I am convinced that there are only three things that will survive the nuclear apocalypse: cockroaches, 1960s refrigerators, and Rodinal.
Last year I found a bottle of ORWO R09 (the East German equivalent) from the 80s among my dad's old photo things. It sat in the attic for over 30 years, under an uninsulated roof which means it got cold in the winter and hot in the summer which I'd expect would be more likely to kill it than just the passage of time. But it works perfectly fine. It's very dark but doesn't even have any crystals or sediment on the bottom. Indestructible stuff.
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Thank you all again for your replies, I appreciate them a lot! I also wanted to ask, do you have any ideas what kind of creative things I could do with that exhausted/semi-exhausted Rodinal? It would be a shame to just get rid of it, perhaps there's something experimental I could use it for? I know I could try to develop prints in it, but currently I don't make prints.
I am convinced that there are only three things that will survive the nuclear apocalypse: cockroaches, 1960s refrigerators, and Rodinal.
Is there a method for testing chemicals for validity prior to using the chemicals? The idea of loosing film roll(s) during development due to "stale" chemicals sounds like russian roulette to me. Am I missing something obvious?
You could unclog a very small drain with it.what kind of creative things I could do with that exhausted/semi-exhausted Rodinal?
You can test whether or not the developer is completely dead by grabbing a piece of film leader (so it's been fully exposed to room light), developing it, and then fixing it. If the developer worked, the fixer should not clear the image.
But this test will not tell you if the developer is partially dead. For that, the only test that I can think of is to designate a sacrificial roll of film and develop it properly: Grab a roll of film, put it in your camera, and spend all 36 shots on the exact same test scene. Then store that somewhere safe. When you want to test a developer, go to a dark room or use a dark bag, grab about 2 inches of film, put it in your Patterson or Jobo tank, and develop it normally. If the developer is still good, you will see your test scene. For extra points, develop the scene when you first open the developer and save it so you have a stable point of comparison.
EDIT:
For what it's worth, I don't do any of this myself. I have three film developers: Two that have long shelf lives (PC-TEA and Rodinal) and one that I make myself in small batches that I know I will use quickly (D-23).
I believe most developers will "warn" you when they're going bad because the Dmax decreases gradually. But that's not true for all developers. XTOL is infamous for its "sudden death syndrome".
I used to use Adonal and R09 years ago, and found both of these "flavors" did not last more than about 18 months once the bottle was opened, so I stopped buying them.Was just about to open a thread on this myself.
Adox Adonal died on me (sudden death), some crystallization and color of the concentrate was like dark tea, not more than a couple of years old.
I used to use Adonal and R09 years ago, and found both of these "flavors" did not last more than about 18 months once the bottle was opened, so I stopped buying them.
I currently use Adox Rodinal and the bottles I have are 3 years old now, half full and still working as well as when new. It seems the Adox Rodinal version is far more stable, based on my limited experience.
I think Adox Adonal and Adox Rodinal is the same product (just named differently for different markets). At least I cannot find anything else than Adox Adonal in fotoimpex these days.
Isn't the ease of a clip test to produce the purest black you can produce?
Anything which is semi opaque indicates developer exhaustion.
A fully exposed film-leader, should go completely black when developed.
If we are dealing with concentrate vs working solution, the clip test should be done with the working solution, for as long as the film requires, to reflect real life situation.
At least that is how I learned it back in the day.
I just developed some film in my old mostly full bottle of Agfa rodinal that was last used in 2008. Worked as normal. It is in the white agfa bottle.
Last year I found a bottle of ORWO R09 (the East German equivalent) from the 80s among my dad's old photo things. It sat in the attic for over 30 years, under an uninsulated roof which means it got cold in the winter and hot in the summer which I'd expect would be more likely to kill it than just the passage of time. But it works perfectly fine. It's very dark but doesn't even have any crystals or sediment on the bottom. Indestructible stuff.
View attachment 404176
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