Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2017/06/15

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Subject: [Leica] (SPAM: ?) Re: B&W developers
From: mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2017 03:03:30 -0400
References: <1F63DC96-60A9-4639-9274-7E30C51F7FFE@me.com> <D56686F8.865D5%chris@chriscrawfordphoto.com> <826FD86D-0F0A-4F7C-96B5-E072714904E1@gmail.com> <D5669F73.865FF%chris@chriscrawfordphoto.com> <82707A7CEC084E5796353A7C0E15F338@OWNERPC> <CAJ3Pgh4JOp2W3UbpyJFDsR=U24SqnqVQhCPA0P+-F3dNgGsLzw@mail.gmail.com>

Microdol-X @ 1 part Microdol 3 parts water and made for warmish tan negs 
(not stained) which could make for impressive tonality its development times 
were absurd over 20 minutes maybe 30 maybe more. We were used to 8 or 9.
Microdol had 125 grams of sodium sulfite in it which is a silver solvent as 
well as preservative way higher than any developer made and the highest 
making it an odd choice of a formula which would be used by serious 
shooters.  It gave oddly impressive tonality at the expense of very clumpy 
big grain especially if you did this wait more than one minutes between 
agitation cycle thing he was talking about.
It was a very popular developer at any dilution for serious or otherwise 
shooters to not use. 
When Xtol hit in 1996, it was a soon a moot point it gave far better 
acutance, grain and tonality; All three.
Usually you got a choice of one. Not two, not three. 
Xtol at 1:3 gave you three. acutance, grain and tonality.
A thing long held to be impossible. You for sure never got high sharpness 
and fine grain unless you used slow film.
It also if it didn?t like you could give you totally clear negatives with no 
sign of anything on them.
Great for weddings! Just go into the witness protection program.

 
 

-- 

Mark William Rabiner
Photographer

On 6/14/17, 12:22 PM, "LUG on behalf of Paul Roark" 
<lug-bounces+mark=rabinergroup.com at leica-users.org on behalf of 
roark.paul at gmail.com> wrote:

    Do you remember the old Kodak technical rep. Tom Bates?  (I think that 
was
    his name.)  He once told me that for the ultimate sharpness try the 
dilute
    Microdol-X with very long stillness periods between agitation.  The
    stillness allowed an exaggerated adjacency effect, which is what most of
    the "sharpness" differences in developers are all about.  I think he
    actually was recommending about 20 minutes for the agitation cycles.  I
    tried that, but the unevenness in the plain sky areas was unacceptable.
    Balancing the evenness and adjacency with good agitation procedures 
seemed
    to be one of the keys to optimizing the development procedures.  It's an
    art, with lots of room for individuals to come up with their own special
    methodologies.
    
    Paul
    www.PaulRoark.com
    
    On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 8:50 AM, Bill Pearce <billcpearce at cox.net> 
wrote:
    
