Tri-x in Rodinal and Fogging

[brian steinberger]

I just developed my first roll of 120 Tri-x in Rodinal this evening. I shot it at box speed, and developed in Rodinal 1:25 for 9 minutes at 70 degrees (it was overcast light). The negatives look great, but there is a ton of base fog. I haven't seen this when using other developers with Tri-x. The film was not old.

Anyone know why this excessive fogging took place? Does this just happen with the Tri-x/Rodinal combo? And is there anything I can add to my Rodinal, like Borax, to reduce base fogging?

 

[2F/2F]

How dense is the fog? What tone does it print to at your standard proofsheet settings for this film (or, alternately, to what degree are your lowest tones are eaten up when you print through the fog to make the film edges black)? Where did you get the film?

 

[Anscojohn]

If the film was not heat or chemical damaged, might it not just be over development? That seems like a lot of time for 1:25 dilution (although I would have to lookitup.

 

[brian steinberger]

How dense is the fog?

It's the densest base fog I've come across besides processing old film.

What tone does it print to at your standard proofsheet settings for this film?

Not sure, film is still drying.

Where did you get the film?

Ordered from B&H. It came with 4 other rolls. I've had no problems with the other films.

 

[brian steinberger]

If the film was not heat or chemical damaged, might it not just be over development? That seems like a lot of time for 1:25 dilution (although I would have to lookitup.

This is a possibility John, the normal time for Tri-x in Rodinal 1:25 is 7 minutes. But since I was shooting for N+1 development I figured I'd start by adding 20%. This put me in the 9 minutes ballpark. The negs do look a little dense, but I've seen some pretty over-developed negatives before.

 

[whlogan]

I shoot TriX @ 800 and develop it in Rodinal 1:75 @ 70 deg F for 40 min semi-stand ( 1 filip @ 20 min) with absolutly no increase in base fog at all. The reason I do this is I get a tremendous increase in gradation this way. The results, I think are pretty stunning. Nearly as good as Diafine .... give it try...
Logan

 

[2F/2F]

It's the densest base fog I've come across besides processing old film.

I would guess that the film must have been heat damaged at some point in storage or shipping. Try another roll from the same batch, and if there are problems, talk to B&H.

 

[brian steinberger]

I would guess that the film must have been heat damaged at some point in storage or shipping. Try another roll from the same batch, and if there are problems, talk to B&H.

I guess that's what I'll do. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a pic of the film on a light table next to a normal clear roll and we can compare the difference.

 

[alanrockwood]

Rodinal is generally considered a low-fog developer.

 

[brian steinberger]

So how much would you have to over-develop a roll of film to develop fog?

 

[Athiril]

I'd say go down to a lower dilution.