Never compared it to Rodinal, but I have compared it to Beutler with EFKE 25; sharpness it pretty much the same, but the Beutler reveals more grain. FWIW, it's my exclusive developer of choice for EFKE25. Never used it with any other film. It doesn't have the shelf life of, say, HC-110 (old formula) or Rodinal, but I have a bottle that's about 3 years old still going strong.