Rollei Retro 400S in Rodinal

Asha

Asha

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Asha
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I picked up some Retro 400S film simply because it was cheap but now thinking I may have shot myself in the foot as although I've found dev times listed in the mass dev chart, I have also read quite a few comments about poor results when devd in rodinal.

One even stated to use a minimal of 15ml dev in a soup otherwise detail is lost in the shadows.......is that really necessary?
I was considering a 6ml dev / 300ml water mix for a 35mm film!

Have you guys used this film? What dev did you use? Did you get poor results? etc etc
 
I dunno but I'm kinda wondering what the problem is with 15ml of developer ??
If this is an economy thing, you'll cerlapse with the shock souping with Microphen/ID-11.....even Ilfosol as a bog standard mid timescale is 35ml a soup...;)
 
I was using 1+1 mix of id11 (one litre) for a project not long ago think i squeezed 6 rolls out of it, was a bit strange having to measure out ro9 with a syringe straight after lol but not as strange as the amount of coffee i had to put in caffenol! I usually buy the gourmet ****** (little pulp quote there) and thought a bit of instant coffee would be handy for guests i don't like so didn't get the rubbish stuff. Wish i did now! You gotta use loads for it! Good job I've got access to a cash and carry, they sell some nasty coffee in bulk for peanuts.
 
joxby said:
I dunno but I'm kinda wondering what the problem is with 15ml of developer ??
If this is an economy thing, you'll cerlapse with the shock souping with Microphen/ID-11.....even Ilfosol as a bog standard mid timescale is 35ml a soup...;)
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I didn't really explain it very well...sorry.

No it's not an economy thing....I don't understand why one would have to say make a 1/50 solution using 15ml of dev and 750ml of water as against say 6ml of dev with 300ml of water..............the strength of the solution will be the same.

I don't have the write up to hand, but the person who posted ( not on TP) stated that without using a minimum of 15ml rodinal, the negs would lack detail in shadows......I don't believe all I read but it got me wondering!

It appears that quite a few people have had difficulties obtaining good results from this film.

I'm actually reading more info at the mo.............also looks like it may be over rated at 400 iso.

Wish i'd done more homework before i bought it ...Aarghh!!
 
Asha said:
I didn't really explain it very well...sorry.

No it's not an economy thing....I don't understand why one would have to say make a 1/50 solution using 15ml of dev and 750ml of water as against say 6ml of dev with 300ml of water..............the strength of the solution will be the same.
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Most of what I've read suggests that you need 5ml Rodinal to adequately develop a roll of 35mm/120 film (however some people claim to get perfectly fine results with as little as 2-3ml). So it looks like you'll be fine. When I experimented with stand development last year, I used the same amount of Rodinal, just used more water to go from 1:50 to make up 250ml (ish) to 1:100 to make up 500ml.
 
In general I try to have 6ml of rodinal in a mix - even if that means putting "too much" dev solution in for a given film, but I've not heard it requiring as much as 15ml. Is that just for this specific film?
 
I have used Retro 400s and quite liked the results when developed in XTOL. Grainy stuff though, and I would imagine the biggest problem with developing in Rodinal will be the huge amount of grain. I generally prefer stronger dilutions of Rodinal with less agitation, I find the results are a little bit less grainy and also reduces contrast a bit.
 
Thanks for all your replies.....I took the plunge and made 306ml soup ( 6ml rodinal/300ml water)

Started out at 20°C but due to ambient temps causing the soup temp to raise, I decided to pull back my planned duration slightly from 22 mins to 20 mins 30 secs.

Agitated for first min then 1 tilt every 30 secs

The negs look very good...plenty of contrast etc.

Very pleased as not only was this the first time using this film, it was also the first "test" film I put through my "new" Oly Trip ......looks like all works just fine!

I'll post some results as soon as I get em scanned.
 
Ok here's a few results....

Seems i was getting myself in a knot with the dev solution etc for nothing :bang:..........Note to self: Stop reading so many negative feedbacks about stuff on the internet and feel more confident with my own judgements (y)

Not brilliant results but i can live with em.....looks like my diy repairs to my Oly trip have paid off too (y)

1.
31116945.jpg

Shot at 2012-06-12

2.
16910992.jpg

Shot at 2012-06-12

3.
68530789.jpg

Shot at 2012-06-12

4.
20888677.jpg

Shot at 2012-06-12
 
Cuchulainn said:
Looks like a good dev to me. Definitely a camera to play with some more too!
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Thank you Brian,

Obviously i'm well pleased that the dev worked out but even more delighted that the Oly worked OK.....was a right headache rebuilding it after i freed up the aperture blades...the air was blue! :annoyed: :D :D
 
Regardless on any dev headaches, number four is a fabulous shot that I would have been proud to take :) Cannot fault your choice of camera One little bit either :)
 
norters said:
Regardless on any dev headaches, number four is a fabulous shot that I would have been proud to take :) Cannot fault your choice of camera One little bit either :)
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Many thanks Nick.....I'm looking through the other shots I took to see which one I'm going to post as my week 23 film 52 challenge shot.

