Over the past couple weeks, I've noticed that my negatives becoming more and more dense. This morning I developed a roll of FP4 in Rodinal 1:50, cut back the development time to 12 minutes @68 (from the 15 minutes recommended by the Massive Development Chart) and reduced agitation, yet the negs still came out too dense. I'm using the last of a bottle of Rodinal that's probably three months old where the liquid has turned quite dark. A search on this site addresses the color question as harmless, but yields nothing on the potency question. Could this stuff be getting more intense?

Thanks...

-Michael

-- Michael Veit (pocoveit@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002

Answers

No data on developer activity with age, but you might want to look at your dilution procedure for accuracy and do a meter check. Are the shadows correct or are they also dense? Three months isn't a long time for Rodinal if the bottle is mostly full- mine is going on three years. If it's just a teaspoon in the bottom, then all bets are off.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), February 27, 2002.

I have never experienced anything like this with Rodinal--it seems to last for years with no change in its functionality. However, Greg Rust's recommendation for FP-4+ in Rodinal (1:50) is 8 minutes at 68 degrees, with the film exposed at EI 64. See http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Times/FP-4/fp-4.html. I suggest that 12 minutes might be an overdevelopment, even if you are using EI 100.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), February 27, 2002.

Shadow areas of the negative are also dense -- no part even comes close to base film density. I have changed nothing in my development technique which used to produce great results, only difference is the age, color, and amount of rodinal remaining in the bottle (not a whole lot). Damn, another darkroom mystery to track down! I have a fresh bottle of the stuff I'll give a try over the weekend.

-- Michael Veit (pocoveit@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

Have you checked you camera equipment? I had a shutter problem once and it took me a while to figure out what was going on

-- Ann Clancy (clancya@mediaone.net), February 27, 2002.

It ain't a darkroom mystery. If the shadows are dense, you overexposed it or have a fog problem. No developer is going to put a lot of density in the shadows, as then it would be a magic speed improver and sell for $100/quart :-) Agree your development time is a bit long.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), February 27, 2002.

My experience is that old Rodinal (more than six months after opening, dark brown) is weaker than fresh Rodinal. I started buying it in the 125mL bottles after I had some unintentional low-contrast experiences from old stuff in the big bottle.

Sounds like a meter/shutter problem.

-- John O'Connell (boywonderiloveyou@hotmail.com), February 28, 2002.

Oh great. After hearing how amazing its longevity is, I just bought a big bottle

-- Wayne (wsteffen@skypoint.com), March 01, 2002.

At least Ilfords DDX become much more aggressiv when to old.

-- Holger Pfriem (h.pfriem@web.de), March 01, 2002.

In my experience, a large bottle kept refrigerated will last for several years.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), March 01, 2002.

I don't know where you live but the primary suspect would be the battery(s) in you meter, or the effect of cold weather on them. Or a shutter running slow when cold.

-- Fred De Van (fdv1@ix.netcom.com), March 01, 2002.

Thanks to everyone for their answers. The consensus seems to be that there's nothing wrong with the soup. Unfortunately, mechanical problems of metering or shutter speed seem unlikely since HP5 (which I don't develop in Rodinal) Comes out fine. I'll be trying a fresh bottle on some FP4 this weekend and double checking my procedures.

-- Michael Veit (pocoveit@yahoo.com), March 02, 2002.

I know this is slightly off-topic but does DDX keep as well as Rodinal? Also, how does it compare in grain/definition? I was going to buy a bottle of DDX but it's rather expensive and I want to be sure of its keeping properties...

Lawrence

-- Lawrence Impey (lawrence.impey@btinternet.com), March 02, 2002.

I think your development time is too long. When shooting fp4+ I usually develop for 6 minutes in 1:25 at 20Celsius/68Fahrenheit. The instructions with my rodinal says that for 1:50 at 20degrees the development time is 8 minutes. At the moment I use Rodinal at 1:50 + 4g/L Sodium Ascorbate 20degrees and times for 1:25 dilution. This gives smaller grain. With fp4+ the difference is small, but it's very noticeable with hp5+.

-- Esben Rossel Torbensen (e_rossel@ofir.dk), March 11, 2002.

By the way, I never had any problems with rodinal getting too old and I always go for the biggest volume sold.

-- Esben Rossel Torbensen (e_rossel@ofir.dk), March 11, 2002.