That beautiful purple Rodinal color?

[Rolleijoe]

:confused: Anybody know what happened to that beautiful purple color Rodinal gives when pouring it out from processing?

I'd bought a new bottle of the A&O stuff, and the 1st few rolls had that great color from the tank. Even the 1st tries with semi-stand gave me the purple.

But the last 4 rolls processed semi-stand (2 Tri-X, 1 Plus-X & 1 Neopan 400) all gave a dullish brown color when I poured out the chemistry. The negs themselves looked fine, just wondering. This is the first time Rodinal has ever given me anything other than what I'd come to expect of it.

I've got some Efke 25 to do next, and had intended to semi-stand it too. But there's a bottle of R09 in the darkroom I may try just in case. Has anyone used R09 with the Efke, and have an example they can post?

One thing I did notice was that the A&O bottle is a little opaque compared to the original Agfa solid white bottles. I'd hate to think something as simple as that could do this. I've had Rodinal last over 2 years, and it always came out purple.

TIA.

 

[srs5694]

In my experience, the pour color -- with any developer -- has as much to do with the film as the developer. Many B&W films have incorporated sensitization and anti-halation dyes, and these often wash out with the developer. I've not shot much Tri-X, Plus-X, or Neopan 400, and I don't recall their usual pour colors, so I can't comment on them specifically. If you've recently switched to these films, though, or even switched back to them after doing something else in the first of your latest bottle of Rodinal, that could be at least part of the answer to your question.

 

[djkloss]

Did you pre-soak? I experienced a darker than normal post - development -pour after developing when I presoaked and got all the anti-halation dye out. The developer just seemed darker.

 

[Rolleijoe]

No I don't, but thanks for your tip. Problem may be solved, I think it was a temperature issue.

I checked and the automatic temp was off by more than 10deg! Added some colder water to the mix, and out came that beautiful purple color.

(Rodinal 1:40 10min).

Thanks everybody!

 

[Black Dog]

Purple haze forms in my brain.........many things don't seem the same

 

[djkloss]

ah...yes...the good ol' days!

 

[glbeas]

When I do Konica 750 in Rodinal the developer is straw colored when I pour it out. Different sensitizer I guess makes different color.

 

[vet173]

ah...yes...the good ol' days!

I think I was there.

 

[Rolleijoe]

I did a roll of Efke 25 and the purple came back. Same with Plus-X. As long as I can remember, there's always been that beautiful color from the tank when finished processing. Regardless of film used.

The problem was simple: temp was too warm.

BTW, Efke 25 is a fantastic film! More fine-grained than Acros, & Pan F+, it amazed me by easily handling less than perfect lighting. It seems like an almost 100 speed film, and has the clearest base I've ever seen.

 

[gainer]

Just a note. Films that wind up with very clear base usually use an antihalation dye that washes out during processing, leaving the base clear and changing the color of the used developer.