tmax 100, rodinal 1:50 12min 20c too thin

[nc5p]

I did a 120 roll of tmax 100 in rodinal 1:50 for 12 min. at 20c last night and the results were noticeably thin. I don't have a densitomiter (unless there is a way of measuring it using a film scanner?) I plan on trying some prints this afternoon but the negatives were well exposed, in fact I usually meter for 64 iso on this film. I've developed it before in tmax developer and they always came out much denser. Is this a normal thing for this film/dev, should I try 1:25 next time, or simply extend the developer time? What times are you folks using in this combination? I mix using appropriate graduated cylinders and the concentrate is stored in a tightly sealed dark glass bottle.

 

[Snapshot]

Hmmm... that's what I've been using and my results are fine. Is this the first time with this combination? It's possible you didn't use quite enough developer. I had something similar happen with a staining developer. I apparently didn't quite use enough developer and my negatives turned out thin. It's easy to do when you are dealing with concentrate formulas.

 

[Ian Grant]

The dev time & temp sounds about right, I've shot a lot of Tmax 100 & processed in Rodinal, but I preferred to use 3:100 dilution for my normal development only using 1:50 for contrasty subject matter. 1:25 I always found too problematic giving excessive negative conttrast. I did extensive Zone system tests to get dilutions & dev times that suited my printing requirements.

Remember that slight variations in water, thermometers, shutters, lightmeters can all play a small part in affecting the right times etc that you require, and may have played a part in your negs being thin.

Ian

 

[BobNewYork]

I've been using Rodinal 1:100 with a 20 min dev time at 20 deg C for quite a while now and it works well for me. Boring, but it gives me what I want.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Did you have enough shadow detail? If yes - develop longer. If no, check your light meter and/or give more exposure.

It is a fine combination that I used a lot in 35mm once. I too had thin negatives when I started out. So I started exposing the film to an exposure index of 50, and I increased the amount of developer agent in the tank, as a matter of fact, I always filled it to capacity just to make sure the developer didn't exhaust. That was more of an issue with the 1:100 dilution. 1:50 should not exhaust if you cover the spool fully and add some on top of that.

- Thomas