James Markus wrote: madNbad wrote: James Markus wrote:
A hive mind question. One of these threads made me purchase 20 rolls of Kentmere film (10x 400, and 10x 100 :cool I have seen a wide variety of grain in this thread, and various development chemistry. My goal is as little grain as possible & flattish contrast. I have df96 monobath, and Rodinal on hand - have noticed good results by some here with HC110 (used a ton in my past), and Xtol - which I have 0 experience - that seem to have produced low apparent grain. There were some portraits I saw here by _jim_ that I thought Rodinal was used, and are exactly what I would like to get out of this "dirt cheap" Kentmere 100 panF. Sitting on a test roll I'd like to soup soon - any advice?
I haven't developed Kentmere but I have done enough FP-4 and HP-5 to have some experience. Rodinal 50:1 is a good choice with some caveats. First is the Rodinal speed tax, which is a a one stop reduction in ISO to get the best results. It's also important to agitate gently and infrequently. I'll start with fifteen seconds of gentle agitation followed by three inversions every minute. Tonality is good and the grain is less pronounced.
Next up is our old friend D-76 at 1:1. I've started agitating far less than what the Kodak guideline call for and the results have been good.
Xtol, or my now favorite Adox XT-3 at 1:1. Another good choice and I have been pleased with the results.
I haven't used the monobath but Huss and a few other members use it exclusively. Scroll through the images for a better idea. It works at a higher temperature than traditional developers and also you will need to adjust developing times to compensate for exhaustion.
I used to use HC-110 all the time, the new formula is less vicious than the original and I haven't tried it.
I'll post a few examples.
HP5+ in Film Photography Project FPP-76 1:1
HP5+ in Adox XT-3 1:1
I dig around a bit more and see what else I can find.
Tri-X @ ISO 200 Rodinal 50:1
Tri-X in Adox XT-3 1:1
You could start with a roll of the 400 expose at 200 and either no filter or just a clear one then develop iy in a 50:1 dilution of Rodinal, agitate gently for the first 30 seconds, three inversions every minute for a total of ten minutes. Let us know how it works out!
Thank you madNbad - any one of those meet the brief. I went and checked on my chemistry situation and the Rodinal has gone bad. I looking into Xtol, and it is hard to believe it is Vitamin C based? "Ascorbic Acid-Based, No Hydroquinone" - fascinating. I think I must try that. B&H won't ship Rodinal. From what I understand - all Kentmere films are made by Ilford.
Freestyle has Adox Rodinal in stock, ground shipping only. I like the XT-3 because when it's available, they offer one liter packaging. Xtol only comes in the five liter size and needs to be used within a six month window. A few months ago, my neighbors teen age son has a strong interest in film photography so I gave him a bulk loader with some Kentmere 400.
Sep 14, 2024 at 05:30 PM
Previous versions of madNbad's message #16641614 « Post your recent film shots! »
I have seen a wide variety of grain in this thread, and various development chemistry. My goal is as little grain as possible & flattish contrast. I have df96 monobath, and Rodinal on hand - have noticed good results by some here with HC110 (used a ton in my past), and Xtol - which I have 0 experience - that seem to have produced low apparent grain. There were some portraits I saw here by _jim_ that I thought Rodinal was used, and are exactly what I would like to get out of this "dirt cheap" Kentmere 100 panF. Sitting on a test roll I'd like to soup soon - any advice?
