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B&W film developing questions



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 5th 08, 07:04 AM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
G.T.
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Posts: 692
Default B&W film developing questions

Ok, I just developed my first 3 rolls of film at home, and except for a
little bit of dust on the last roll the results are excellent. I'll
sporadically be developing more over the next couple of months.

I'm using Rodinal, Arista's indicator stop bath, Arista's Universal
non-hardening fixer, and Kentflo.

Questions:

1. The Rodinal says undiluted it will last 6 months. Can I be safe to
assume it will last that long?

Also, with the Rodinal I've been developing only one roll per mix
because I'm new at this. With Accufine, the previous developer I used,
I would do a couple of rolls in one canister before dumping back into my
storage container and replenishing. And after 3 months at the same
developing time my negs were a little light.

Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?

2. The stop is the least of my worries, right? It should be ok for a
couple dozen rolls over the next couple of months?

3. What's the expected longevity of the fixer?

Thanks,
Greg
  #2  
Old January 5th 08, 09:57 AM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Lawrence Akutagawa
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Posts: 145
Default B&W film developing questions


"G.T." wrote in message
...
Ok, I just developed my first 3 rolls of film at home, and except for a
little bit of dust on the last roll the results are excellent. I'll
sporadically be developing more over the next couple of months.

I'm using Rodinal, Arista's indicator stop bath, Arista's Universal
non-hardening fixer, and Kentflo.

Questions:

1. The Rodinal says undiluted it will last 6 months. Can I be safe to
assume it will last that long?

Also, with the Rodinal I've been developing only one roll per mix because
I'm new at this. With Accufine, the previous developer I used, I would do
a couple of rolls in one canister before dumping back into my storage
container and replenishing. And after 3 months at the same developing
time my negs were a little light.

Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?

2. The stop is the least of my worries, right? It should be ok for a
couple dozen rolls over the next couple of months?

3. What's the expected longevity of the fixer?

Thanks,
Greg


My two bits -

Rodinal is one time use. But you are using 1:25 or 1:50 or even 1:100 such
that you use so little that the one time use is plenty. No replenishment,
no multiple use.

My own prediliction is to decant the 500ml container into 1 oz (30 ml) glass
amber bottles. I keep these tightly capped and use them in succession. No
problem at all. Way back when, I recall a story about a partially used
bottle of Rodinal found in the late 1940s/early 1950s amongst the bombed
ruins during the German reconstruction. Turned out the contents were as
good as new, despite the summer heat and the winter cold.

I don't use any commercial stop. I use two successive water rinses instead.

The rule of thumb with fixers is in room light to toss a piece of
undeveloped film scrap into the fixer - for 35mm, the leader/trailer of the
roll is ideal. Time how long it takes for the film to clear. Fix for
double that time. When the fixing period extends more than 10-12 minutes or
so, time for mix new fixer. Keep the fixer in a dark, cool place.


  #3  
Old January 5th 08, 02:44 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Nicholas O. Lindan
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Posts: 1,227
Default B&W film developing questions

"G.T." wrote

1. The Rodinal says undiluted it will last 6 months.

It lasts forever. If you are doing 35mm you may find it
is not that good a choice for most work.

Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?

No.

2. The stop is the least of my worries, right?

What, me worry? It's cheap - chuck it when you chuck
the fix.

3. What's the expected longevity of the fixer?

If it smells funny (funnier than usual) or throws
a yellow or white precipitate then discard.

I set a limit of 8 rolls/litre of working film-strength.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com


  #4  
Old January 5th 08, 04:08 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Thor Lancelot Simon
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Posts: 163
Default B&W film developing questions

In article ,
G.T. wrote:
Ok, I just developed my first 3 rolls of film at home, and except for a
little bit of dust on the last roll the results are excellent. I'll
sporadically be developing more over the next couple of months.

I'm using Rodinal, Arista's indicator stop bath, Arista's Universal
non-hardening fixer, and Kentflo.

Questions:

1. The Rodinal says undiluted it will last 6 months. Can I be safe to
assume it will last that long?

Also, with the Rodinal I've been developing only one roll per mix
because I'm new at this. With Accufine, the previous developer I used,
I would do a couple of rolls in one canister before dumping back into my
storage container and replenishing. And after 3 months at the same
developing time my negs were a little light.

Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?


Sure, if you want inconsistent results. Maintaining a replenished
developer system for black and white work really requires a lot more
care than most people realize. It is seldom worth the effort. What
you actually want to do is buy a *larger tank* so you can develop more
than one roll of film at a time, instead of messing around with
replenishing the developer.

I would call both Accufine and Rodinal poor choices of developer for
general use (though each has its own set of special purposes for which
it works well). You might want to try D-76 or ID-11, or one of the
newer developers like Xtol or DD-X.

--
Thor Lancelot Simon

"The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is to
be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem." - Noam Chomsky
  #5  
Old January 5th 08, 06:53 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
G.T.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 692
Default B&W film developing questions

Lawrence Akutagawa wrote:


My two bits -

Rodinal is one time use. But you are using 1:25 or 1:50 or even 1:100 such
that you use so little that the one time use is plenty. No replenishment,
no multiple use.


Thanks for the confirmation.


My own prediliction is to decant the 500ml container into 1 oz (30 ml) glass
amber bottles. I keep these tightly capped and use them in succession. No
problem at all. Way back when, I recall a story about a partially used
bottle of Rodinal found in the late 1940s/early 1950s amongst the bombed
ruins during the German reconstruction. Turned out the contents were as
good as new, despite the summer heat and the winter cold.

I don't use any commercial stop. I use two successive water rinses instead.

The rule of thumb with fixers is in room light to toss a piece of
undeveloped film scrap into the fixer - for 35mm, the leader/trailer of the
roll is ideal. Time how long it takes for the film to clear. Fix for
double that time. When the fixing period extends more than 10-12 minutes or
so, time for mix new fixer. Keep the fixer in a dark, cool place.


Awesome. Thanks for the tip about the fixer.

Greg
  #6  
Old January 5th 08, 07:00 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
G.T.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 692
Default B&W film developing questions

Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:
In article ,
G.T. wrote:


Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?


Sure, if you want inconsistent results. Maintaining a replenished
developer system for black and white work really requires a lot more
care than most people realize. It is seldom worth the effort. What
you actually want to do is buy a *larger tank* so you can develop more
than one roll of film at a time, instead of messing around with
replenishing the developer.


I have a bigger tank but still am such a novice that I want to keep
doing one roll at a time.


I would call both Accufine and Rodinal poor choices of developer for
general use (though each has its own set of special purposes for which
it works well). You might want to try D-76 or ID-11, or one of the
newer developers like Xtol or DD-X.


My instructor suggested D-76 or Xtol, but he mentioned that I'd get good
grain from the Rodinal so I wanted to give it a shot.

Greg
  #7  
Old January 5th 08, 08:22 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Lawrence Akutagawa
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 145
Default B&W film developing questions


"G.T." wrote in message
...
Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:
In article ,
G.T. wrote:

Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?


Sure, if you want inconsistent results. Maintaining a replenished
developer system for black and white work really requires a lot more
care than most people realize. It is seldom worth the effort. What
you actually want to do is buy a *larger tank* so you can develop more
than one roll of film at a time, instead of messing around with
replenishing the developer.


I have a bigger tank but still am such a novice that I want to keep doing
one roll at a time.

I would call both Accufine and Rodinal poor choices of developer for
general use (though each has its own set of special purposes for which
it works well). You might want to try D-76 or ID-11, or one of the
newer developers like Xtol or DD-X.


My instructor suggested D-76 or Xtol, but he mentioned that I'd get good
grain from the Rodinal so I wanted to give it a shot.


Rodinal with slower film - up to and including ISO 100/125 - is superb.
Ilford PanF and PanF+ with Rodinal is wonderful. Try 11 minutes at 1:50, 68
degrees F/20 degrees C, constant agitation first 30 sec and agitation 5 sec
out of 30 sec thereafter. And with the faster films - ISO 400 and up -
you'll get very sharp...as contrasted to mushy...grain. Great for the kind
of portraiture I like.

There are folks who don't like Rodinal. That's okay. After all, some folks
don't like Chevrolets and others don't like Toyotas. The key is to try
Rodinal. If you like the results, great. If you don't like the results,
look for something else.


