XTOL + Rodinal vs. Rodinal Only

[omarmagdi]

<p>Hello everyone.<br /><br />I am so interested into getting some XTOL and mix it with Rodinal, unfortunately nobody in Egypt sells XTOL anymore, so I'll need to order that 5 liter pack from the US or something, and that would cost me around $30 per pack and of course that's a lot to spend on a developer than I am not so sure I will be using regularly.<br /><br />But to whoever used this combination.<br />What is better in terms of Contrast, Whites and most important Sharpness and Resolution?<br /><br />Is the mix better than Rodinal alone when it come to any if not all?<br /><br />I quite like the grain of Rodinal (Most of the times) also how does the grain change there? is it drastically softer? <br /><br />And how about Rodinal's Sharpness?<br /><br />I use TRI-X 400 box speed, I rarely push or pull my film.<br /><br />Tell me your thoughts! <br />Thanks!</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>I tried a mixture of Rodinal and Xtol about 11 years ago. There's a mention <a href="/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/009bDK"><strong>here</strong></a>. The results were interesting, subjectively "better" than Rodinal or Xtol alone, but not better then, or significantly different from, results I was getting with a single developer like HC-110. It's interesting to experiment with, but don't expect any dramatically different results.</p>

<p>Several years ago Patrick Gainer wrote about some experiments, adding ascorbate to Rodinal - if I'm recalling correctly. The idea for using Xtol was for the ascorbate component. Ilfosol-S might also work. Or you could just experiment with ascorbate as a reducing agent added to Rodinal.</p>

<p>It's been several years since I tried those mixtures but if I'm recalling correctly the concept was to use ascorbate to improve the speed over Rodinal, which is a slow and even speed losing developer. Some films I've tried with Rodinal worked best when rated at around half the box speed, assuming I wanted conventional results rather than grainy, contrasty results from pushing.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>Lex, here is the article about which you speak. 1/2 way down the page.<br>

http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Rodinal/rodinal.html</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>That's the one. I remember being more impressed with the results of adding borax to Rodinal for stand developing. Less base fog and grain. However it can produce more bubbles and foam due to the reduced surface tension, so it's a good idea to modify agitation techniques to minimize trapped foam. Usually I found stainless reels better for stand development and foamy developers - less surface to trap foam, compared with plastic reels.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>Keep adding things and soon enough you end up with D-76. :-)</p>

[murray_kelly]

<p>I have used rodinal and HC-110 1:1:250 as a stand developer. The pH was 8.8 The film was a contrasty one (RO80s) and the tonality was good. The ascorbate and sulphite replacement in the HC-10 resulted in something like gainer's mix with borax and ascorbate.<br /> The acutance was less than the rodinal alone but others who saw the results said they didn't mind the result at all. I was a little disappointed.<br>

Bessa R , Snapshot Scopar</p><div></div>

[chris_waller]

<p>I have never heard of this. Combining developers seems an odd practice to my mind. I am a long-standing user of Rodinal (30-odd years) and the most I have ever done is to dilute it in 12% sodium sulphite to moderate the grain slightly. It also seemed to give more luminous mid-tones, but that is purely subjective.</p>

<p>I quote the estimable Bob Scwalberg:"One developing agent is best, two is okay, three is very suspect ..." :)</p>

[larrydressler]

<p> I mix Rodinal and HC-110 into what I call Roden110. It i works pretty well.<br>

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jokerphotography/sets/72157645237891633</p>

<p> Look it up on Flickr to see what others do with it other than me.</p>

 

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Don't know about chemical sales in your area, but possibly you could obtain the raw chemicals and put together your own developer from scratch. IIRC, there is a recipe somewhere for an ascorbic acid developer (similar to XTOL) that you could make.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>Mike, that would be Mytol.<br>

http://www.jackspcs.com/mytol.htm</p>

[mjferron]

<p>So I had to try this! I used the Unblinking Eye formula of 100ml Xtol, 400 ml water, 4ml Rodinal.<br /> I used it at 75 degrees F, 9 minutes. Agitation was 15 up front 5 at the top of each minute. Film was 35mm Tri-X rated @250</p>

<p>Contrast was about as bad as it gets being a blue sky, sun shine day against the deep shade areas of the tree. I had to scan quite flat to try and keep the highlights in check. 7.5 minutes would have been a better choice here considering the conditions. This combo did great with the shadows and grain was quite fine overall.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[mjferron]

<p>and small crop</p><div></div>

[PatB]

Thanks for sharing the results. I will try it myself at some point.

[zelph_young]

<p>Rodinal with Sodium Ascorbate is a good developer combination. Still sharp and a bit finer grained than straight Rodinal.</p>