Rodinal vs. Acufine

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hell-on-a-stick
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:33 pm

Rodinal vs. Acufine

Post by hell-on-a-stick »

I am engaging in an experiment. I recently walked by the film display at my local drugstore and noticed some Kodak ultramax 800 for about $1.98. Asking no questions, I grabbed up some 10 rolls for an experiment. I want to develop the stuff in Acufine, but I'm having a difficult time finding even a basic guide for dev times. One friend says, stick it in Rodinal at 1:100 and leave it for an hour untouched and then fix for a good long while.
Another site says "heat chems to 34C, dev for 6-7 min, then stop and fix heavily." I would like to see some of these shots come out, even if they are 'low contrast'. Im not interested in that so much as getting the image.
So, I shot the 800 @ 3200 in mostly dark environs with some red/yellow spectrum light provided by street lamps and such on total automatic with a canon ae-1 program and a 50prime. Any suggestions on how to begin my experiment?

Ornello
Posts: 882
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:49 am

Re: Rodinal vs. Acufine

Post by Ornello »

hell-on-a-stick wrote:I am engaging in an experiment. I recently walked by the film display at my local drugstore and noticed some Kodak ultramax 800 for about $1.98. Asking no questions, I grabbed up some 10 rolls for an experiment. I want to develop the stuff in Acufine, but I'm having a difficult time finding even a basic guide for dev times. One friend says, stick it in Rodinal at 1:100 and leave it for an hour untouched and then fix for a good long while.
Another site says "heat chems to 34C, dev for 6-7 min, then stop and fix heavily." I would like to see some of these shots come out, even if they are 'low contrast'. Im not interested in that so much as getting the image.
So, I shot the 800 @ 3200 in mostly dark environs with some red/yellow spectrum light provided by street lamps and such on total automatic with a canon ae-1 program and a 50prime. Any suggestions on how to begin my experiment?
It seems you are confused. Ultramax is color negative film.

hell-on-a-stick
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:33 pm

Re: Rodinal vs. Acufine

Post by hell-on-a-stick »

Ornello wrote:
It seems you are confused. Ultramax is color negative film.
Not at all, I am merely performing the experiment. As a c-41 process film, it will process in b&w without activating the pigments. the orange mask on the neg should be heavy and probably 'un-printable' but im going to scan the neg anyway, not print. i just want to make certain the results are optimal.

Ornello
Posts: 882
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:49 am

Re: Rodinal vs. Acufine

Post by Ornello »

hell-on-a-stick wrote:
Ornello wrote:
It seems you are confused. Ultramax is color negative film.
Not at all, I am merely performing the experiment. As a c-41 process film, it will process in b&w without activating the pigments. the orange mask on the neg should be heavy and probably 'un-printable' but im going to scan the neg anyway, not print. i just want to make certain the results are optimal.
It is totally useless. The orange mask will make printing very difficult and contrast hard to control. There is nothing approaching 'optimal' that can be done. Total waste of time.

ErikP
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 12:30 pm

Re: Rodinal vs. Acufine

Post by ErikP »

I process C41 film a lot, most of the time I use caffenol.

But I have also used Rodinal with success. I was told on APUG to try Rodinal 1:50 (from my old bottle, Agfa branded) for 9 minutes at 20 degrees centigrade.
The negatives looked fine to me, probably you'll need to experiment a little, and because of your exposure you need a push-development, so basically you're on your own, no matter what I or others say.

I have developed negative color for a long time, today I rediscovered an old SVET (SBET) film from the former soviet union, that I developed in a bulgarian kit for Svet films, all bought originally in Moscow sometimes in the winter 1973 - 74, I developed the films after I returned home in march 1974, and had forgotten all about them. Now scanned, even compared to 1974 Kodak color film, Svet was REALLY a Lomo film! But I agree with others responding to your question : why not give C41 chemistry a try? If you are able to deevelop B&W color negative is really no big deal. :P

Keith Tapscott.
Posts: 551
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:58 am
Location: Plymouth, England.

Re: Rodinal vs. Acufine

Post by Keith Tapscott. »

ErikP wrote: But I agree with others responding to your question : why not give C41 chemistry a try? If you are able to deevelop B&W color negative is really no big deal. :P
Although it baffles me why someone would want to do something odd like this, I do acknowledge that a few people might like to experiment.
Doing the opposite, I have read about photographers using C-41 developer to tame the contrast of the long discontinued Kodak Technical Pan B&W film, claiming equal to better results than the dedicated Technidol developer.

hell-on-a-stick
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:33 pm

Re: Rodinal vs. Acufine

Post by hell-on-a-stick »

ErikP wrote:But I agree with others responding to your question : why not give C41 chemistry a try?
Well, true, and I agree with others respoding similarly. I'm not a photographer going for the 'perfect' development and image. My initial experiments with Acufine went well and I did indeed turn to C41 processing, and processed several C41 film types and E-6 Films. I'm all about the experiment and waiting to see what comes of different techniques. Even going so far as to develop only 'half' of a 135 roll at a time to see what I could artistically contrive with the negative after it was developed with one half under deved and the other over devd. They did turn out....though it wasn't extraordinary, it was a fun experiment, and since I'm fairly new to this game, I do enjoy making my own foibles and missteps.

You can take a look at my results for color, and experimental developments here: http://www.thecrow-eyebarter-bin.blogspot.com
The next thing I have planned is Black and white positives.

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