What is so great about rodinal?

[raucousimages]

I have never used Rodinol but it is a hot topic. Why do you like it over other developers? Thanks John

 

[wildbill]

One bottle goes a verylong way. It's cheap. It lasts for a long time once opened. Oh, and makes nice looking negs.

 

[pentaxuser]

I have never used Rodinol but it is a hot topic. Why do you like it over other developers? Thanks John

The jury is still out as far as I am concerned. It is supposed to produce great accutance. However it seems to need low ISO film to combine this quality with reasonable grain.

So from what I have seen in terms of threads almost everybody is agreed that Pan F and Rodinal is a good combination but for most other combos there is divided and at times heated opinion.

I think I may be a low grain/mushy grain lover but I suspect that anything above a 100 ISO and rodinal would not suit my desired end product. I saw a series of portrait prints of show biz personalities from large grain negs in Birmingham, England last summer and didn't like them. I can't say it was rodinal but the grain was large at 10 x 8 and bigger so whatever it was, it was of the Rodinal variety. Not for me but it's all subjective.

There seems little doubt about its longevity compared to most other developers. The irony may be that those who love it, would in any case use it at a rate at which its longevity isn't really tested.

Worth looking at Ed Buffalo's site. Like Ed, Rodinal advocates on this site at least seem always willing to share their knowledge and to try and help any one willing to use it.

Pentaxuser

 

[jim appleyard]

Rodinal isn't for everybody. What in life is? I agree with what Pentaxuser has said, although I'm a Nikon user, Rodinal is probably at its best with slow films. However, I've done several weddings (where the work better be good) with medium format Tri-X and souped it in Rodinal. The negs had plenty of contrast and simply had a look to them. One favorite of this combo I enlarged to 16x20. Yes, there's grain, but it isn't bad and not really noticeable until you're 6" from the print.

I am not a fan of T-grain films and I went thru several hundred feet of T-max 100, 35mm, and couldn't find a way to get a good neg from it until I souped it in Rodinal.

I very quickly became addicted to APX 100 in Rodinal 1+50; great midtones!

Again, it's not for everything nor everybody, but until you grab a bottle and try it for yourself, you'll never know.

 

[ronlamarsh]

All of the above but I have found grain not to be an issue as I shoot 4x5 and larger so if you keep the enlargements 4x or under even HP5 is acceptable. It is very clean working i.e. little to no fog and its dilution is extremely variable so it can handle just about any situation.

 

[josephaustin]

I love Rodinal, but I agree its a subjective thing. I normally shoot medium, and large format. Almost always using films that are around 100 ISO, and in this range rodinal really shines. Before using rodinal, I tried D-76, HC-110, which both are fine developers in there own right. However after using Rodinal for about a year and looking back at my old negs develpoed in HC-110 esspecially I am shocked at how "unsharp" the negative look. While a portrait shot in rodinal, might make someones skin look a little too "real" it makes leaves, and grasses come alive. If you have never tried it there is no reason not to, esspecially if you do shoot 120, and above. I love FP4+ at about 100, developed 1/50 for 12 minutes. Give it a shot, you might like it.

 

[rhphoto]

I've done Agfapan 25 and 100 in Rodinal, and also Ilford FP4. I always found it to be really easy to mix and use, and seemed to have a lot of "tolerance" in terms of under/over development. The other thing about Rodinal, is the "look", as a previous post suggested. It might just be me, but I love the grays, the middle tones, that this developer gives.

 

[Mongo]

I think the posts here have pretty well covered the benifits of Rodinal: It's cheap, easy to use, clean working, allows flexibility with different dilutions as well as stand/semi-stand development, it's a high accutance developer, and it literally seems to keep forever. Not a bad combination. It does increase the apparent size of grain, and this can be troublesome with small films. Rodinal fell out of favor when 35mm film became popular. The move of hobbyist and art photographers to larger format cameras (as professionals dump equipment at fire sale prices) has made Rodinal a viable choice again for many people, so the subject comes up quite often.

If you want to see some really interesting work done with Rodinal, look at Les McLean's book "Creative Black and White Photography". He has some images he shot on Delta 3200 (some pushed, I believe) that he developed in Rodinal 1:10. Absolutely huge grain, but it suits certain subjects very well and Les has a great eye for such things. One combination that I will be trying the next time we have a nice, foggy morning around here is shooting in the fog with Delta 3200 and developing in Rodinal; I believe this will give me a look that I will appreciate.

