I don't think that stuff ever goes bad. I used the dregs from one bottle and it worked fine, no complaints from this old guy. I still have one sealed bottle, I'll break into it one of these days and have at it with that one.
I don't think that stuff ever goes bad. I used the dregs from one bottle and it worked fine, no complaints from this old guy. I still have one sealed bottle, I'll break into it one of these days and have at it with that one.
Michael Cienfuegos
Last time I developed any film (it's been a couple years, but if I can get the extra bathroom users out of my house I plan to get my darkroom running again ASAP), I used a homebrew formula I call Parodinal. It's a Rodinal work-alike made from acetaminophen pain reliever, drain opening lye, and sodium sulfite. It's simple to make (though precautions in handling the lye are a Very Good Idea), keeps for many months (and yes, it turns as dark as Coca-Cola after couple months, but still works), and does the same job at the same dilutions and times as published data for Agfa Rodinal.
If a contact print at arm's length is too small to see, you need a bigger camera. :D
Nowadays, in Brazil, its hard to find comercial developers, fixers, etc, so a lot of my students, in Sao Paulo, where I go (from Portugal) sometimes to teach Landscape, Portrait and Darkroom workshops, they use that Parodinal formula and they get stunning results with that cheap formula. They use to buy the chemicals and they make the mix. Sao Paulo is a huge town but, in terms of argentic photography shops, it looks like Sahara....Originally Posted by Donald Qualls
Glad to hear it's doing some good (I didn't invent it, but I've promoted it a bit). A common pain reliever, some pool chemicals (both sodium sulfite and sodium thiosulfate are used to reduce chlorine), and drain opener -- developer and fixer! Plain white distilled vineger diluted 1+1 with water makes serviceable stop bath, if you use that. You could even develop prints in Parodinal, with the right dilution (I think it'd be something like 1:10 to get a manageable tray time), though there might be problems with staining the paper base with fiber papers as the stuff darkens.
And no having to pay to ship water (dissolving commercial chemistry) internationally -- film and paper aren't so bad to buy from the USA or Europe, but who'd want to buy ID-11 or F-76, shipped in a jug, that way?
If a contact print at arm's length is too small to see, you need a bigger camera. :D
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks