HC-110---What the.....

I usually develop TXP320 in Rodinal, but I tried HC-110 at dilution H

(i.e., 1:14 at 9-1/2 min). Whoa....it looked like I underexposed by

two or three stops. The Rodinal rolls (same day, same subjects) were

perfect. Any clues?

1:14 (from stock naturally) and 9.5 minutes sounds right. Interestingly, I'm having the opposite problem, where I usually use HC110, and trying Rodinal am ending up with severely underdeveloped negs. Could your HC110 stock be old? It doesn't keep well (I use mine straight from concentrate). My Rodinal has gone quite dark (compared to an unopened bottle) making me wonder if it's gone weak. It's only a month or two old.<p>

But, I would make sure to mix up a batch of HC110 as you need it from concentrate at 1:63. It blocks highlights alot less than Rodinal, so don't be afraid to agitate every minute.

Rodinal concentrate is well known for working even after having turned brown...

Dilution H should actually be 1:15 from stock (1:63 from syrup, or 1:1 from Dilution B). That time is pretty close to what I used to give TMY before switching to Dilution G, however, and pretty close to twice that for Dilution B with that film on the Massive Dev Chart.

 

Assuming your temp and agitation were correct, and dilution as you say, you should have had normal or very slightly overdeveloped negatives. So the question becomes, did you in fact underexpose, or are they underdeveloped?

 

Is there adequate detail in the shadows, and just not enough density in highlights (indicating underdevelopment), or are the shadows effectively transparent, lacking detail that would normally be recorded? Could you have set the wrong film speed on your meter (not very likely to do so only on the rolls developed in HC-110, but I have to ask)? How old is your stock solution? How old were those rolls/sheets of film?

Thx for reassuring me on the Rodinal. Even if that means I can only look to "user error" as the cause. :-)

Many people do not know the difference between film that is underexposed or underdeveloped. Same with people not knowing the difference between overexposed and overdeveloped.

 

Chances are, you underdeveloped. You may haved mixed your dilution wrong or something.

The HC-110 was fresh, newly purchased. I did two rolls at the same settings, same subjects in Rodinal...no problem. I did two rolls in HC-110 at two different times...same poor results. I agitated 5 secs every 30 secs. The dilution H was correctly mixed. The only logical answer seems that the HC-110 was on the shelf too long???? Thanks for the help.

HC-110 concentrate last almost as well as Rodinal concentrate. Stock solution, OTOH, in a partially used bottle, is good for only a couple months. That's why most folks who use HC-110 mix directly from concentrate.

 

I'd suggest trying one more controlled test in the HC-110, and if it still underdevelops, toss your stock solution and start mixing direct from concentrate.

Check the shadow detail on your negatives. Even if the film was underdeveloped there should be visible shadow detail if the film was properly exposed.

 

If the film was indeed underexposed it will be lacking in shadow detail, regardless of how it was developed.

 

Before you can determine whether or which developer *might* be at fault, be sure of your exposures.

Lex....There is indeed detail in the shadows. I "placed" the shadow details at Zone II-1/2 for this particular series. And I can clearly see those details. (I checked the meter, too.)