    > An excellent alternative, Paul, but for me, the added sharpness of 
Rodinol
    > outweighed the grain, which was not basketball sized clumps, but very 
very
    > fine tight grain. I find grain one of the special things about film 
that
    > digital lacks, and which digital simulations fail to provide. Microdol 
is a
    > good developer, but for me goes  only halfway.
    >
    > If grain is a problem, I usually stuck with D-76.
    >
    > I need to shoot more film. If only I had a suitable scanner.
    >
    > ----Original Message----- From: Paul Roark
    > Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2017 10:03 AM
    > To: Leica Users Group
    > Subject: Re: [Leica] (SPAM: ?) Re: B&W developers
    >
    > We all probably had our favorite "soups."  I found Rodinal's grain too
    > much.  If you like a one-shot and less grain, try Microdol-X 1:3.
    >
    > FWIW
    >
    > Paul
    > www.PaulRoark.com
    >
    > On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 5:14 AM, Christopher Crawford <
    > chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote:
    >
    > Dan
    >>
    >> Yes, Rodinal is actually available now in a couple different 
formulations.
    >>
    >> AGFA changed Ordinal?s formulation a few times over the more than 100
    >> years they made it. The final version of it is available as Adox 
Rodinal.
    >>
    >> http://www.freestylephoto.biz/12054-Adox-Rodinal-Film-Developer-500-ml
    >>
    >> Adox also makes Adox Adolux R09, which is the pre-WWII formulation.
    >>
    >> When my last bottle of the modern Ordinal formal ran out, I bought a
    >> bottle of the pre-war formula to try. Didn?t see any difference in my
    >> photos, but I haven?t developed many films with it yet.
    >>
    >> In addition to these, there are several other companies, including 
Rollei
    >> and Foma, marketing ?Rodinal? type developers.
    >>
    >> --
    >> Chris Crawford
    >> Fine Art Photography
    >> Fort Wayne, Indiana
    >> 260-437-8990
    >>
    >> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
    >>
    >> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
    >> Become a fan on Facebook
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >> http://www.freestylephoto.biz/12055-Adox-Adolux-APH-09-500-ml
    >>
    >> On 6/14/17, 7:53 AM, "LUG on behalf of Dan Khong"
    >> <lug-bounces+chris=chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org on 
behalf of
    >> dankhong at gmail.com> wrote:
    >>
    >> >Is Rodinal still around?
    >> >
    >> >Sent from my iPhone
    >> >
    >> >> On 14 Jun 2017, at 6:36 PM, Christopher Crawford
    >> >><chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote:
    >> >>
    >> >> I treat ALL developers as one-shot. You get the most consistent 
results
    >> >> always using fresh developer, and developers are so cheap that 
trying
    >> >> to
    >> >> save money by reusing is silly.
    >> >>
    >> >> I keep four developers in stock at all times, and choose depending 
on
    >> >>the
    >> >> film and look I want. Rodinal, D-76, Tmax Developer, and PMK.
    >> >>
    >> >> When asked by a newbie to recommend one developer, I always say 
this:
    >> >> D-76, diluted 1+1 is probably the best all around developer. Its 
easy
    >> >> to
    >> >> use, relatively inexpensive, and gives good results on damn near 
every
    >> >> film made.
    >> >>
    >> >> If the person says: ?I don?t want to deal with mixing powdered
    >> >>chemicals!?
    >> >> I then recommend either Kodak Tmax Developer or Ilford DDX. I like 
them
    >> >> because they give good results on most films and are easy to mix 
(no
    >> >>need
    >> >> to accurately measure a few tiny ML of stock solution the way you 
do
    >> >>with
    >> >> highly dilute developers like Rodinal or HC-110). The standard 
dilution
    >> >> for both these developers is 1+4.
    >> >>
    >> >> I recommend diluting 1+7. The 1+4 times for most films are pretty 
short
    >> >> (5-6 minutes), and I like longer times to avoid uneven developing 
(with
    >> >> any developer not just these two), and Tmax and DDX are relatively
    >> >> expensive. The higher dilution saves money if that?s an issue. To 
get
    >> >>1+7
    >> >> developing times, multiply the times the manufacturers give for 
the 1+4
    >> >> dilution by 1.5x. (so if the 1+4 developing time is 6 minutes, 
give 9
    >> >> minutes with the 1+7 dilution). This formula has worked for every 
film
    >> >> I
    >> >> have tried.
    >> >>
    >> >> --
    >> >> Chris Crawford
    >> >> Fine Art Photography
    >> >> Fort Wayne, Indiana
    >> >> 260-437-8990
    >> >>
    >> >> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
    >> >>
    >> >> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
    >> >> Become a fan on Facebook
    >> >>
    >> >>
    >> >>
    >> >> On 6/14/17, 6:05 AM, "LUG on behalf of Gerry Walden"
    >> >> <lug-bounces+chris=chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org on 
behalf of
    >> >> gwpics at me.com> wrote:
    >> >>
    >> >>> I don?t want to start and wars here, and I know this is a 
minefield in
    >> >>> which I will get a thousand and one answers, but is there any >>>
    >> consensus
    >> >>> of opinion these days on a one-shot b&w developer?
    >> >>>
    >> >>> Insanely I am thinking of doing my own processing of film again.
    >> >>>
    >> >>> Gerry
    >> >>>
    >> >>> Gerry Walden LRPS
    >> >>> www.gwpics.com
    >> >>> +44 (0)23 8046 3076 or
    >> >>> +44 (0)797 287 7932
    >> >>>
    >> >>>
    >> >>>
    >> >>>
    >> >>>
    >> >>>
    >> >>>
    >> >>> _______________________________________________
    >> >>> Leica Users Group.
    >> >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more 
information
    >> >>
    >> >>
    >> >>
    >> >> _______________________________________________
    >> >> Leica Users Group.
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information
    >> >
    >> >_______________________________________________
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    >>
    >>
    >>
    >> _______________________________________________
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    >>
    >
    > _______________________________________________
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    >
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In reply to: Message from gwpics at me.com (Gerry Walden) ([Leica] B&W developers)
Message from chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Christopher Crawford) ([Leica] B&W developers)
Message from dankhong at gmail.com (Dan Khong) ([Leica] B&W developers)
Message from chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Christopher Crawford) ([Leica] (SPAM: ?) Re: B&W developers)
Message from billcpearce at cox.net (Bill Pearce) ([Leica] (SPAM: ?) Re: B&W developers)
Message from roark.paul at gmail.com (Paul Roark) ([Leica] (SPAM: ?) Re: B&W developers)