Rodinal Come Back

[Willie]

Blue Moon Camera in PDX has the 500ml bottles of R09 in stock (7 bottles)

How do I get to PDX? If I drive to Yellow Corners - which direction do I turn?

[Michael R]

Unlikely there is a definite answer. Even throughout the 100+ year run of Agfa Rodinal there were likely slightly different formulations. Post-Agfa "R09", APH09, Blazinal etc. may or may not be the same formulas. As far as I know the only "documented" versions from a recipe perspective are Adox's APH09 and Rodinal (Adonal). The rest of what's out there, who knows. On the other hand the working properties, with the possible exception of shelf life, are probably very, very similar if at all distinguishable.

All other things being equal, the shelf life would tend to vary depending on the amount of free hydroxide in the concentrate. But there could be other variables - even the container/bottle.

What is your experience with the shelf life of the post-AGFA Rodinal(or R09)? I used to soup nearly anything in Rodinal in the past, nowadays I switched to HC-110(the syruppy liquid). Just because there was not the same confidence as with the old one(red AGFA bottle). I tried various Rodinal/R09, all of them had significantly shorter life.Some crystals emerged after couple of months of using and sudden death...There was(maybe still is) very few real producers of the developer, lot of them are just rebadged products, just as with films. This leads to confusion. Last one I tried was Adox Adonal(and even Adox used to sell two different formulas at time!), and crystals in the bottle again. I remember the original Agfa did behave similar but the activity was the same until the last drop.

[Kevin Crisp]

How do I get to PDX? If I drive to Yellow Corners - which direction do I turn?

Head north a bit, then hang a left and drive to the coast.

Kind of reminds me of the Beatles' interview: "How did you find America?" "Turned left at Greenland."

[paulbarden]

What is your experience with the shelf life of the post-AGFA Rodinal(or R09)? I used to soup nearly anything in Rodinal in the past, nowadays I switched to HC-110(the syruppy liquid). Just because there was not the same confidence as with the old one(red AGFA bottle). I tried various Rodinal/R09, all of them had significantly shorter life.Some crystals emerged after couple of months of using and sudden death...There was(maybe still is) very few real producers of the developer, lot of them are just rebadged products, just as with films. This leads to confusion. Last one I tried was Adox Adonal(and even Adox used to sell two different formulas at time!), and crystals in the bottle again. I remember the original Agfa did behave similar but the activity was the same until the last drop.

I have only had reliable access to R09, and I can say with certainty that it has very poor shelf life once the bottle has been opened. I found that a half full bottle will last only a couple months at best, which is why I stopped buying it 2 years ago. I found it too tedious to decant the 500ml bottle into smaller ones, just to get it to last longer. I use PMK almost exclusively now, and that stuff lasts for at least two years regardless of how close to empty the bottle is.

I have about 1/4 of a bottle of original Agfa Rodinal from 1984 that was given to me 5 years ago, and it still works fine.

[Dugan]

I have been using the Adox-branded Rodinal the same way I used the Agfa version, and have not had a problem with longevity.
It usually takes me 6 months to a year to go through a bottle of concentrate, using only 12 or 24 ml per batch of film.

[Tin Can]

Many Love to Hate Rodinol

Maybe too easy for a Pro

I try to follow no one

[Michael R]

Many Love to Hate Rodinol

Maybe too easy for a Pro

I try to follow no one

Rodinal has always been good enough for Mark Citret. Can't make better prints that that in my opinion. Granted, that's LF. I think most who dislike Rodinal are referring to the graininess but you'd need to make pretty big enlargements from LF negatives for that to be a problem.

I never really used it other than trying it a few times early on (this would have been Agfa stuff at the time). But I recently bought a bottle for some print developer ideas. Actually at one time, very long ago admittedly, when papers were very different) Agfa recommended it as a print developer in addition to film/plates. Not sure what else there would be to hate about it.

[paulbarden]

Many Love to Hate Rodinol

Maybe too easy for a Pro

I try to follow no one

Randy, my point is that R09 isn't Rodinal, but a facsimile. Many expect it to be Rodinal, which it isn't. I don't "hate Rodinal" at all, but I find the facsimiles fall short of my expectations.

[faberryman]

Randy, my point is that R09 isn't Rodinal, but a facsimile. Many expect it to be Rodinal, which it isn't. I don't "hate Rodinal" at all, but I find the facsimiles fall short of my expectations.

The formula for Rodinal has changed over the decades. I am not sure which formula would be deemed the "real" Rodinal.

https://www.digitaltruth.com/article...ic-rodinal.php

[notorius]

I have been using the Adox-branded Rodinal the same way I used the Agfa version, and have not had a problem with longevity.
It usually takes me 6 months to a year to go through a bottle of concentrate, using only 12 or 24 ml per batch of film.

Maybe I should give it a try. I had the same bad experience with R09(Foma, Calbe, etc.) as paulbarden.
I used to use 35mm, MF and 13x18, everything in Rodinal, various dilutions. Few weeks ago I discovered an old 30x40cm print in my darkroom, made from 35mm Agfapan APX100 negative souped in Rodinal(1+50 possibly) and the grain is very subtle yet very sharp. I would not believe if someone else told me this is Rodinal developed 35mm.