Ironically I was considering using No 4 ....... I like to post some history and/facts about the shots that I post if possible...I believe it adds to the interest for the viewer!

I'll hold back from explaining anything about No 4 just yet just in case i do use it in my challenge, however in shot No 1 , the construction work presently going on in the bottom left of the shot is to make an underground 5 level car park......there has been lots of development in and around the port of Nice over recent years, primarily to be able to take more boats ( yachts) and to be able to harbour larger cruise liners....Monaco, only 12 miles along the coast has been doing similar and can now berth some of the largest ocean liners in the world.....
 
Liverpool won the rights to host the liners recently for departures and not just turning around. I work next door to the cruise terminal, its fantastic when the massive ones come in!
 
norters said:
Liverpool won the rights to host the liners recently for departures and not just turning around. I work next door to the cruise terminal, its fantastic when the massive ones come in!
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It's good to hear some life is coming back to the Liverpool Docks.

I spent all my childhood living on the Isle of Man during the 1970s and 80's.

As a young man the IOM Steam Packet ferry would sail in whatever weather....I know i was sick regularly :puke:

The Liverpool docks were a hive of activity.

My teenage years saw the collapse of liverpool as the "roll on roll off" idea between the island and Heysham took off.

No doubt it worked for some but I recall it was very much more inconvenient for myself and my family visiting each other.

Like many things ( including tramways here), the best ideas are often removed, changed in the name of "progress", only to often be replaced by a more modern version of what was many years earlier.

Such is life......

We've drifted somewhat off topic of the thread but interesting topic nonetheless!
 
The steam packet still goes twice a day from Liverpool and once a day from Heysham. On a side note, if you ever went to a cake shop in Peel in the eighties called Muffins then you were probably served by my godparents who have owned and ran it since the very early eighties :)
 
norters said:
On a side note, if you ever went to a cake shop in Peel in the eighties called Muffins then you were probably served by my godparents who have owned and ran it since the very early eighties :)
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Blimey, I lived predominantly in Douglas but cycled everywhere...member of the EVCC if it's still going I don't know.
Used to regularly call in Muffins.
Married as a young man and spent two years living at the top of Lake lane ......There used to be a pet shop facing into the Square/Place...above it was a flat that had it's entrance dorr just a few yards down lake lane on the left.

just had a quick look on google earth...looks to all be private dwelling now....dunt half take me back!!!......
 
Hi Nick,
Being the first test roll through the Oly, all the shots were just of whatever ...I was like a tourist wandering around shooting anything and evrything!! lol
Funnily enough some spontaneous shots offer more than planned shots.

As for the deving, yes it looks like I basically devd very similar to yourself just at half strength/ double time.

There looks to be more grain in some of your shots ...the reflections week 3/52 in particular.....Will that be due to using a stronger soup??....asking as i actually like grain in certain shots so might give it a try next time!
 
Asha said:
There looks to be more grain in some of your shots ...the reflections week 3/52 in particular.....Will that be due to using a stronger soup??....asking as i actually like grain in certain shots so might give it a try next time!
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A Stronger soup and more agitation will increase the grain :)
 
robhooley167 said:
A Stronger soup and more agitation will increase the grain :)
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Thanks Rob ...Got me thinking....rollei 400, shoot at 1600, push in rodinal 1:1 soup, shake like a mad un and go for grain the size of saucers! lmao :D :D

I bet someone's tried it! :nuts:
 
Asha said:
Thanks Rob ...Got me thinking....rollei 400, shoot at 1600, push in rodinal 1:1 soup, shake like a mad un and go for grain the size of saucers! lmao :D :D

I bet someone's tried it! :nuts:
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Right, where's my camera?
 
Forgive me if this has been mentioned above, I admit to only skimming through the thread... But concentration is not the ONLY thing to consider. It must be kept in mind that the developer is depleted over time during the dev process. As such, if one uses say 1:50 (dev:water) for 300ml of water, the concentration at the end of the dev will be different to that when 1:50 for 600ml of water is used, for a like film surface area and like dev time. This means for a more consistent dev, a larger volume of solution for a given concentration should be used.
 
Woodsy said:
Forgive me if this has been mentioned above, I admit to only skimming through the thread... But concentration is not the ONLY thing to consider. It must be kept in mind that the developer is depleted over time during the dev process. As such, if one uses say 1:50 (dev:water) for 300ml of water, the concentration at the end of the dev will be different to that when 1:50 for 600ml of water is used, for a like film surface area and like dev time. This means for a more consistent dev, a larger volume of solution for a given concentration should be used.
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Thank you for taking time to explain something that had never actually crossed my mind but does indeed make perfect sense........and would possily explain the reason why someone on the net had stated about using a minimum of 15ml of rodinal ( hence a larger volume of soup 750ml @ 1:50) to ensure detail in the shadows.
 
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