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Rollei R3 advice needed

kavandje

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So I have obtained a few rolls of Rollei R3 for experimentation purposes. I'm using 120 in my Yashicamat 124, and metering either with my eyeballs or with a Sekonic selenium meter as the Yashi's internal meter is about as reliable as a roulette table.

So far I've processed two rolls, one shot at 800 and the other at 6400. I've got two more waiting in the darkroom to be processed, one at 25 and another at 400.

I am using Rollei's RHS and RLS developers.

The two I've shot so far have come out reasonably well, though the negatives aren't clear as the literature suggests they should be; instead they're a sort of greyish brown colour. Makes me wonder if I've been missing something while processing.

Chem dilution is according to specs, as is temperature. I'm fixing in Ilford Rapid Fix, which in this case is pretty fresh. I have in both cases pre-rinsed for around 5 minutes.

Missing something? Rollei's literature suggests this is a challenging film; I would appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks!
 

Kevin Caulfield

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I've shot a roll or two and didn't use the Rollei developers, but probably FX39 or Rodinal. I'll try to check what I used. But my results were quite good.
 

sly

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I've used R3 a fair amount - mostly 4x5, but some 120. I like it best at low speeds in the low speed developer. I've shot at 25, 100, and 800. The negatives do look different developed in the two developers - in the high speed mine have a more blue-gray cast, and in the low speed they have a more brown-gray cast. They look "clearer" in the high speed for me. Denser, but great tonal range in the low speed. I assume you used the high speed dev for your 800 and 6400 test rolls? Have you tried printing any of them?
 
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kavandje

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I did indeed use the high-speed developers for the 800 and the 6400.

I'm not able to print at this stage, lacking an enlarger, but I'll try as soon as I manage to get access to one.

I was merely wondering about the colour of the neg; but if there is a cast to be expected, then I'm much calmer. I'll put the exposed-as-25 to the test tomorrow and see what happens.

Does anyone have any exposure guidelines for bringing out its alleged infrared sensitivity? Or should I treat it like Rollei IR: Expose at 6 to 25 through an IR filter, develop as 400?
 

WRSchmalfuss

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ROLLEI R3


1. Between ISO 800 - ISO 6.400 spot metering onto the dark is required!
2. Pre-soaking of the R3 up to 5 minutes is absolutely required!
3. Constant temperature of 22°C for the whole process is recommended, based on experience.
4. Add + 1.5 - 2.0 minutes to the recommended processing in times.
5. ROLLEI RHS developer is highly recommended for high speed exposures of the film.
6. At ISO 800 exposure, use the RHS 1+12 dilution, with 22°C, 27 minutes. The fixing bath can be made with an more diluted fixer. Longer fixing times are good for the results with the R3, based on experience.

O.K. the R3 processing times on high speed exposures are very slow, but the results come out excellent with this film.

Regards,
Wolf
 
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