Rodinal - Reducing That Grain - Update
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- Опубликовано: 20 июн 2024
- I've been doing some more work with the Rodinal Grain Reducer and have an update for you. TLDR: It works well with FP4 Plus. I used Adox Adonal for these tests. FP4 Plus developer 1+50 for 8 minutes (9 minutes 40 seconds for the Rodinal 1+50 with 10ml additive).
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Grain Reducer for Rodinal:
Take 90ml warm water
Dissolve 1g Salt (no additives)
Dissolve 1.8g Boric acid
Dissolve 1.2g Borax
Make up to 100ml with water
To use add 10ml of this grain reducer to 500ml Rodinal 1+50 working developer. Add 25% to your regular Rodinal development times.
John Finch
Pictorial Planet
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It would be marvelous to see if this additive works when using Rodinal 1:100 stand development.
Well why don’t you do that then on a 24exp film.
Excellent results! I'd also be curious to see how it behaves in stand development.
A big thank you to Tim! Thanks!!
Very useful update. I can see the reduction in the grain easier here and the "punch" of the Rodinal seems to be retained.
Thanks for following up, John!
Cheers, David!
I think there is some misunderstanding about the so-called 'grain'. First, the 'grain' is not black, it is white. The black in the print is caused by two things. First, where the silver halide crystals have not been activated by exposure to light, they will be cleared during the fixing process - the shadow areas. Secondly, the tiny black specks are gaps between the developed halides. This happens because of clumping, which means that with certain developers, and Rodinal is a prime example, the silver halide crystals that are activated a by exposure to light and then reduced to metallic silver by the developer, tend to form into large clumps leaving gaps between them. These gaps are like holes between the metallic silver and show up as black specks on the positive. A solvent developer smooths out these gaps by slightly dissolving the sharper edges of the metallic silver clumps and this tends to diffuse the light passing between the clumps of silver and thus shows up on the positive as softer 'grain'. The downside of this is slightly less acutance. It's also true that the visual appearance of the grain will change depending on contrast, development time, even the agitation method. Film developing is like alchemy.
Thanks John this is a good Rodinal customization. I can see the grain reduction easily. Especially since one can choose to use it, or not, at the time of development.
Thank you, very interesting! However, instead working in the darkroom I have photographed the negativ with my Nikon Z6 instead of scanning it and as result I got less grain with Adox Rodinal. Kind regards from Sweden!
I've found about the same amount of apparent grain reduction just by using 1:25 dilution. It would be interesting to further this exploration by comparing the 1:50 with grain reducer to 1:25 straight.
Thanks for that John.
Great!!
For most photography I don't see that reducing grain would be much of a benefit. For portraits, and especially head shots, I could see reducing grain to smooth out imperfections and blemishes.
John, does the grain reducer have the same longevity characteristics as the Rodinal? Thanks
I've not life-tested it but if one added some oxygen scavenging sodium sulphite, only a couple of grams would be needed in 100ml (and at such a low amount it wouldn't change the developer much in itself), it should last a long time. Maybe someone else can chime in on that assumption? I'd also recommend a small PET bottle or a PET bottle with a squirt of lighter gas in it.
Hi John. If you're going to reduce the grain of Rodinal ....... why use Rodinal? There are plenty of other options available including the standard/s D76 - ID11. Best wishes as always from The Rhondda.
Watch the video from 3:50
I guess one argument would be the shelf life of rodinal. The main reason I've moved over to various concentrate options, from id11/d76 is that I just don't develop often enough to make it economical.
Totally agree but as John said in the previous video, I thought it might work so gave it a try. Phew! I got lucky.
Good point that Rodinal is a good choice when you need an “always ready” developer that doesn’t go bad quickly but…what is the shelf life of the additive?
Grain is smaller but you lose the detail in the tree. Sodium sulfite disolves the grain, like in D76........
There's no sulphite added.
Hello John, could you tell if the contrast was lowered uniformly when using the grain reducer? I'm interested in the finer grain and reducing highlights in portraits of women but I would still like good separation of skin (mid) tones. Is there an ideal film/developer combination that can be used that is ideal for portraits of white caucasion females.
It looks like it will be better for portraits using Rodinal. I've never been happy with Rodinal for portraits and skin tones but would definitely give this version a try.
What is the make up of the grain reducer? I watch the previous video but didnt catch it...
In the video notes
-50% grain and also -50% acutace!!!
Yes, a softer look, but still sharper than D76 type developers.