Topic: Rodinal Fail

[LT]

I guess it is not true that rodinal lasts forever.

I've had a hate/hate relationship with rodinal.  I don't like the mushy grain in most films I use, I don't like the local contrast, which always look flat to my eyes etc etc etc.  The bottle I bought some time ago, has sat, mostly unused on my shelf.  Every now and then I crack it open and dev a film, just to show myself that despite its failings, it goes on and on.  It's been brown as tea for at least the past 3 years, yet managed to dev films in the box times.

Tonight, for reasons that I can not fully understand, I decided to use it to dev 6 pinhole shots I took this afternoon.  The winter light was amazing, and I had high hopes for the resulting sheets of film. Why, oh why did I think it would be a good opportunity to test the limits of my Rodinal's immortality?

It is safe to assume that this was a huge error on my part.  fresh from the fix, I had 6 clear sheets of film sitting in my Combiplan tank.

gutted   

[f6point3]

Too bad, Leon -- I had the same thing happen to me with a mix of Acufine that I'd been using (and replenishing) for more than a year.  I went without using it for a couple of months, and decided to use it recently to develop a roll of film for a mate -- and that's when it decided to go bad on me!  I got the same results as you: a whole roll of clear 120.  I was so embarrassed.

[LT]

I feel for you Pete.  We know that our (or others) most valuable shots should be treated with the utmost care and attention, yet we still make such stupid mistakes! All I had to do was spend 2 minutes mixing up some fresh D-23! But no, I was an idiot instead .... (no change there then!)

[Francois]

Oh well... live and learn...
I've never been a big fan of Rodinal either. Tried it only once and it didn't blow my socks off.
Now that I look back at some of the stuff I've developed in good old D-76 and I find it quite good...

One thing I'd like to really try is Harvey's Panthermic 777 which has sadly been out of production for about 50 years. From everything I've read about it, it made your negatives really glow...

Oh, well... back to HC-110 I go

[Karl]

ouch, it must hurt Leon

[Jack Johnson]

My Caffenol-C is only good for a half-hour, so usually it's fresher than my coffee.

[Andrea.]

Bad new Leon. Was it 'Rodinal' or old R09 in a black plastic bottle- the latter which  also had fail on me?

[Ken B: eyes, I just do eyes.]

I am currently rolling on the floor in agony, I hate it when developer fails.

The Aircraft Engineer in me won't let me use anything that I suspect is dodgy.

This doesn't stop me from feeling total agony for you Leon.

DAMN is all I can yell.







Note: message as dictated to Ken's colleague while Ken does some weird funky chicken break dance on the floor (What did he have for breakfast ?)

[Francois]

Note: message as dictated to Ken's colleague while Ken does some weird funky chicken break dance on the floor (What did he have for breakfast ?)

Too much sugar in the coffee this morning?

[Paul H]

Total fail as in totally clear, or fail as in hardly any image "clear"?

Being pinhole shots, and sheet film too, it may not be the developing agent, rather the developer... 

My Rodinal  looks like espresso, still works just fine, even after several years and a trip half way round the world.  Decent sized crystals in the bottom of the bottle too.

Do a snip test. It can fail, like any developer, but it's pretty rare.

You have my sympathies though, I've had it happen too, but for me it was with Diafine (with two different batches, on two different continents).

[LT]

Total fail as in totally clear, or fail as in hardly any image "clear"? ...

it was total Rodinal Fail though.  Clear diagnosis, and £8.40 worth of clear film

[sapata]

I really sorry to hear that Leon... and thanks for pointing out as I've always thought that Rodinal would last "forever". My last bottle had crystals settled on the bottom either and it was black as marmite but worked out perfectly... really don't know how long had it been stored but definitely over a year.

Some interesting discussions about Rodinal in here...
http://www.flickr.com/groups/rodinal/discuss/72157601111557534/?search=old+rodinal

and if you think your Rodinal is old...
http://www.flickr.com/groups/rodinal/discuss/72157627904692840/

[LT]

I bought my bottle in 2002. So it was 9 years old. It had been like cola for quite a few years and still worked fine. But enough was enough for it I think.