Rodinal Shipping

B&H will not ship Rodinal. If shipping Rodinal is prohibited, how does it get to the photo store?

Shipping is not prohibited. B&H opted to go with FEDEX and their 3

days shipment does not allow hazardous materials to be shipped. Call

Adorama. They will ship it UPS ground. I switched to Adorama

completely because of that. Adorama's prices are either the same or

slightly cheaper.

As implied above, there are only problems when shipping Rodinal via

air freight. Calumet (in the Chicago area) also ships Rodinal via UPS.

Rodinal is in fact shipped via airmail. Orders from Fotoimpex in

Berlin are always shipped airmail, even though they may contain

Rodinal or Calbe R09. The US postal service has to pass on parcels

that have been accepted by the German postal service as being in

accordance with mail regulations. In past emails I have stressed that

Calbe R09, which is the original Rodinal formula, has much better

working characterstics than AGFA Rodinal -- finer grain, better

tonality, better acutance. The plastic container for Calbe R09 is

certified for mail transportation in Europe and therefore can be

shipped airmail to the US. People having problems buying Rodinal

mailorder should consider purchasing Calbe R09 instead.

Is Calbe R09 available from a U.S. seller? I thought Rodinal was

Rodinal, unchanged over many years.

AGFA Rodinal obviously is very different to the classic AGFA formula.

Simply have a look at the ingredients listed on the bottle. AGFA

Rodinal now contains a restrainer, R09 does not and is very clear

working. Also R09 is more concentrated, which means that AGFA Rodinal

is more "watered down". The results differ a lot in a direct

comparison and everything speaks for R09. By the way: R is short for

Rodinal. 09 designates the receipe no 9 in the AGFA receipe book.

Calbe was formerly part of ORWO, the East German AGFA company. When

the two companies split up in the 1970s and East German AGFA gave up

its name and trademarks they started selling Rodinal under the new

name R09. Unfortunately it is not available through a US dealer, but

Fotoimpex is an excellent source. They are specializing in male order

to the US and have special shipping rates. Look for my other postings

concerning the differences between the two "Rodinals".

One of the benefits of Rodinal is that it is a very long lasting

concentrated developer. Most people purchase one bottle at a time.

When purchasing Rodinal via mail order in the US, most people order

other products at the same time to offset the shipping overhead.

Ordering a single bottle of R09 from Europe is probably not

economical.

The actual prices may have changed, but a 250mm bottle of

Calbe /Classic R09 was around only $4! The "standard" dilution is

1:40 instead of 1:25 of AGFA Rodinal thus makin R09 go further than

the AGFA product. I use it a 1:100, which give me 25 liters of

working solution. The flat fee shipping fee of Fotoimpex used to be

roughly equal to the hazardous material surcharge (that applies for

Rodinal in the US) plus the shipping and handling fee from the large

US mail order companies. I did not see much of a difference even for

one bottle shipped in from Europe and -- as you point out -- you can

order several at a time to make it more economical. Also it is not

only the price the makes me buy R09, it is the better quality.

After reading several posts about photoimpex in Berlin being a source

of Foma film and Calbe R09 film developer, I have tried contacting

them via e-mail several times with no response. Any suggestions from

those who have done business with them? I also learned of a new USA

source for Calbe R09 developer, Efke film, and 100 speed Foma film. I

bought a few rolls of 25 speed 120 film from them on ebay, and

inquired about other European products. They stock the films mentioned

and have the Calbe developer on order. They will contact me when it

arrives, and I will then be able to update this post regarding price.

Any suggestions that could be offered in regard to processing times

with the Calbe developer would be appreciated, I'm returning to

photography and darkroom work after a 25 year absence. I have found

this forum very

Oops, forgot to list the e-mail of the US source for Calbe R09. It's

sales@jandcphoto.com

I contacted photoimpex.de last week about Efke film. They replied to

my email the next day (though they were out of stock!). So they do

seem to answer email. Give them another try.

J & C Photo is the North American distributor for Photo Impex. The products, and especially the prices are great! (And that's from a Canadian dealing with the U.S./CDN exchange rate!!!) For example: The Classic Polywarmtone fibre paper (Triple Weight) is actually Forte paper, and even with the poor exchange rate, on an order for 50 sheets of 16x20, I'm able to save close to $100.00 over what it would cost me to buy it here in Vancouver, B.C. That's a very significant savings.

 

I may try R09, but in the meantime there's no shortage of Rodinal here in town. But I'm definitely going to be purchasing the Classic 200(Forte) sheet film, again for the great cost savings on a decent product.