Rodinal

[photog]

Back in the early 70's (1970's that is) I used Rodinal developer and formulas now that I am moving away from digital back to film I am trying to find those tables again. PLUS where can one buy Rodinal today? I live in Stockton Calif and 3 out of 3 shops don't carry it and the younger clerks haven't even heard of it. Now 30 years later what is a guy supposed to do?

Paul

 

[david b]

Rodinal is still widely used. I know that B&H sells it. Did you try Samy's?
As for the tables, did you try www.digitaltruth.com ?

 

[Silverpixels5]

B&H won't ship it though. I can't remember if Adorama does. Photo Formulary sells the old version of rodinal made from scratch. You can also buy the chemicals and make it yourself from them, or from Artcraft Chemicals.

 

[Aggie]

If you go into Berkeley or San Francisco, most stores carry it. I think camera arts in Sacramento carries it also.

 

[juan]

Calumet, one of our sponsors, sells it and ships it.
juan

 

[Alex Hawley]

Adorama ships it. That's where I've always obtained mine. Plenty of development tables out there. Check out the Massive Dev Chart at www.digitaltruth.com.

 

[bmac]

Photographer's Formulary sells their own version of it, and as Aggie stated, pretty much all the shops in the bay area stock it.

 

[bjorke]

The closest SF-area store to you is Reed's in Walnut Creek. Call them though. Looking Glass in Berkeley definitely stocks it, as do Adolph Gasser in SF and Keeble's in Palo Alto.

Buy a big bottle. It lasts.

 

[photomc]

Just got 4 bottles of it from Calumet, good price and shipping was fast. Could not ask for better service. You only have to worry about the shipping $ being high if you want it shipped by air. Ed Buffalo has some data on his site at unblinkingeye.com also, also think that Ilford list it for Ilford films on their site.

 

[Doug Bennett]

Another APUG, sponsor J and C Photo, carries Calbe R09 developer. I haven't tried it, but have read several posts that indicate that it is an earlier (and some say better) formulation of Rodinal.

Although I also use HC-110 and WD2D+, I love the simplicity and economy of Rodinal. I like it 1:100 w/Agfa APX 100.

 

[Aggie]

Reed's (they are close to me) does have it, but they are double the price on everything they have in the store compared to Looking Glass in Berkeley.

 

[snapnsam]

Reed's are just following the Inverse Square Law of photo retailing ....half the service at twice the price.

Sam

 

[Flotsam]

I just tossed a bottle in my cart at Calumet. Price seemed good.

 

[clogz]

Calbe R09 is a good developer.

 

[fschifano]

Adorama ships the stuff and has reasonable prices as well.

Dead Link Removed

 

[Flotsam]

I just received my order from Calumet and was a bit confused by an extra 12"x12"x10" box. It contained nothing but a 125 ml bottle of Rodinol that I had tossed into the order as an afterthought... and a sh**load of foam peanuts. :?

 

[photomc]

Neal, would have to say that is the same box my 4 bottles from Calumet came in, including the load of peanuts. Guess since it still treated as a bio-hazard it must ship separately from anything else - I had ordered some paper as well that came in the same size box, with the same peanuts.

Maybe they got a good deal on that size box.

 

[scalby]

Drug stores sell a 10 ml syringe attached to a rubber device for placing into the mouth of a bottle. This is perfect for measuring out small amounts Rodinal.

To tame Rodinal grain some people add sodium sulfite while others add borax plus sodium ascorbate or sodium isoascorbate (nearly identical when it comes to use as a developing agent).

 

[mobtown_4x5]

I've never tried the stuff, so I got a small bottle to use tonight. I have some Tri-x 320 and Tmax 100 (4x5) city skyline shots to try... I shoot the Tri at 200 and the TMY at 50, anyone have a dilution/time for trays as a starting point?

What's the deal with the dilutions anyhoo, "1:50" is that 10 ml of what's in the bottle and 500 ml of water or do you make a stock solution first?

I've also heard of 1:100 for this stuff, Jesus is it really that concentrated? What effect does more dilution give you?

I know a lot of cool APUGers use this stuff so I want to give it a good go...



Matt

 

[fschifano]

I doubt that there's a real shortage of places to obtain Rodinal locally in the Bay Area. Back east here in NYC, I get my supplies from both B&H and Adorama. Both stores offer very reasonable prices on darkroom supplies. However, B&H doesn't ship photo chemicals; Adorama does. I'm not up on shipping costs since I usually visit the store, but you can check if you like.

For processing times you should visit http://www.digitaltruth.com and look up "The Massive Dev Chart." I've gotten arguments about the accuracy of the data posted here, but the time/temp combinations listed there have always gotten me closer than just in the ballpark for my needs. Obviously, you'll need to make adjustments to account for your individual techniques and conditions.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Hi Matt.
Rodinal 1:50 means 1 part Rodinal plus 50 parts water for the working solution.

Yes! Rodinal is highly concentrated. A 1:100 dilution will give you slightly higher acutance than 1:50 (those big old Tri-X grains will be really sharp - -!) and a somewhat lower contrast index. I personally prefer TMAX 100 in 1:50 Rodinal and in Pyrocat-HD. The grain in both of your 4x5 films should be fine in Rodinal 1:50. You may want to try the Tri-X at the 1:25 dilution, as well.

Some one will undoubtedly council you to dilute the Rodinal with a sodium sulfite solution. Sodium and potassium sulfite are silver solvents and will reduce grain edge sharpness and acutance. My personal opinion: If you want fine grain, use a fine grain film (like your TMax-100), don't sulfite the rodinal.

fschifano gave you a good URL and good advice for time and temperature information.

 

[Doug Bennett]

Rodinal at 1:100 or 1:50 can also act as a "compensating" developer. At these high dilutions, the highlights (which require more developer) are going to exhaust locally, while the shadows (which require less developer) keep building. Then you agitate, and the whole little dance starts over.

Although I've added a couple of other developers to the arsenal, I'll always keep some Rodinal around. It's cheap, it lasts forever, and with the right film, you'll get negs that grainy, yes, but are bitingly sharp.

 

[127]

R09 / rodinal ?

I just pulled my second roll of film out of R09. and my initial reaction is that I'm VERY pleased. The first roll was a little low on contrast, but I up'ed the agitation and I really like the results. Put me down as another convert.

I'm a little confused as to the practical differences between R09 aka AGFA rodinal, and standard/modern/neo rodinal.

I found a quite hostile thread on photonet which gave the politcal history. To sumarise as I understand: AGFA was split during the war - the west german part kept the names [agfa, and rodinal], while the east got the technology, and chemistry - so (ex east german) Calbe R09 is "real"/"original" rodinal, or agfa rodinal, while what agfa sell is neo rodinal, or just plain rodinal. [ie agfa rodinal != rodinal made my agfa]

While that's very interesting, it's not very helpfull if you want to dev films. Times for "rodinal" are pretty common for all sorts of films, while R09 times are a bit harder to come by. How do R09 results defer from neo-rodinal? Are there hints or advice anyone has reguarding R09 - I'm using if on Efke most of the time, but wonder how it performs on hp5 or other more modern films.

thanks,

Ian

 

[clogz]

Ian,
Calbe has got a website. www.calbe-fotochemie.com though it sometimes doesn't work too well. If need be I might have some info for you.
Hans

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

A lively conversation about Rodinal, Rodinal variants and Rodinal's primary chemical component (P-Aminophenol) has been going on in another APUG thread:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)