Tony

I appear to be having some issues getting used to #LC29 again after years of developing with #Rodinal and ID11; highlights are blowing out too much, but the midtones and shadows look fine. I'm using the same exposure as I would for the films with Rodinal, too.

Does this stuff just need more gentle agitation (or less agitation overall) than Rodinal does, or are my dev times way off?

#believeinfilm #filmphotography #darkroom

Mar 21, 2023 at 8:09pmWhalebird
Show threadRom | Tapas in the sunMar 21, 2023
@coldkennels Personally I find that shorter development times than those recommended work better for me when using LC29.
Show threadTonyMar 21, 2023
@tapasinthesun Don't suppose you've used either Fomapan 100 or Rollei Retro 400S in LC29? Those are the two films I'm planning on using the most this year. I may have to track down more Rodinal for the Fomapan; that combo is perfect and I've got it dialled in already. The Rollei might take some work, though.
Show threadRom | Tapas in the sunMar 21, 2023
@coldkennels Sorry. No I haven’t. I checked my film dev database. For Fomapan I have always used Rodinal, and Spur Acurol-N twice. I use Fomapan mostly for pinhole, so exposure times are a bit hit and miss anyway, particularly with the huge reciprocity failure. I’ve never used Rollei retro.
Show threadTonyMar 21, 2023
@tapasinthesun I shot a couple of rolls of Rollei Retro 400S in the summer and it looked pretty good out of the gate with Rodinal - just a bit grainy in the shadows at times (see below). Then I tried it in LC29 with the Massive Dev Chart times, and it was a blown out mess. I wish I'd just stuck with Rodinal!
Show threadRom | Tapas in the sunMar 21, 2023
@coldkennels That photo has some nice tones.
I started using LC29 because a guy on Flicker was getting very nice results with it. At first the negs were coming out way to dark. I reduced dev times and how I meter. In Spain the light is very harsh and houses are white. That is a tricky combo! I now spot meter on the brightest white and shift it to zone 8. Then check the shadows and juggle things a bit if necessary. Works for me.
Show threadTonyMar 21, 2023
@tapasinthesun Hm. I normally work the other way around with Rodinal - look at shadows, get those dialled in, worry about highlights later - they rarely blow out unless there's snow everywhere. Palms of the hands at zone 6 if I'm uncertain - always does the trick.
Show threadRom | Tapas in the sunMar 21, 2023
@coldkennels That is how I started metering when I got the Sekonic - for the shadows. But I was having problems metering when photographing the old narrow streets in the Spanish white villages (as I like to do). So I turned the procedure on its head and started with the bright whites to make sure I got that right. Otherwise, the majority of the photo had blown whites with no detail. Not a good look.