This evening I processed a roll of Agfapan APX 25 in Agfa
Rodinal diluted 1:100. The scenes I shot were just about at
the high contrast range that the film could handle. I metered
the scenes carefully, using both a Pentax Spotmeter and the
meter in the LX, so I knew exactly what the high, mid, and low
end of the brightness range was in each scene.
These are some beautiful negatives. They resonate, they have
lots of shadow detail, and the highlights are right where they
should be - even the brightest highlights had detail.
However, apart from a 1:100 dilution, I utilized a couple of
other techniques. First, I used minimal agitation, inverting
and twisting the tank for only ten seconds every three
minutes. This allows the developer to expire a little faster
in bright highlight areas while still remaining active in the
shadow areas of the negative. It also enhances accutance and
sharpness through the formation of adjacency effects. Agfa
Rodinal is one of several developers with which this technique
works well.
This technique does require extending development time
substantially. The time was increased 50% over the 15 minutes
used as the base time for standard agitation with a 1:100
dilution. These times were but starting points. Over the
next few rolls I'll try to refine the time a bit.
The other technique was to use a full liter of working
solution to develop a single roll, rather than the more usual
250ml or so that a small, single reel tank holds. Although
250ml of working solution is adequate to develop a roll of
36exp 35mm film (80 square inches), according to several
sources it may not be enough to develop a roll to its fullest
potential. To quote Anchell in "The Film Developing
Cookbook", "The amount of solution required to cover the
films surface should not be confused with the amount of
developer required to fully develop a roll of film."
The results from using these techniques seem to be quite
promising. These negs are startling in their tonality. I can't
wait to print 'em!
--
Shel Belinkoff
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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