Rodinal 1+50: How much for 1 roll?

[PaulN]

Hi folks,
I've read a bunch of old posts regarding pushing TriX to EI 3200 using a 1+50 dilution of Rodinal and souping for 30min. In my tank, it can hold up to 570ml.

For a simple 1+50 dilution for 1 roll of film, would I use 510ml of the 1+50 soution for 1 roll of film?

-or-

Would I use the amount that the tank requires for 1 roll of film (270ml I believe) out of the 510ml of mixed solution?

I believe that it is the prior, I would use 510ml of the 1+50 solution for 1 roll, but want to verify before I soup it tonight. It is counter-intuitive compared to all of the other developers out there, you mix a litre of the various solutions and then use only the amount required by the tank.

Thanks!
-Paul

[FrankS]

Hi Paul,
I don't use Rodinal but here's what I think: Mix up 300ml of the rodinal + water at the 1:50 dilution. You'll have enough developer solution to cover the 1 roll of film. This uses the least amount of Rodinal. However, since the idlution factor is so great, being lazy, I would mix up 10ml of Rodinal plus 500ml of water, because the math is easier and the extra Rodinal being used will not break the bank.

[PaulN]

Originally Posted by FrankS

Hi Paul,
I don't use Rodinal but here's what I think: Mix up 300ml of the rodinal + water at the 1:50 dilution. You'll have enough developer solution to cover the 1 roll of film. This uses the least amount of Rodinal. However, since the idlution factor is so great, being lazy, I would mix up 10ml of Rodinal plus 500ml of water, because the math is easier and the extra Rodinal being used will not break the bank.

I read on an old post that Agfa stated that they recommend atleast 10ml of Agfa at the bare minimum for a roll of film. It doesn't say that on any of my instructions, nor can I validate that statement anywhere. While I would like to mix up only 300ml of the solution, I'm worried that I won't have enough rodinal to develop for 30min; ie the solution will exhaust itself 2/3rd through the dev. time.

My problem is that I shot some pictures that I (may) actually like on my test roll. I hate it when test rolls loose their status as 'test rolls'.

[GeneW]

In a Patterson tank I mix one of the following to get 1:50

1. 6ml Rodinal concentrate + water to raise the measure to 300ml (one roll)

2. 12ml Rodinal concentrate + water to raise the measture to 600ml (two rolls)

[edit] just saw your followup post. I've never had any problems using 6ml of concentrate but if you want to be conservative

3. 10ml concentrate + water to 500ml -- just use this for the single roll

Gene

[FrankS]

In that case Paul, just mix up 10ml of Rodinal plus the amount of water needed to get that 50:1 dilution, just to be sure. The difference in the amount of developer used amounts to just pennies, right?

[xayraa33]

do not dilute more 1 : 50 Rodinal than you need, it is a waste of a good developer that is getting harder to find. I developed 1 roll of Efke KB 100 last night, my single reel tank holds 270 ml like yours. I figured out a simple method 30 years ago for the dillution of 1: 50 and it works very well IMHO. Back then it worked out that the amount of Rodinal needed to get a ratio of 1: 50 was the exact amount the a medium sized teaspoon holds mixed to 270 ml of water at 20 deg. C . For the Efke KB 100 it was 11 min @ 20 deg C at 1: 50 dillution. agitate tank 2 sec. every half minute. I got beautiful results IMHO.

[doubs43]

I agree with Gene & Frank; mix 10ml of Rodinal with 500ml of water. Then I suggest that you use it all for the one roll. i.e., fill the tank for the most consistent agitation and development.

For one roll I use a stainless steel Nikor tank that uses 8 oz. total. For a 1:50 solution I mix 4.75ml of Rodinal with water to bring it to a total of 8 oz. I use a 10ml syringe marked off in 1/4 ml to measure the Rodinal.

The syringe came from Micro-Tools more than a year ago and I bought 10 of them packaged as a special buy for $5.00. The catalog number is CF10-10.

Check your state & local laws concerning paraphenalia as the syringes are, in fact, hypodermic needles.

Walker

[hiwatt]

Hi,
I was deciding what film to load for tomorrow's snapshots (my daughter's 3rd birthday), and I came across this thread.
So I promptly loaded the R3A with a roll of Tri-X, and set the meter 1/3 of stop shy of the 3200 mark.

To get to my question: what's the best agitation for the 30min. dev in 1+50 Rodinal? Is three inversions (5seconds) every 2 minutes enough?
Thanks,
Gus.

[xayraa33]

at that long developing time, 30 min,... 5 sec every 2 min. should do very well.

[derevaun]

I've had good results using 3ml of Rodinal for a roll of 120. That was with semi-stand development, where local exhaustion of the developer is part of the process. But from searching APUG and PN, the consensus seems to be that 3ml is a reliable minimum for a roll of film. 6:300 should give you more than enough developer.

[r-brian]

Everything I've seen says to use at least 3 ml of Rodinal per roll of film. The dilution is 50+1 not 50:1, not that it really makes any difference. But just mix enough to do the one roll and you will be fine.

However, if I'm pushing Tri-X I wouldn't use Rodinal. Tri-X at 1600 EI in Diafine is classic.

