rodinal is my next adventure

[william_varcas]

1:25 Rodinal really give a classic look to some black and white film from what I saw. I have been using d76 for

over two years now it is time for a change. If I survived for two years of using d76 will I survive another 2

years with Rodinal? Is there anything to concern while mixing the solution? I heard mixing powder solution into

water is dangerous when breathe in the dust, is this the same with liquid solution? I regularly use a pair house

cleaning latex glove or a pair or nitrile glove and sometimes a mouth mask while developing the film. Is that ok?

 

self developing procedure

developer

water (stop bath)

fixer

 

Can I adopt these procedure with Rodinal?

[yog_sothoth]

You can almost certainly skip the mask. None of these chemicals requires a fume hood. Rodinal has an mildly hazardous step or two if you mix it up with the Photographer's Formulary version, but a bottle of liquid from Agfa is not too nasty. The gloves are a reasonable precaution as you are likely going to get some diluted rodinal on your hands while inverting the tank.

[lex_jenkins]

Rodinal can be a skin irritant, especially in concentrate, so go ahead and wear gloves while handling it if you're prone to sensitive skin. I'm not sure whether it's also classified as a sensitizer, which means the person handling it may become more sensitive to a reaction with repeated use.

 

An ordinary mask for nuisance dusts would serve no purpose when handling liquids. While it might make you feel better it's false security. Even a proper respirator would need to be fitted properly to your face, which involves certain testing methodology (which can be summarized as "If it fits comfortably, it ain't working."), and equipped with the correct filter cartridges. The liquids would need to be aerosolized to be harmful, which would not occur with normal handling. It's debatable whether sufficient gas or vapor is emitted to be harmful. Strictly speaking, darkroom chemicals don't emit fumes, which are a byproduct of burning metals. Nitpicking, sure, but it's important to understand the differences when researching material safety data sheets (MSDS) and other safety and health precautions.

 

Be aware, also, that some people can have worse reactions to gloves made from latex and other materials than the chemicals or contaminants they're trying to protect themselves from. If you sense anything remotely resembling an allergic reaction or sensitivity to latex, stop using it immediately. Reactions are rare but potentially serious. Keep in mind that after 10 minutes or so wearing latex gloves many people experience sweaty, itchy hands due to the trapped perspiration, which may not be a reliable indication of an allergic reaction.

 

I tend to believe that most people worry unnecessarily about darkroom chemicals, not because there are no legitimate hazards but because their worries are based on lack of knowledge. Unpleasant odors don't prove the presence of contaminants and lack of odor doesn't prove the absence of hazards. Be informed and be reasonable.

[larrydressler]

Welcome to Rodinal you will find it an invaluable asset to your art. 1-25 1-50 10100 and above all have uses with many films. I have never had a problem with the liquid burning or irratating me and as far as I can tell there is little or no odor. Try it with slow and fast films higher dilutions and stand development. I find that there are some of the new T-grain films that don't like it but I was able to take Delta 100 and get great results at 1-200 for 50 minuets full stand. Don't throw away your D-76 just yet but if you like the use of a liquid developer you might look into HC-110. I like to call it Liquid D-76.

[chris_waller]

I've been using Rodinal now for 25 years. It is the most robust and least temperamental of developers, with legendary keeping qualities. I handle it with bare hands and have never experienced any ill-effects. Personally, I prefer to downrate film and use Rodinal at 1:50 to give me development times of around 8-10 minutes.

[henry_alive]

I have been using Rodinal over five years now. I specially recomend it with TX400, EI320, 1:50, 11minutes 30 seconds.

Good luck,

Henry.

[randall ellis]

Rodinal is my primary developer (~%98 of the time). The different dilutions give somewhat different results, the higher dilutions (1:100 especially) giving a more compensating effect than the lower (1:25) dilutions. I never worry about gloves (or masks for that matter), but do what you feel you need to do. If you don't use that much film, one 500ml bottle could very well last you two years!

 

- Randy

[rustys pics]

Rodinal is in many ways the perfect film developer. It keeps forever (decades!) requires a tiny amount for working solution,

and can be diluted greatly to achieve different effects. However being a D-76 user you will see film grain using Rodinal. It

does not make the film more grainy, but unlike D-76 has no solvent effect to "round off" the silver halide crystals. So 400

speed films will be noticeably coarser than 100 speed films. 1:50 seems to be the dilution most users prefer. 1:25 will get

more gritty and contrasty. Some people dilute 1:200 and stand develop film for hours, achieving amazing tonal qualities in

tough lighting conditions.

 

I've been using it for over 20 years, and can promise you will never get bored experimenting with Rodinal.

[rustys pics]

I'll attach a photo made on Efke 100 film and developed in Rodinal 1:100. It's from a 35mm negative and may give some

idea of the developer.<div></div>

[laurentvuillard]

As a professional chemist : Toxicity is nil unless you drink it. However the real risk with rodinal CONCENTRATE is that it is really alkaline so the risk would be to get a drop in the eye which is easier that it sounds if, for instance, you drop the bottle on your workbench. In a lab we would use it wearing safety specs, I think this is a useful precaution. Now that I am finished with the legal bit, I have to say that I love as it keeps for years, is quickly ready dilute 1+25 and go. It's main strenghts are -accutance (sharpness) and -ability to lower the contsrast by dilution 1+100. I use it at 1+25 for 9 min At 20degree C, one inversion/min for Ilford HP5 . Ok you'll find the negs a bit grainy but the prints will look shaper. Good luck!

[hugh_hutcheson]

"As a professional chemist : Toxicity is nil unless you drink it."

As a chemist Laurent can you explain the toxicity a bit more - if I am instructing students I make the comparison

that the patches smoker use to quit, allow nicotene to be adsorbed through the skin, so do some diabetic

treatments I think. Since photographic emulsion is structurally not dissimilar to skin, containing gelatin, and

photographic chemicals are designed to be quickly adsorbed into emulsion, surely photographic chemicals can be

readily adsorbed too? Plus that if you work with developer and fixers and don't wear gloves, your fingers stink

of the stuff even after scrubbing them clean.

As for everyone's contributions about Rodinal, I feel really fired up to try some now! Thanks for the

info....guess I'll be wearing my gloves though ;-)