[Leica] (SPAM: ?) Re: B&W developers

Wed Jun 14 09:22:22 PDT 2017

Do you remember the old Kodak technical rep. Tom Bates?  (I think that was
his name.)  He once told me that for the ultimate sharpness try the dilute
Microdol-X with very long stillness periods between agitation.  The
stillness allowed an exaggerated adjacency effect, which is what most of
the "sharpness" differences in developers are all about.  I think he
actually was recommending about 20 minutes for the agitation cycles.  I
tried that, but the unevenness in the plain sky areas was unacceptable.
Balancing the evenness and adjacency with good agitation procedures seemed
to be one of the keys to optimizing the development procedures.  It's an
art, with lots of room for individuals to come up with their own special
methodologies.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 8:50 AM, Bill Pearce <billcpearce at cox.net> wrote:

> An excellent alternative, Paul, but for me, the added sharpness of Rodinol
> outweighed the grain, which was not basketball sized clumps, but very very
> fine tight grain. I find grain one of the special things about film that
> digital lacks, and which digital simulations fail to provide. Microdol is a
> good developer, but for me goes  only halfway.
>
> If grain is a problem, I usually stuck with D-76.
>
> I need to shoot more film. If only I had a suitable scanner.
>
> ----Original Message----- From: Paul Roark
> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2017 10:03 AM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] (SPAM: ?) Re: B&W developers
>
> We all probably had our favorite "soups."  I found Rodinal's grain too
> much.  If you like a one-shot and less grain, try Microdol-X 1:3.
>
> FWIW
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>
> On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 5:14 AM, Christopher Crawford <
> chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote:
>
> Dan
>>
>> Yes, Rodinal is actually available now in a couple different formulations.
>>
>> AGFA changed Ordinal’s formulation a few times over the more than 100
>> years they made it. The final version of it is available as Adox Rodinal.
>>
>> http://www.freestylephoto.biz/12054-Adox-Rodinal-Film-Developer-500-ml
>>
>> Adox also makes Adox Adolux R09, which is the pre-WWII formulation.
>>
>> When my last bottle of the modern Ordinal formal ran out, I bought a
>> bottle of the pre-war formula to try. Didn’t see any difference in my
>> photos, but I haven’t developed many films with it yet.
>>
>> In addition to these, there are several other companies, including Rollei
>> and Foma, marketing “Rodinal” type developers.
>>
>> --
>> Chris Crawford
>> Fine Art Photography
>> Fort Wayne, Indiana
>> 260-437-8990
>>
>> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
>>
>> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
>> Become a fan on Facebook
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.freestylephoto.biz/12055-Adox-Adolux-APH-09-500-ml
>>
>> On 6/14/17, 7:53 AM, "LUG on behalf of Dan Khong"
>> <lug-bounces+chris=chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org on behalf of
>> dankhong at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >Is Rodinal still around?
>> >
>> >Sent from my iPhone
>> >
>> >> On 14 Jun 2017, at 6:36 PM, Christopher Crawford
>> >><chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> I treat ALL developers as one-shot. You get the most consistent results
>> >> always using fresh developer, and developers are so cheap that trying
>> >> to
>> >> save money by reusing is silly.
>> >>
>> >> I keep four developers in stock at all times, and choose depending on
>> >>the
>> >> film and look I want. Rodinal, D-76, Tmax Developer, and PMK.
>> >>
>> >> When asked by a newbie to recommend one developer, I always say this:
>> >> D-76, diluted 1+1 is probably the best all around developer. Its easy
>> >> to
>> >> use, relatively inexpensive, and gives good results on damn near every
>> >> film made.
>> >>
>> >> If the person says: ³I don¹t want to deal with mixing powdered
>> >>chemicals!²
>> >> I then recommend either Kodak Tmax Developer or Ilford DDX. I like them
>> >> because they give good results on most films and are easy to mix (no
>> >>need
>> >> to accurately measure a few tiny ML of stock solution the way you do
>> >>with
>> >> highly dilute developers like Rodinal or HC-110). The standard dilution
>> >> for both these developers is 1+4.
>> >>
>> >> I recommend diluting 1+7. The 1+4 times for most films are pretty short
>> >> (5-6 minutes), and I like longer times to avoid uneven developing (with
>> >> any developer not just these two), and Tmax and DDX are relatively
>> >> expensive. The higher dilution saves money if that¹s an issue. To get
>> >>1+7
>> >> developing times, multiply the times the manufacturers give for the 1+4
>> >> dilution by 1.5x. (so if the 1+4 developing time is 6 minutes, give 9
>> >> minutes with the 1+7 dilution). This formula has worked for every film
>> >> I
>> >> have tried.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Chris Crawford
>> >> Fine Art Photography
>> >> Fort Wayne, Indiana
>> >> 260-437-8990
>> >>
>> >> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
>> >>
>> >> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
>> >> Become a fan on Facebook
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On 6/14/17, 6:05 AM, "LUG on behalf of Gerry Walden"
>> >> <lug-bounces+chris=chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org on behalf of
>> >> gwpics at me.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> I don¹t want to start and wars here, and I know this is a minefield in
>> >>> which I will get a thousand and one answers, but is there any >>>
>> consensus
>> >>> of opinion these days on a one-shot b&w developer?
>> >>>
>> >>> Insanely I am thinking of doing my own processing of film again.
>> >>>
>> >>> Gerry
>> >>>
>> >>> Gerry Walden LRPS
>> >>> www.gwpics.com
>> >>> +44 (0)23 8046 3076 or
>> >>> +44 (0)797 287 7932
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> Leica Users Group.
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
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