Rodinal

[Jim Brick <jimbrick@aimnet.com>]

It's been quite some time since I've done any B&W work. When I was doing
B&W I used Rodinal almost exclusively with very slow films (remember Adox
KB14, Agfa Isopan FF, Kodak Panatomic-X?) All of the Rodinal I've ever
purchased had a rubber stopper under the plastic cap. I used a syringe
(medical) to extract the Rodinal, just as if it were medicine in those
sealed liquid medicine bottles. I pulled the plunger back a small amount on
the syringe, stuck the needle through the stopper, pushed the plunger in
(puts a little air pressure into the bottle), then pull the plunger until
the correct amount is extracted (which will leave a slight vacuum), pull
out the needle, tightly replace the plastic cap over the rubber cap, and
use the Rodinal. The unused Rodinal stays reasonably well sealed even
though there is a little less Rodinal and a little more air. It's sort of
undisturbed. Over 20 years I never had a problem with reduced potency.
Maybe I used it too fast. I got the syringes from a Veterinarian friend
(5cc, a 10cc, and a 25cc.) I was developing only from one to four rolls at
a time and using 1:75 and 1:100 dilutions. I have no idea if this is
relevant or not for you Rodinal users. I'm sharing this as what worked very
well for me.

Jim