Since I started developing black and white film again I have been using Rodinal. I chose this developer after seeing several examples of it in use on Flickr; primarily Bud Green’s photographs of his family. I have tried various dilutions including 1:50, 1:100 and for the last few rolls I tried stand development (1 hour).
But I am having a hard time with the grain. For some shots I think it works out ok, but it is just a bit too big for me. In the past (ok, way past) I shot Tri-x and used D-76 1:1 for most of my processing and FG-7 and sodium sulfite for pushing. I used HC-110 on occasion but I preferred D76. I have also read that the scanner I am using emphasizes grain when scanning black and white films, so I am probably exacerbating the problem.
I have decided to give Xtol a try. The biggest hassle with this developer is I have to mix 5 liters at a time. I really like the convenience of Rodinal one-shot development so we’ll see how long this lasts. I think that Xtol is going to give me the look I’m after for 35mm Tri-x. I also purchased a few rolls of Fuji Neopan 400 and 1600 to test. This film is new to me.
I plan on using Rodinal for my 2 1/4 work. I think I’ll like the look at that negative size.
I hope to post some samples soon.