fix for rodinal

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i thought of trying out AGFA rodinal developer. which fix is recommended?

-- stefan randlkofer (geesbert@yahoo.com), January 21, 2002

Answers

Hello Stefan,

donīt worry, any fixing solution will work fine. Put a stopping bath in between.

Good shooting

-- K., G. Wolf (k.g.wolf@web.de), January 21, 2002.


If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), January 21, 2002.

Stefan,

Your agitation method during development will influence the results more than the choice of fixer.

My 0.02

-- John (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), January 21, 2002.


I always use Ilford Hypam. As far as I know, the dev. you use makes no difference to the fix time. It is the case, however, that the t grain emulsions (ilford delta, kodak tmax etc) take c. twice as long to fix as the traditional emulsions. In any case, if you test for fix time with the discarded end of the film (the leader that you cut off when spooling the film ready for development) you can't really go wrong. The rule is that you see how long the film needs to become completely clear and then use double this time as your fix time - generally using the same agitation as you use for dev. BTW, don't over fix the film too much and keep the temperatures of all the solutions as constant as possible. Oh, finally, if you do use a stop bath (some people don't) make sure it's not too highly potent and keep the agitation continuous otherwise you can cause nasty little "blisters" on the film. Finally, finally, Rodinal is a high-acutance development (giving high edge definition but doing little to mask grain). Just FYI, please excuse if this is all very obvious.

-- steve (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), January 21, 2002.

Ilford Delta films do not take longer to fix than traditional films. T-Max films, however, do.

-- Peter Hughes (ravenart@pacbell.net), January 21, 2002.


As noted, any fixer, used according to its directions, will do.

I'd quibble about the fix time required for T-Max. While it does take fixing about twice the recommended fix time to eliminate that pesky purple, my understanding is that T-Max is actually stable after the normal fixing time. Using a pre-development water bath will get rid of much of the T-Max anti-halation backing, and vigorous aggitation during fixing and the initial wash will also help to minimize the purple with normal fixing time.

Using Ilford film solves the problem, of course, and provides support to a company more interested in the B&W community than Kodak appears to be.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), January 21, 2002.


With Rodinal, to get really interesting results use the 1/50 dilution minimum. At 1/25 the personality of Rodinal does not really kick in.

-- Xavier C. (xcolmant@powerir.com), January 21, 2002.

Peter and Ralph Ilford recommend 3-5 minutes fixation as opposed to the usual 2-4 minutes for trad. films when using delta emulsions. In their fact sheets they say "When fixing Delta 400 [100, 3200] Professional film, however, slightly longer times than used with conventional films are recommended for best results." I've certainly noticed that the films take longer to clear than say, hp5+ tho' twice as long was probably over-egging the pudding.

-- steve (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), January 21, 2002.

xavier: could you explain the kicking speciality of rodinal, please? i just bought a bottle, but i have some important films to develop, where i don't want to experiment with. i'll use my old combo for it.

-- stefan randlkofer (geesbert@yahoo.com), January 21, 2002.

I'm not a super expert but I have been using Rodinal for a number of years. The special look of Rodinal: Acutance and long tonal range. Here I simplify a bit because some developers have higher acutance than Rodinal. Nonetheless, Rodinal can give you a kind of 3D look which must come from acutance and something else (what?).

With Rodinal, digh acutance and long tonal range are better achieved when you use high dilutions (1/50 to 1/100). One of the caveat of Rodinal is its moderatly large grain. It works better on films with a speed less than 400 asa, although the Agfa APX 400 is an exception. When you use 400 asa films with a dilution >= 1/50, it is recommended to use them at a lower speed (320 asa for APX 400).

To get a better qualified answer I would advise you to read the 'The Film Developing Cookbook' by Stephen G. Anchell and Bill Troop.

Go also to another excellent greenspun forum: B&W Photo - Film & Processing

-- Xavier C. (xcolmant@powerir.com), January 22, 2002.



Check out my article Appreciating Rodinal. There are some interesting new comments regarding adding sodium ascorbate, or mixing Rodinal with Xtol.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), January 22, 2002.

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