KaiKlindt Hello everyone, Today, for the first time in ages, I developed some Efke R50 film, which expired in 2013. The result was a transparent strip with not even the slightest hint of a negative. My question to you: how could this have happened? Is it because the film has gone off (my theory)? Or could it be down to the developer, Rodinal 1+50, freshly mixed of course, although the concentrate is likely to be at least three years old (and is correspondingly ‘brown’)? I can rule out a camera fault. I’d be grateful for any advice...
KaiKlindt Thanks, Wolf... but I can rule that out too. Could it be that the developer had passed away?
Morte Unlikely. Did you take the lid off the camera? (People sometimes do the most unbelievable things). Rodinal seems to last for ages.
Xenar Hi Kai, I wanted to approach this a bit more systematically, so I have two questions: 1) Can you see the frame numbers on the film? If so, the fault lies with the photography or the camera; if not, it’s down to the development process. 2) Did you use original Rodinal or a replica, e.g. R09? Contrary to the common belief that Rodinal is immortal, I myself have had to learn the opposite, at least with R09. So your developer concentrate in the opened bottle may well be dead. To test this, a small (undeveloped) film snippet is sufficient. Simply prepare a beaker of developer at the dilution you use, dip the film snippet into it in the light, swirl it around for a while and see what happens. Regards Xenar
KaiKlindt Hello, Xenar, ? No, the margin numbering isn’t visible. So I’m also suspecting the developer is to blame. I’ll give your tip a go straight away. ? Thanks and best regards, Kai
TR At least with R09, I’ve had the opposite experience as well. So the developer concentrate in that opened bottle may well be dead. I’ve had that experience myself.
