Did somebody try the HP5/Rodinal combo ? Is it OK or too grainy ? and what about HP5/HC-D combo ? What is the best in terms of graininess and sharpness ? I need a developer which can be highly diluted for on-shot processing 4x5 film by inversion and ,why not, 35 mm. I use Xtol for the moment and I'm satisfied with it but cannot find the times for 4x5 inversion processing...

-- Amine SULTAN (aminesultan@hotmail.com), May 20, 2000

Answers

Hi Amine, the piece of paper that comes with the Rodinal bottle says: HP5+ = 8 min at 1:25; it does not show a time for 1:50, but times for FP4 are 18 min. for 1:50. I would think HP5+ in Rodinal 1:50 for 20 would be interesting. David

-- david clark (doc@ellensburg.com), May 20, 2000.

HP5+ is the same emulsion in all formats; development time is the same.

It works very well in Rodinal, although it can be a little more grainy than is usually desirable for 35mm, and it does benefit from adding a little sodium sulfite to the working solution.

For the basic stuff, try Rodinal 1:50 7'15"/75F EI 200.

For better performance, use Rodinal 1:50 w/20g/L sodium sulfite, 7'15"/75F EI 320. If that's still too grainy, add up to 50g/L sodium sulfite. You can add even more, but it'll start having a negative effect on apparent sharpness.

If you get mottling or streaks with highly-dilute Rodinal, then your agitation isn't violent enough during the agitation cycle. "Gentle" agitation is of no benefit at all and just causes unevenness.

I believe HC-D has been discontinued in favor of DD-X; at any rate, try HD-D 1:19 4'15"/75F EI 320 as a starting point.

If you want to try DD-X, 1:9 9'/75F EI 640 works well. For a good EI 1600, 1:4 for the same time works ok.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), May 20, 2000.

Diafine works GREAT on HP5+. I shoot 4x5 @400ASA and get beautiful negs. It is a 2 bath developer that is high acutance and fine grain with no highlight blockups! It is much better than a similar 1:200 Rodinal as far as grain and acutance goes. Just my opinion Cheers, Scott

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), May 20, 2000.