Rollei R3 in Xtol: Dilutions other than 1:2?

[steve_robb1]

<p>G'day everyone,</p>

<p>I bought a box of R3 in 4x5 a while back and have been slowly chewing though it, at nearly half an hour of development per sheet, it's not exactly something I've been ripping through! I was just wondering though, has anyone had any success with R3 in Xtol using dilutions other than 1+2 (taken from the Massive Development Chart)? I'd love to be able to just throw some stock Xtol on a sheet and have it done in 10 minutes! </p>

<p>Has anyone else been playing around with this combination? I've had some decent results with it, but next time I think I'll be going back to a 'standard' emulsion (ie, FP4, TriX etc).</p>

<p>Thanks for your input.</p>

<p>Steve</p>

[willscarlett]

<p>I tried one roll of Rollei R3 and like you, I didn't use Rollei chemicals. I rated the film at 100 and used Microdol-X , diulted 1:1 for 17.5 minutes. The resulting negatives were fine, tho I found the film to have a weird grain pattern and I haven't used any more of it.</p>

<p>The shortest development time you'll get with this film using Rollei chemicals is 12 minutes, rating it at ISO 50 and developing in RHS developer diluted 1+7.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>You may try HC-110 Dilution "A" to speed things up but then you are at the mercy of this strange film it is multi layer and speed depends on the developer and time.</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>R3 (with RHS/AM74) will not give you finer grain <iso 200. Then RLS/CG512 is the best choice. So iso 50-200 RLS/CG512 an Uddo Raffay reference 24 degrees C developer and up from iso 400 to iso 1600 you can use the RHS/AM74 a phenidone-hydroquinon developer.<br>

Both developers RHS 1+7 and RLS 1+4 are working in the 3 layers of R3. Any surface developer like e.g. Rodinal 1+50 will give a disappointed result.<br>

R3 is a modified TSF film hence you are limited in the choice of a suitable developer.</p>

<p> </p>

[steve_robb1]

<p>Thanks for the responses guys. I've only got a handful of sheets left from this box, after that, I don't think I'll be buying it again! Hey, it was in the discount bin, so I took it on a whim, you never know, could have been a winner, too bad though.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>