  #8  
Old January 5th 08, 08:35 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
David Nebenzahl
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,353
Default B&W film developing questions

On 1/5/2008 10:00 AM G.T. spake thus:

Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:

I would call both Accufine and Rodinal poor choices of developer for
general use (though each has its own set of special purposes for which
it works well). You might want to try D-76 or ID-11, or one of the
newer developers like Xtol or DD-X.


My instructor suggested D-76 or Xtol, but he mentioned that I'd get good
grain from the Rodinal so I wanted to give it a shot.


If by "good grain" you mean "grain that you can't help but notice in the
print", then that's correct. As others have pointed out, it's completely
a personal preference, but you're not likely to get smooth-looking
results with Rodinal.

I'd try D-76, diluted 1+1. Or even the good old Microdol-X for finer
grain (albeit a bit "mushier"). Best to experiment, try every
combination (within reason) until you find what you like.
  #9  
Old January 5th 08, 09:30 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Thor Lancelot Simon
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 163
Default B&W film developing questions

In article ,
G.T. wrote:
Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:
In article ,
G.T. wrote:


Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?


Sure, if you want inconsistent results. Maintaining a replenished
developer system for black and white work really requires a lot more
care than most people realize. It is seldom worth the effort. What
you actually want to do is buy a *larger tank* so you can develop more
than one roll of film at a time, instead of messing around with
replenishing the developer.


I have a bigger tank but still am such a novice that I want to keep
doing one roll at a time.


I don't understand: developing one roll at a time will give you as much
variation between rolls as possible, but what you should be aiming for is
consistency: the exact same, predictable development results every time.
A three or five-roll tank will give you three or five rolls at a time
developed exactly the same way.

My instructor suggested D-76 or Xtol, but he mentioned that I'd get good
grain from the Rodinal so I wanted to give it a shot.


What does "good grain" mean? Certainly Rodinal will give you grainy
results. It will also cost you a great deal of film speed. There is a
myth that circulates that Rodinal is a fine-grain developer -- it is
quite certainly _not_ that. Rather, it is a developer that produces such
grainy results that it's only suitable for very fine-grain films, ISO 100
or slower. The problem, of course, is that it also reduces true film
speed by as much as one full stop -- so in practice, you end up with 50
speed film, at most, and then you need a tripod, unless you're shooting
snowscapes at noon.

--
Thor Lancelot Simon

"The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is to
be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem." - Noam Chomsky
  #10  
Old January 5th 08, 09:55 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
G.T.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 692
Default B&W film developing questions

Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:
In article ,
G.T. wrote:
Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:
In article ,
G.T. wrote:

Can I develop more than one roll of film in my Rodinal?
Sure, if you want inconsistent results. Maintaining a replenished
developer system for black and white work really requires a lot more
care than most people realize. It is seldom worth the effort. What
you actually want to do is buy a *larger tank* so you can develop more
than one roll of film at a time, instead of messing around with
replenishing the developer.

I have a bigger tank but still am such a novice that I want to keep
doing one roll at a time.


I don't understand: developing one roll at a time will give you as much
variation between rolls as possible, but what you should be aiming for is
consistency: the exact same, predictable development results every time.
A three or five-roll tank will give you three or five rolls at a time
developed exactly the same way.


Right, but I'm still too worried that I'll screw up 5 rolls at a time by
doing something really stupid like popping the top off of my tank
while agitating. Once I get on a roll I'll switch to my 3 roll tank.


My instructor suggested D-76 or Xtol, but he mentioned that I'd get good
grain from the Rodinal so I wanted to give it a shot.


What does "good grain" mean? Certainly Rodinal will give you grainy
results. It will also cost you a great deal of film speed. There is a
myth that circulates that Rodinal is a fine-grain developer -- it is
quite certainly _not_ that. Rather, it is a developer that produces such
grainy results that it's only suitable for very fine-grain films, ISO 100
or slower. The problem, of course, is that it also reduces true film
speed by as much as one full stop -- so in practice, you end up with 50
speed film, at most, and then you need a tripod, unless you're shooting
snowscapes at noon.


Cool. As you can tell I'm very new at this and for my class last year
we just used a quart of Accufine replenishing along the way. I'm still
very early into my experimenting and learning phase.

Greg
 




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