Patented by Dr. Momme Andresen in 1891, Rodinal was the first product produced by Agfa and the oldest continuously-produced developer formula in the world. Formally manufactured by Agfa, Rodinal was sold to Connect Chemicals (Ratingen, Germany.) in 2008.
It’s a one shot liquid developer usually used in high dilutions of 1+25, 1+50, 1+100, 1+200. My faroite dilution/film combination being 1+100 using stand development (no agitation) for 50 minutes.
It has a very long storage life, mine’s is over 2 year’s old and is still producing great negatives.
Rodinal is ususaly suited to low film speeds based on the high acutance properties and the coarse grain this devloper produces. A solvent (such as sodium sulfite) can be aded to soften the granularity. However I find that Fuji Neopand 1600 and Kodak Tri-X (rated at 16000 iso) also look beautiful.
Rodinal is a must try for anyone development black and white film and a great starting devloper for anyone thinking of developing their own film.
It’s readily avaliable to buy in the UK with an adverage price of £12.
This blog post was originally written for Photographique magazine – March 2010. Download the PDF Version.
Times & dilutions: http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=&Developer=Rodinal&mdc=Search
Here are a few example images of my negatives developed in the B&W film developer Rodinal.
Neopan 1600 35mm in Rodinal 1+50 - 8.5 minutes
Illford Pan F+ 50 35mm in Rodinal 1+50 - 11 minutes
Illford Pan F+ 50 35mm in Rodinal 1+50 - 11 minutes
Fuji Acros 100 - 35mm in Rodinal 1+100 - 50 minutes
Illford FP4 35mm in Rodinal 1+25
Illford FP4 35mm in Rodinal 1+25
Fuji Acros 100 35mm in Rodinal 1+100 - 50 minutes
Examples on flickr:
Order online:
- http://www.thedarkroom.co.uk/agfa-rodinal-500ml.html
- http://www.silverprint.co.uk (UK)
- http://www.vanbar.com.au/catalogue/product.php?id=74766 (AUS)
Further reading:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodinal
- http://www.flickr.com/groups/rodinal
- http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Rodinal/rodinal.html
Mix your own:
Cannot remember how long I have been using Rodinal now (a good few years though). Now I will not use any other film developer. It’s brilliant stuff. I can recall someone telling me that they found some Rodinal in the ruins of Hitlers Bunker a few years ago (and it stiil processed films). Glad that they resurrected it and saved it when Agfa stopped making it. Like your blog, it’s very informative. Like you I love film.
Regards
Trevor
[...] Be sure to check those external links! Ed Buffaloe’s “Appreciating Rodinal” and Daniel Hewes “An introduction to Rodinal” are good [...]
[...] film with my trusty Mamiya C330, a twin-lens, medium-format camera. I developed the film with Rodinal developer to enhance the contrast and accentuate the highlight information. This type of shooting tends to [...]
I am using Rodinal for about 32 years now. And I dont know anything better. Rodinal and HC-110 are great. good luck for everybody.