finally settling on traditional black and white

[celestine47]

hello,

I have just aquired a Jobo CPE 2 PLUS which I intend to use for monochrome film processing, unless someone on this forum can advise me not to, all criticism welcome. I have settled on Pan F and I am going back to the utterly beautiful HP5 and I will use Rodinal to do both, again any advice. I understand that Rodinal is a cure all, miricle worker, shoe shiner, toothache curer etc , I have read through the forums and seen so many good things said about this dev. that I am now going to try it.
I think that saving all my films up until october and having a mass processing will be about right.
I am still not keen on digital monochrome some how the darkroom still beckons and I think it is worth the aggro of setting it up. So , here goes .

[Benchista]

I like HP5 in Rodinal very, very much indeed. Gives plenty of beautifully-formed grain, wonderful tonality and plenty of sharpness. However, one thing it really doesn't need IMHO is too much agitation - I prefer to use it fairly dilute (1 + 50) with minimal agitation to get a "partial stand" compensating effect, so I tend not to use my CPE-2 for it. I would say try it and see how it suits you, TBH - you may like the results.

I do like digital monochrome in many ways, but there's simply no way you can get the same result as this combination, or SFX, or various other more unusual films.

[Woolliscroft]

I'd agree with almost all of what Nick says, but if you are also using Pan F, try deving it in Neofin Bleu. It's a high accutance developer and the results can be magical, especially with landscapes (don't use it with HP5 unless you are prepared to put up with a significant grain increase. It's designed for slow films).

[Benchista]

Must try that myself. Years ago I used to love Pan F in Acutol, and although I love the film I've not found a dev that goes with it so well since for my taste.

[Woolliscroft]

I also used to use Acutol. Neofin Bleu does much the same thing only more so. I use it with both 35mm and medium format and find it particularly nice with the latter. The lower enlargement levels keep the effect, whilst making it less obvious how it works, if that makes sense.

At one time I had to get my German in laws to send it over, but it's easy enough to get here now.

[Benchista]

Sounds good. I've seen it advertised at a number of online suppliers, so I must give it a whirl.

[DaveS]

I like Pan F in PMK pyro (Home brew). Rate it at EI 32 and give 6 1/2 min for grade 3 printing or 7 min for grade 2. Either way I use a 3 min aftersoak, and no stop bath.
Cheers,
Dave

[taxor]

I think it's great to hear of someone returning to trad photography and I wish you the very best of luck with it. I also think you're wise to standardise on a particular film/dev combo. I like the results I get from HP5 in homemade D76 (at 1:1) but, ask a dozen different photographers their preferences and you'll a dozen different replies! Regards, Taxor.

[Benchista]

I think it's great to hear of someone returning to trad photography and I wish you the very best of luck with it. I also think you're wise to standardise on a particular film/dev combo. I like the results I get from HP5 in homemade D76 (at 1:1) but, ask a dozen different photographers their preferences and you'll a dozen different replies! Regards, Taxor.

More like two dozen replies!

But that's the beauty of the medium - none of them are wrong.

[NorthernMonkey]

I've been using ID11 with HP5, which is the same as D76, however, I've heard so much about Rodinal, I'm definately going to get some next time I put an order in for film (currently 30 rolls in the fridge, so that may be a while)

[pilliwinks]

I use Rodinal as my standard developer, although I have yet to try it as a toothache cure...

Like Nick, I'd suggest not using it in a processor, as a large part of its merit is as an acutance developer, and continuous agitation works against this. Also like Nick, I use it at 1:50 (sometimes 1:100).

I'm not sure what size film you're processing. Unlike the majority, I don't like grain at all, but don't find it a problem in my usual 6x7 and 5x4 film sizes. For 35mm, I'd use something else.

I don't have a processor, by the way; I use Paterson and Combiplan tanks.

[celestine47]

thanks lads an lassess , now can anyone advise a developer for HP 5?, I have decided on Rodinal for the Pan F.

[beejaybee]

For HP5 - ID11, or Microphen if you want a 2/3 stop increase in speed without increasing the grain. (But I find ID11 gives more contrast.)

[NorthernMonkey]

ID11 or DD-X, the DD-X is more expensive though

[taxor]

ID11/D76 - that's what I'd choose (diluted 1:1)

[topoxforddoc]

I've used neofin red and blue, ilfosol, acutol, aculux and DDX, but my current fave for HP5 is XTOL 1:1. HP5 pushes very nicely with XTOL too.

Charlie

[Wheelu]

You might try HP5 with Perceptol. Try rating it at 320. Less grain than with DD-X. Used at 1:3 it is quite economical and the sharpness is fine.

[John_K]

Rodinal in the JOBO is probably not a good idea. Rodinal is a high accutance developer which means it can enhance sharpness. How this works is by the developer in the tank exhausting itself on edges of the image which leaves an invisible to the human eye line. This when enlarged gives the 'edge sharpness' which Rodinal is so renowned for. (Similar to the unsharp mask eff4ct in Adobe).

This is obtained by tank agitation as per instructions. i.e. initial constant inversion agitation for 1 minute @ 68f/20c degrees followed by one inversion every 30 seconds for the remaining time.

With a JOBO the agitation, even when reduced by 15% as is normal will not allow the developer to work properly. You will get correctly developed negatives, but without the edge accutance and possibly a slight increase in grain.

Personally I love Rodinal. It never seems to go off, is cheap to buy and can be diluted so it is very economical to use, and in my experience can be used with almost any silver based B&W film.

[celestine47]

hello john, so do you think the Jobo buy was a good idea on my part?, if the Rodinal , which I definately intend to use , is not going to be compatible with the Jobo , then what should I use the Jobo for?.

thanks for telling me about this one , as always this forum has saved me money , time and a lot of silly mistakes

[Wheelu]

I have just re-read your original post and infer that you have not tried Rodinal before. Well it's fun to experiment and you should try Rodinal, but I would not fill up that processor with a large batch of film only to find the results are not what you want.

In my experience Rodinal produces very sharply defined grain which is incredibly prominent. Unless you want this effect, or are using a 5x4 camera perhaps, it would not be my choice for use with HP5.

Try it with PanF perhaps.