Rollei RHS developer: use it or not?

charlemagne · Oct 19, 2019

I have several small bottles of Rollei RHS developer which I planned to use with some R3 sheet film that is still in my freezer.

Unfortunately, I found out that all the RHS developer turned really brown. It was stored in a cool and dark place, but now it has about the same colour as stock Rodinal...

Should I or should I not use it?

Thanks in advance

Tom Kershaw · Oct 19, 2019

charlemagne said:
I have several small bottles of Rollei RHS developer which I planned to use with some R3 sheet film that is still in my freezer.

Unfortunately, I found out that all the RHS developer turned really brown. It was stored in a cool and dark place, but now it has about the same colour as stock Rodinal...

Should I or should I not use it?

Thanks in advance

I'd be suspicious if its the same colour as stock Rodinal.

chris77 · Oct 19, 2019

try it! no no risk no fun

Alan Johnson · Oct 19, 2019

Would be interesting to see if it still works though
.https://www.freestylephoto.biz/pdf/msds/rollei/Rollei_RHS_High_Speed_Developer.pdf
Phenidone ( 1-3-etc) slowly hydrolyzes.

miha · Oct 19, 2019

Get some fresh stuff.

charlemagne · Oct 20, 2019

Thanks for your advice.
Actually I am suspicious too and I don't think it will give consistent results, so I will forget about the old RHS developer.

But, now I need an alternative. In my darkroom I still have Tetenal Ultrafin T+ (sort of a Tmax developer). Does anybody know if this is a good combination with the R3 film?

Tom Kershaw · Oct 20, 2019

I've not use the Rollei film but Tetetenal Ultrafin T-Plus has a good reputation.

Nokton48 · Oct 20, 2019

I'm using the Rollei Supergrain, A74 type film developer, in 70mm Rollei 400s. Like it so far.

Pentode · Oct 20, 2019

I have a bunch of 120 rolls of Rollei R3 and I had a hell of a time finding an EI/developer combination I was happy with.

After a lot of disappointing results shooting from EI 160 to 400 and using D-76, Rodinal and HC-110 at various dilutions I started digging for clues on the web.

I ended up finding some posts on other forums by the owner of Fotohuis, Robert Vonk (?), who is a Rollei dealer and has done extensive testing of R3. His findings suggested that R3 looks much better at the low end of the EI range and that it’s pretty disappointing at higher speeds and with general-purpose developers. This agreed with my results so I started searching for more posts from Mr. Vonk.

In a post from a couple of years later, after R3 had been discontinued, he stated that the best results would be from Rollei RLS developer but that Ilford Perceptol 1:1 would be a good substitute.
Since Perceptol is cheap and readily available I tried it at EI 100 and EI 50, both in Perceptol 1:1 and I was very happy with the results.

Of course, roll film isn’t sheet film and there are lots of variables but this was my experience with R3. Hope it’s helpful.

charlemagne · Oct 21, 2019

Well, it seems that the R3 needs a dedicated developer for the best results. A pre-rinse of about two minutes is also strongly advised.
I have also tried Rodinal and D-76 in the past, but it was not really nice.
The dedicated RLS (low speed) developer was good for exposing at lower iso.

I am planning to do some indoor portraits, so I might need a fast film of about 400 or 800 iso. Because I am out of TMY, I want to make the most of the R3 that is lying in my freezer for years now. So I guess I will buy some Supergrain developer and make tests.

Pentode:
Indeed RoVo is a Rollei film connaisseur. I have read his posts and got in touch with him. He says that Rollei Supergrain is the subsitute for Rollei RHS and dilutions and developing times are the same. RoVo also said that R3 was made by Forte in Hungary and stopped production in 2007. R3 is a 3-layered film of 50, 150 and 400 iso. He also underlined that the film will benefit from a pre-rinse so that the developer can act as a "depth-or deep layer developer"
I have never used Perceptol, is it comparable to D-76 or ... ? And would it be good for 400-800 iso film?

Tom Kershaw · Oct 21, 2019

Perceptol is a good product, but not the best for extracting maximum shadow detail (film speed). e.g. HP5 Plus may be exposed at 200 rather than 400 etc.

Pentode · Oct 21, 2019

charlemagne said:
Well, it seems that the R3 needs a dedicated developer for the best results. A pre-rinse of about two minutes is also strongly advised.
I have also tried Rodinal and D-76 in the past, but it was not really nice.
The dedicated RLS (low speed) developer was good for exposing at lower iso.

I am planning to do some indoor portraits, so I might need a fast film of about 400 or 800 iso. Because I am out of TMY, I want to make the most of the R3 that is lying in my freezer for years now. So I guess I will buy some Supergrain developer and make tests.

Pentode:
Indeed RoVo is a Rollei film connaisseur. I have read his posts and got in touch with him. He says that Rollei Supergrain is the subsitute for Rollei RHS and dilutions and developing times are the same. RoVo also said that R3 was made by Forte in Hungary and stopped production in 2007. R3 is a 3-layered film of 50, 150 and 400 iso. He also underlined that the film will benefit from a pre-rinse so that the developer can act as a "depth-or deep layer developer"
I have never used Perceptol, is it comparable to D-76 or ... ? And would it be good for 400-800 iso film?

Yes, I presoak for 2:00 with this film. Perceptol is not my area of expertise, actually; I've only used it with R3, but I believe it was Ilford's equivalent of Kodak's Microdol-X if I'm not mistaken. It gave me great results. If you really want to get the most of your R3, I would suggest saving it for a project that requires 50 ISO. I think you'll be much happier with the result. In all my searching out RoVo's posts on various websites, my takeaway was that R3 is capable of fast speeds, but not very attractive. It was, after all, manufactured as surveillance film.

charlemagne · Oct 21, 2019

Years ago I did use R3 35mm at 1600-3200 iso in low light situations and back then I was happy with the results. But my vision on grain and contrast has changed over the years so I guess I should have look at those negatives and think again.

Rollei RHS developer: use it or not?

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