a few rolls ago) and am looking
for a replacement.

Give FX-1 a try. A high ph compensating developer
similar to Rodinal. An easy Home Brew. Dan

noseoil · Nov 9, 2007

If you have been doing long developments with rodinal, I would also recommend Pyrocat-hd (photographers formulary is a sponsor here). If you decide to try it, get the version mixed with glycol as it has a very good shelf life. The water-mix can go flat after a year or so, but the glycol lasts a long time. Try a 1:1:150 dilution and you will like results. Best, tim

Larry.Manuel · Nov 9, 2007

HC-110 can be diluted way down, like Rodinal.

Something appeals to me about highly diluted developers. Perhaps I'm just keen to do as much with as little [cost, pollution] as possible. I still have Rodinal, and bought HC-110 to try with 120 size Delta 3200 [which is on order].

I found this website very interesting:

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/

Michael Covington was, in my mind, Mister Astrophotography before CCDs hit that field. Good luck.

L.

rtuttle · Nov 9, 2007

I recently switched from Rodinal to Ilford DD-X. Although DD-X is a more expensive developer with a shorter shelf life, I found the results to be quite surprising. Personally I'm going to stick with this one for a while.

gainer · Nov 9, 2007

It will be a long time before the diehard Rodinal user will be unable to make the stuff. Tylenol (acetaminophen) digested with potassium or sodium hydroxide and added to solution of sodium or potassium sulfite works, or you can use p-aminophenol in place of acetaminophen. Can't get the hydroxide? Go to a garden shop and get slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), add it in proper proportion to a solution of potassium or sodium carbonate and get a precipitate of limestone and a solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide. Sodium carbonate is found as washing soda in detergent departments or pHPlus for swimming pools.

Snapshot · Nov 9, 2007

FX-37 provides you with very high sharpness, a speed increase, good tonal range, good grain characteristics and is something you can mix on your own.

gainer · Nov 9, 2007

Isn't it strange how "optimized" developers always have nice round numbers? 60, 5, 0.5, 2.5, 50, etc. How often do you see 56.37, 4.65, 0.47 and so forth? I am sometimes criticized for publishing formulas in volumetric measures because they are not sufficiently precise, but I have my doubts about the rounf numbers. I think perhaps Crawley uses the engineering standard. When the number is presented as, say, 60 grams, 5 grams more or less will do as well. When it is, say, 0.5 grams, any amount that rounds to 0.5 will do. If you expect 0.5 to mean 0.49 to 0.51, then you must specify 0.50 and so on.

This being the case, I will theorize that FX 37 can be mixed as follows:
2 1/2 tbs sodium sulfite, 1 1/2 tsp hydroquinone, 1 tsp anhydrous sodium carbonate, 1/8 tsp Phenidone slightly rounded, 1/2 tsp borax, a pinch od potassium bromide and a pinch of benzotriazole in a liter of water.

I expect anyone who believes that this formula will not give the same results as the formula found in "The Film Developing Cookbook", weighed to the maximum precision available, to prove it by experiment. Also, I expect the premise that FX 37 provides a film speed increase over Rodinal to prove that by experiment.

Tom Hoskinson · Nov 10, 2007

rtuttle said:
I recently switched from Rodinal to Ilford DD-X. Although DD-X is a more expensive developer with a shorter shelf life, I found the results to be quite surprising. Personally I'm going to stick with this one for a while.

DDX is a (Phenidone/Hydroquinone) liquid concentrate developer with a long shelf life (months). A DDX working solution has a short life (hours) I would use it as a one-shot.

Take a look at this thread: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

gainer · Nov 10, 2007

Larry.Manuel said:
Something appeals to me about highly diluted developers. Perhaps I'm just keen to do as much with as little [cost, pollution] as possible. I still have Rodinal, and bought HC-110 to try with 120 size Delta 3200 [which is on order].

I found this website very interesting:

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/

Michael Covington was, in my mind, Mister Astrophotography before CCDs hit that field. Good luck.

L.

Along with my brother, Michael K. Gainer, recent author of "Real Astronomy with Small Telescopes", his second book. The first dealt in some detail the use of ordinary cameras. I helped in writing the program for calculating binary star orbits that he presented in thar book. Michael Covington is a reference in his current book.

kbeatty · Nov 10, 2007

I'm in Winnipeg and my local suppliers have indicated that they can no longer get Rodinal. One supplier did recommenf f76 and one recommended ilfotec HC. Thank you to everyone who has responded. You have given me much to consider.

Andy K · Nov 11, 2007

If your local supplier is no longer choosing to stock Rodinal then there are many online suppliers. They'll most likely be cheaper too.

JBrunner · Nov 11, 2007

Tell your local suppliers you can get it- and your other stuff- on line. Perhaps they don't know they can get it again. If they do, and they won't, well then, if they won't support you, don't support them. Its not like Rodinal goes bad on the shelf.

mabman · Nov 11, 2007

kbeatty said:
I'm in Winnipeg and my local suppliers have indicated that they can no longer get Rodinal. One supplier did recommenf f76 and one recommended ilfotec HC. Thank you to everyone who has responded. You have given me much to consider.

I am also in Winnipeg. The issue is A&O (the German company who bought Agfa's chemical business out of bankruptcy) hasn't found a Canadian distributor yet (or so I was told when I inquired directly a few months ago).

I've been told (I think here) that there might be some shops in Toronto or Vancouver who have some stock (not sure if it's new or old, though), but I'm currently using HC-110, which I'm quite happy with, and might play around with Dektol or similar shortly, so currently I'm not motivated to pursue it further (Kodak, Ilford, and some Edwal chems are available locally - presumably the OP has been to Photo Central, which is the only shop locally that carries chems from what I've been able to find).

As for shipping - liquid chems are officially designated "hazardous materials" for shipping regulations and no one from the US will ship them across the border due to the restrictions/paperwork involved. Apparently they can be shipped via sea from Europe if you really want, and buy in sufficient quantities, but that takes approx. 3 months.

Powdered chemistry, however, has no such restrictions. I believe the Photographer's Formulary has generic Rodinal in powdered format (Paraminephenol??) if you want to go that route.

JBrunner · Nov 11, 2007

mabman said:
I am also in Winnipeg. The issue is A&O (the German company who bought Agfa's chemical business out of bankruptcy) hasn't found a Canadian distributor yet (or so I was told when I inquired directly a few months ago).

If this is true, I stand corrected.

gainer · Nov 11, 2007

kbeatty said:
I'm in Winnipeg and my local suppliers have indicated that they can no longer get Rodinal. One supplier did recommenf f76 and one recommended ilfotec HC. Thank you to everyone who has responded. You have given me much to consider.

Have you given up on the idea of making your own Rodinal? If you cab get the dry chemicals p-aminophenol (base), sodium or potassium sulfite and potassium or sodium hydroxide, it is a simple matter.

36 grams p-aminophenol, 18.5 grams potassium hydroxide or 13.2 grams sodium hydroxide, 100 grams of sodium hydroxide or 120 grams of poyassium sulfite in enough water to make 500 ml will get you a satisfactory substitute for Rodinal. Mix all the powders and add water to make the 500 ml.

Rodinal nut looks for new developer

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