Rodinal is a wonderful developer if you shoot large format, because grain really isn't much of an issue due to the enlargement sizes being so small compared to the original negative size. One of my very favorite combinations is 4x5 Fuji Acros 100 in Rodinal 1:50. The combination provides buttery-smooth tonality (I can't think of any other way to describe it), with very sharp edges. I stumbled upon this combination while experimenting one day, and I've been using it happily ever since.

There are many developers out there, and all of them have their good points and their bad points. Rodinal, being easy to use and inexpensive, is one that many photographers try. It's not for everyone (I think some people actually hate the look they get with it...and that's OK), but for some photographers Rodinal can provide the look that they want.

 

[df cardwell]

There are a lot of 'fine grain total detail' advocates here, but not all photographers think that way. Some accept the grain a natural artifact of film ( like brush strokes in a painting ), enjoy the long straight line ( proportional response of the film to development ), and clean look of Rodinal. If one uses a mechanical processor, or use constant agitation, you don't get satidfying results with Rodinal. If you use hand agitation, you're good. SO, it is subjective. But fashion photographers have always loved Rodinal, portrait photographers, and landscapers... AND from 35mm to 8x10.

Look at the work by Jeff Dunas ( http://www.dunas.com/fapage.html ) or Ralph Gibson ( http://www.ralphgibson.com/ ) for a couple well known Rodinal shooters. Both tend to to use 400 speed film, as well.

They both have a high impact style, but Rodinal can be very quiet too. I guess it's flexibility is it's greatest strength... it can do many things well, and take on many faces. It's an excellent tool.

 

[david b]

Try it with Pan F+ (1+50 , 11@68) and you will see what the fuss is about.

 

[NikoSperi]

If you want to see some really interesting work done with Rodinal, look at Les McLean's book "Creative Black and White Photography". He has some images he shot on Delta 3200 (some pushed, I believe) that he developed in Rodinal 1:10. Absolutely huge grain, but it suits certain subjects very well and Les has a great eye for such things. One combination that I will be trying the next time we have a nice, foggy morning around here is shooting in the fog with Delta 3200 and developing in Rodinal; I believe this will give me a look that I will appreciate.

I don't remember seeing that in Les' book... will have to dig it out. But there's that combination in my gallery post "Power" here. The neg scan does enhance grain more than a print, but let's say some grain is noticeable!

One of my very favorite combinations is 4x5 Fuji Acros 100 in Rodinal 1:50. The combination provides buttery-smooth tonality (I can't think of any other way to describe it), with very sharp edges. I stumbled upon this combination while experimenting one day, and I've been using it happily ever since.

Care to share a time for that? I have a box of out of date QuickLoads ready for experimentation.

 

[Mongo]

Care to share a time for that? I have a box of out of date QuickLoads ready for experimentation.

My notes are downstairs and my back's not up to the trip down and back up right now (arachnoiditis...a true scourge if you're a photographer), but I'll find the time tomorrow and post it here. As long as the Quickloads are cold you'll be fine...mine are at least a year out with no problems at all.

 

[NikoSperi]

Sorry about the back. No rush... this is LF after all! Afraid the film has not been refrigerated... about 14 months beyond expiry. This would really be just to see whether to get more or stay with my FP4.

 

[Paddy]

A long time rodinal user, I've started shooting (120) Acros at e.i. 50 in Rodinal 1:100, 17 min. 68deg. semi-stand. TASTY STUFF.

 

[Ronald Moravec]

Try it on Pan F, Delta 100, or Tmax 100. Delta 100 is 1:50 at 11 min. Agitate 4 inversions per minute on the minute.

I saw some really nice stuff on tri X/rodinal/leica in the early 1960`s. My efforts with this were never good. I did use Plus x at 1:75 for 12min, 2 inversions every 30 sec for some years in the late 60`s. Got tired of the grain, and went to D76 1:1 and now use it one shot full strength and am mostly happy.

 

[mono]

A long time rodinal user, I've started shooting (120) Acros at e.i. 50 in Rodinal 1:100, 17 min. 68deg. semi-stand. TASTY STUFF.

What does semi-stand mean?
Please help me!

 

[avandesande]

Ive been using semi-stand for everything. If I get a scanner I will post some stuff.

