B&W film developing questions
in [Darkroom]
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From: G.T. on 5 Jan 2008 13:00 Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: > In article <13nu7g7ikfj9be3(a)corp.supernews.com>, > G.T. <getnews1(a)dslextreme.com> 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
From: Lawrence Akutagawa on 5 Jan 2008 14:22 "G.T." <getnews1(a)dslextreme.com> wrote in message news:13nvheoghdf6ic1(a)corp.supernews.com... > Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: >> In article <13nu7g7ikfj9be3(a)corp.supernews.com>, >> G.T. <getnews1(a)dslextreme.com> 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.
From: David Nebenzahl on 5 Jan 2008 14:35 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.
From: Thor Lancelot Simon on 5 Jan 2008 15:30 In article <13nvheoghdf6ic1(a)corp.supernews.com>, G.T. <getnews1(a)dslextreme.com> wrote: >Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: >> In article <13nu7g7ikfj9be3(a)corp.supernews.com>, >> G.T. <getnews1(a)dslextreme.com> 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 tls(a)rek.tjls.com "The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is to be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem." - Noam Chomsky
From: G.T. on 5 Jan 2008 15:55
Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: > In article <13nvheoghdf6ic1(a)corp.supernews.com>, > G.T. <getnews1(a)dslextreme.com> wrote: >> Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: >>> In article <13nu7g7ikfj9be3(a)corp.supernews.com>, >>> G.T. <getnews1(a)dslextreme.com> 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 |