Beef
Hi,
I’ll keep this short...
I’ve got quite a few new Agfa APX 100 films here. These are the standard APX films from ‘Lupus Imaging’ (with the red dot), which you can buy at dm, here at FOTOIMPEX, and pretty much everywhere.
ACTUALLY, this film is supposed to be the perfect combination with Rodinal. But unfortunately, I can’t get any decent contrast.
Whether I use Rodinal 1+50 for 13, 17 or 30 minutes... always the same result!... no matter which batch!
There are definitely at least 3 stops missing from pure paper white. In other words, the black on the negative film just isn’t black enough!
Can anyone here give me a tip? Does this film actually have anything to do with the proper APX 100? Is the APX 100 from Lupus even compatible with Rodinal?
All over the internet, everyone says 13 minutes for 100 ASA or 17 minutes for 160 ASA works perfectly. For me, the result is always completely underexposed and I need a gradient of 4–5 for prints.
My ratio was 6ml to 300ml of water. The thermometer is very accurate and everything was at 20°C. I’ve never experienced this with any other film.
Please help.
Regards
Andi
TR
Hello. I read somewhere that you should prepare Rodinal using at least 10ml of concentrate. Could that be the reason?
Beef
Hello. I read somewhere that you should prepare Rodinal using at least 10ml of concentrate. Maybe that’s the reason?
No, no, I’ve been using Rodinal for years. That’s just a safety guideline. In reality, 5ml is perfectly sufficient. I’ve never had any problems developing a whole roll of film with 3ml in 300ml of water (1+100). And here we’re talking about TWO images. Zone 1 and Zone IX... that’s just how I test my films.
For positives:
The pure film produces the deepest black. Zone 1 must differ only minimally from this. And Zone IX must still be minimally distinguishable from pure paper white. But it’s grey like Zone V or VI. And you can do whatever you like. I wouldn’t want to go to 1+25...and that would be crazy if that were the only option :D
Last night I developed a strip of APX 100 in HC-110 (B) as a test to see if the contrast is even possible... that looks much better already. But I haven’t evaluated it yet. And actually, I want to stick with Rodinal.
Regards
Andi
VolkerSchulz
Since so many people swear by Rodinal and APX 100, I decided to give this combination a go myself.
Using an ISO of 100, a dilution of 1+50, a development time of 24 minutes at 16°C, and the Agfa agitation method, I got usable negatives – at least for my condenser enlarger. For my taste, however, it’s far too ‘rich’ for 35mm. I’d rather stick with my D76 here.
For 35mm, I find Rodinal produces images that are far too ‘rich’. I only still use Rodinal in combination with EFKE 50 for medium format.
Happy shooting!
Volker
michael-kielgmxnet
Are you sure it’s down to the development? It’s also possible that the problem lies in the positive process, for example if the time you’ve determined using a blank negative to achieve pure black is too long.
Personally, I think APX 100 and Rodinal are a very good combination. You’ll need to measure the grain, or use a different developer. For me, this is the standard combination; I develop at a dilution of 1+60 for 14 minutes at 80 ASA. So far, this has always given me negatives that print well, without any trial and error.
Beef
Hi Michael,
No, really... I can stake my life on the fact that everything’s fine with the positive process.
I tried another streak last night at 100 ASA in a 1+50 developer for 15 minutes... it was awful :(
As for the scans from the negative... they’re completely dark. The negatives are so thin that the scanning software can’t even display any grey gradations... everything’s dark, washed out and noisy B)
Maybe it’s down to my Rodinal... I’ll open a new bottle and give that a go. But it’s never happened to me before that Rodinal has gone off :D
What agitation rhythm do you use? Once every 30 seconds, or three times every 60 seconds within the first 10 seconds? :)
michael-kielgmxnet
Hi Andi,
I agitate continuously for the first 30 seconds and then once at the start of every minute. This gives me just the right contrast for my condenser enlarger. I developed a film using this method again just yesterday (albeit for 18 minutes at 18 degrees), and it turned out beautifully.
In general, I’d recommend this site regarding Rodinal:
http://home.arcor.de/piu58/fotoweb/aufsaetze/Rodinal.pdf
. I’ve picked up a tip or two from there myself.
CPD
Hi,
Silly question: are you sure you achieved correct exposure for the film?
If so, it must be the Rodinal. But I find that hard to believe – that stuff doesn’t usually go off. Still, just to be on the safe side, have a go with a new bottle.
Bye!
cfb_de
Hi,
Silly question: are you sure you achieved correct exposure for the film?
If so, it must be down to the Rodinal. But I find that hard to believe – that stuff doesn’t usually go off. Still, just to be on the safe side, have a go with a new bottle.
Bye!
Exactly. You have to identify
all possible sources of error and rule them out one by one. There’s no other way to pinpoint the fault for sure.
It can’t be down to the APX/Rodinal combination; otherwise, the OP would qualify for a Darwin Award by eating APX and drinking Rodinal. That would make for a fascinating bit of erratic troubleshooting for onlookers.
Best regards,
Franz
Edith found a grammatical error.
mattes
Perhaps your Rodinal has gone off. I once had similar problems with fresh Rodinal, but everything turned out fine.
Mattes
MirkoBoeddecker
How do you expose the high-density areas?
The APX tends to lose density during overexposure.
We also had to contend with this phenomenon during the reissue (at the start, I used the scrap of film protruding from the cassette to test the Dmax, which resulted in completely different values compared to using a grey card).
However, the above does not apply if you run test shots as a cross-check and use them to visually adjust the contrast during enlargement.
In any case, over the last two years I’ve learnt to always run a comparison shot – no matter what test you’re doing.
Best regards,
Mirko
dagobert
Hi Beef,
I know the problem.
I used Rodinal
in my Jobo ATL for a while (at the start), and after a short time,
all the non-APX films I developed in the ATL with Rodinal turned completely grey.
As I couldn’t think of anything else to do, I poured the solution away and lo and behold:
everything was fine! And only then did it occur to me that the whole thing couldn’t possibly work
Rodinal is a single-use developer that becomes active half an hour after mixing.
So best regards
uz lovis
cfb_de
Rodinal is a single-use developer that becomes effective half an hour after preparation.
With proper agitation and at 20°C, a 1+50 solution is flat after a good 17 minutes; with a 1+25 solution, it takes a little longer. Both figures are based on my experience from around 20 years of using Rodinal and electrochemical measurements over the last three years.
I probably don’t need to elaborate further on what I think of the stand development methods involving agitation in the first few minutes.
Best regards,
Franz