 

[Andy K]

I use Rodinal at dilutions of 1+25 or 1+50 for everything up to and including HP5+. I find it an extremely economical and easy to use developer which gives consistently great results.



Ps. Where's Morten?

 

[Willie Jan]

i to use rodinal for fuji across 120 format and delta100/fp4+ on 4x5". Very nice. I just bought 8 bottles of .5ltr.
A nice thing is that the developer does not have any problems with aging. A friend of my used a bottle 18 years old, and it worked fine.

 

[jim appleyard]

Yes, where is Morten? Another benefit of using Rodinal is that you get to be a member of The Church!

 

[Lee Shively]

I started using Rodinal 30 years ago after reading an article expounding on the benefits of the developer when used with sodium sulfite. At the time, I was a 35mm shooter only and the only film I ever used was Tri-X. I gave it a try and was sold on the combination. I'm not against grain but the sulfite additive did decrease the appearance of graininess with Tri-X. The negatives were still very sharp and the grey tones were impressive.

Over the years, I got away from Rodinal and started testing other film and developers. I've settled on Ilford HP5+ and PanF+ as my standard films. I had pretty much settled on D76 as my standard film developer too until I was persuaded to try Rodinal again by the posts at APUG. I gave it a try with HP5+ in both 35mm and 120 (with sodium sulfite additive) and liked what I saw. I use 1:75 dilution with a non-scientific (or consistent) 2/3 tablespoon of sodium sulfite per 8 fluid ounces. The grain is a little less apparent than D76 mixed 1:3 but the negatives seem to my eyes to have more detail in both the shadows and highlights than those done in D76. PanF+ is known as a film that can get contrasty in a hurry but the highly concentrated Rodinal really tames that characteristic. My negatives generally print nicely on multi-contrast papers with a condenser enlarger without using any filtration and less dodging and burning.

Another benefit I discovered is that both HP5+ and PanF+ can be processed together in the same tank because the 1:75 dilution I use has the same processing time. Combine this with the fact that it's cheap to use and almost never loses its capacity and it's a winner for me.

Like everything else, some people like Fords, some Chevys, some Dodges and some Toyotas. It comes down to whatever you prefer because they all roll on down the road.

 

[jim appleyard]

Lee, can you tell us what times, temps and EI's your using? I've never done anything else but Rodinal neat. It would be fun to experiment.

 

[Gerald Koch]

I saw a series of portrait prints of show biz personalities from large grain negs in Birmingham, England last summer and didn't like them. I can't say it was rodinal but the grain was large at 10 x 8 and bigger so whatever it was, it was of the Rodinal variety.

A couple of years ago I saw a very handsome portrait. It had large grain but the grain was tight. When I asked the photographer about his methods he told me that the film had been developed in hot Dektol.

 

[Jim Chinn]

It is simply one of those things you need to experiment with. Ralph Gibson used TriX and Rodinal for 16x20 enalrgements and while the grain was evident, he used it to his avantage and is probably the master of using this combination. It all depends on the film and the size of the final print. Rodinal and certain films look great (35mm) as 8x10 enalrgements but start to really fall apart any bigger. I have been playing around with it more over the winter with 35 mm film and there is a definite point with each film where the sharpness and tonality that rodinal provides is lost as the grain increases with enlargement size. That is eveident with any film/developer combo, but with rodinal it (IMHO) it seems that the cut off is pretty abrupt.

 

[Gerald Koch]

I started using Rodinal 30 years ago after reading an article expounding on the benefits of the developer when used with sodium sulfite. At the time, I was a 35mm shooter only and the only film I ever used was Tri-X. I gave it a try and was sold on the combination. I'm not against grain but the sulfite additive did decrease the appearance of graininess with Tri-X. The negatives were still very sharp and the grey tones were impressive.

Was the article "Rodinal Rejiggered" by Bill Pierce in Popular Photography Sept 1966? I used this combination for several years and loved it. From the article: Rodinal 1:100 is diluted with a solution of sodium sulfite (75g/l). Used in this manner Rodinal becomes a medium fine-grain developer producing brilliant prints with very clean highlights. It can even be used as a deep tank developer being replenished with 1 ml of Rodinal for each roll of film developed. The replenished solution keeps about a month. Development times are about 20% shorter than for Rodinal diluted with plain water.