Brian

[Peter S]

Paul,

6 ml of Rodinal per film works for me. At the moment I am only using Tri X + Rodinal for B&W and loving it. Never pushed it to 3200; I only went as far as 1200 with Diafine. Please post results as I definitely would like to give it a try myself.

One thing I do is making sure that Rodinal is evenly spread. What I sometimes do is mix it at 25C then give it a good shake and let it settle down and cool down to 20C (in all honesty not really sure whether that is necessary, but better safe than sorry).

Good luck

Peter

[Andy K]

I use Rodinal at 1+25 and 1+50 about 95% of the time. Even if only developing a single roll I always make enough for two rolls.
The reason for this is to ensure the solution covers the film at all times even when agitating the tank.

And to second Frank, Rodinal is so cheap it will hardly break the bank to use more.

[titrisol]

in a patterson tank 6ml rodinal +300 water should be plenty.

the 10ml/roll is an overshot

try agitating once every 3 or 4 minutes only, to keep contrast in check.
don't expect much shadow detail.

you could also do 5ml rodinal +500 water and do semi stand for an hour or so.

[PaulN]

I finally got around to souping 2 test rolls in Rodinal 1+50 for 32 minutes tonight. I added two extra minutes as I couldn't get the water bath to 68 degrees. I managed 70 degrees and guessed at the original time. The negatives look pretty good. I'm eager to scan them in tomorrow and post some pictures. They really look nice and sharp.

I ended up using 510ml of solution for each roll. While it may have been overkill, I wanted to make sure that I atleast got something out of the film. I'll try 300ml for the next test roll.

Pics to come after some sleep.

[hiwatt]

I developed too my roll of tri-x at 3200 for 30 minutes in 1+50 rodinal yesterday night; just two brief inversions every 3 minutes.
So far I like the density of the negs, although I couldn't control the temperature (my cheapo alcohol thermometer hit the floor before I could start using it...).
Will put up some scans as soon as I get home tonight.

BTW: since I got hold of some (30) rolls of AGFA APX-400 at closeout prices (about US$ 2.75 a roll!!), how much is it pushable and what's the best soup to do it?
Also, I understand that both tri-x and apx400 are not the best films you can get if you're going to scan....you should use something with a completely transparent base, any hints there?

Thanks,
Gus.

[Andy K]

Not having any Tri-X (because I'd rather spend my money at Ilford, a company dedicated to film, unlike the great Yellow traitor!) I shot a short roll of HP5+ at EI 3200 yesterday in my Praktica BX20 (not a rangefinder I know!). Developed it in Rodinal 1+25 @ 20degrees for 19 minutes. I agitated for two inversions every 60 seconds. Attached is a quick neg scan (resized and nothing else done). I'll make a print tonight for comparison.
The attached was shot under a ceiling light at 6.00 in the evening.

[Andy K]

Ok here's the print scan. Print made on Ilford Postcard paper, developed in Ilford Multigrade @ 1+9. I think Rodinal @ 1+25 for pushing to IE3200 works quite well.

[albrigh]

I like to use Rodinal at 1:100 and mix up 500 mL at a time, although most of my experience with Rodinal is with finer grain films like EFKE 25 and Ilford HP4+.

I love shooting Tri-X at 1600 and have tried Rodinal 1:100 at least a couple of times, but I think I always did 1 roll in 500ml of 1:100 Rodinal, and didn't notice any difference compared to TMAX Developer although I haven't done any scientific comparisons.

Rodinal is cheap and easy to make, so I'm curious to find out why people say to develop your pushed Tri-X in Rodinal?

[albrigh]

BTW, fans of Rodinal, I can highly recommend cooking up some of your own, so you never have to worry about supply again.

500mL for maybe ~ $20, and if you use that at 1:100, you'll have 50 L worth or 100 Patterson tanks full.

It seemed to work for me, I couldn't see any grain on this EFKE 25 and the black, grey, and whites seem ok (see attachment).

[hiwatt]

Here's my first time results with tri-x at 3200 souped 30mins. in rodinal 1+50 (10ml+500ml water btw). Two inversions every 3 mins.

I may need to develop more films (haven't done any for the last 18 years or so) but I like what I got so far, I prefer it to tmax3200...

[Zathras]

Originally Posted by PaulN

Hi folks,
I've read a bunch of old posts regarding pushing TriX to EI 3200 using a 1+50 dilution of Rodinal and souping for 30min. In my tank, it can hold up to 570ml.

For a simple 1+50 dilution for 1 roll of film, would I use 510ml of the 1+50 soution for 1 roll of film?

-or-

Would I use the amount that the tank requires for 1 roll of film (270ml I believe) out of the 510ml of mixed solution?

I believe that it is the prior, I would use 510ml of the 1+50 solution for 1 roll, but want to verify before I soup it tonight. It is counter-intuitive compared to all of the other developers out there, you mix a litre of the various solutions and then use only the amount required by the tank.

Thanks!

-Paul

Hi Paul,

This is a question that always gets a lot of answers due to the fact that Rodinal is such a versatile developer. As you can see, there is no single "RIGHT" way to use rodinal. I have found that I like to use Rodinal 1+50 for 35mm films and at 1+100 for 120 films. This way I am using 5ml of Rodinal per each roll of film. I also like to use longer developing times with agitation intervals of two gentle inversions every 5 minutes. This works beautifully for me, and that is what's important, to me.

Mike Sullivan