Wheels and Water - Fomapan 200 in Rodinal

Fomapan 200 in Rodinal 1+50

Results look fine at a first glance, but they reveal blocked shadows especially in strong contrast. Detail and highlights are great, mid-tones too. Grain is quite good.

Maybe the film does not reach full speed in this developer combination, but just overexposing would have yielded a too high density.

Old water wheel of a mill. Canon E-F Canon FD 20mm/2.8

Canale Vacchelli - Canon E-F Canon 50mm/1.4

Winter Portraits - RPX100

Some Winter Portraits of Raffaella... wonderful atmosphere at dusk with the snow. Camera: Rolleiflex 3.5f Planar Film: Rollei RPX100 developed in classic Rodinal 1+50 How would our trusty classic equipment work out? Judge yourself.

Ilford Pan-F Rodinal - Ponte San Pietro - Gandino - Giornate FAI Primavera 2019

This time again a classic, Ilford Pan-F 50/18° developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 13' Agitation every 2' (at 22 °C) which yielded strong negatives, quite pleasing. Almost a little dense.

Some examples, shot with a Minolta 9000 - Rokkor AF 28-8.
Giornate FAI Primavera 2019.

Interiors with strong light result very controlled, with high dynamic range and beautiful rendition:

Inside of Ponte San Pietro new Parish Church

Jacqard loom punched cards - 24mm

An outside view offers a classic film look.

Sisters doing laundry - Gandino - 28-85

Maratona Fotografica Bergamo 2016

Rainy day, typical rain light. I had choosen the trusty RPX100 which seems to prove more and more as a trustworthy film, not really an APX100, but better than FP4+, some sort of cross-breed.

I developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 13 minutes.
Very fine negatives, shadows and highlights are well balanced.
 Camera: Nikon F90s and various Nikkors.

Nikkor 105/2 focus control:

28mmPC. The shift allowed a unique balanceof the fountain (del Contarini) and the Palazzo della Ragione.

28mm PC, quickly shot "as street" while I was doing the architecture above:

The Devil's Bridge - PanF Rodinal

A lot of people do not recommend PanF and Rodinal together, I find it instead a very interesting combination. The negatives are not very strong, but with a full greyscale, very printable and perfectly scannable.

Mamiya 645;  Ilford PanF 50/18° ISO; Rodinal 1+50;  12' at 20°C

You can acquire a print, poster or home decor for it on Fine Art America.

Pisa (FP4 in Rodinal)

Pisa Cathedral seen from the Baptistry

Mamiya 645 -  45mm/2.8 Sekor

Ilford FP4+ rollfilm, exposed 100/21° ISO
Rodinal 1+50, 16' agitation every 2' at 22°C

The result shows a very good control of the highlights (sky) with rich details in the shadow part, what you would expect from FP4+ and Rodinal! A classic combination that always works. Thanks to the 6x4.5 format, the grain is not disturbing and completes the old-school feel.

If you like this image, you can buy it as print, poster, home decor on Fine Art America. Also a very similar color image, shot on Slide Film, is available.

Gromo & Ardesio (PanF, Rodinal)

Development:
120 rollfilm Pan-F Rodinal 1+50, 11" 22°C, agitation every 2nd minute. Little agitation temperature 2°C more than standard.

The result came out nice and balanced, good highlight and shadow detail.

Here a shot of Gromo's famous slate roofs.

Here some shots in Ardesio instead. Same Film/Developer, same day.
The dynamic range is astonishing, shadow detail up to highlight details (clouds) are visible.

For the curios, the camera was a Rolleiflex SL66

SuperPan 200, Stand development

During the Carnival in Venice I used Rollei's SuperPan 200 as 35mm, as 6x6 and 6x9 in my two folding cameras.

I developed the Superpan 200 in Rodinal  1+150 1h30, full stand after initial 20" agitation.

The combination appears to work very well, I got full-range negatives both sun situation, as complete overcast.

An example showing the excellent bokeh of the mythical Heliar, wide open:

You can buy a (at your liking framed) print, poster or home decor, even as phone case on Fine Art America.

Rollei ATP Stand

Rollei ATP. Rated 25/15° ISO - Development, 1+120 Rodinal, 30" initial agitation, 1h30 full-stand development.

Late Autumn light, San Giovanni Bianco.
Leicaflex SL, Summicron 50/2 Germany

The film has an astonishing detail, the development is still slightly harsh in the lights which makes scanning difficult.

Technical details come out very well too. The film is so sharp, that micro-blur because of hand-held shooting becomes easily apparent. However, using fast lenses, during daytime you can use the film without problems.

Here the flat-four opposite piston Lycoming engine of a Robin helicopter.

R80S Stand

My first experiment about Stand development with normal film rolls. Previously, I did it only with sheet film and alternating results.

Film: R80S, 35mm. Exposed 50/18° ISO
Development technique: Rodinal 1+100, agitation for the first 30", then 1hour full stand
Subjects: Shots in sun and shadows of a bright, sunny day with strong contrasts

The results seem very promising!

Bergamo, Santa maria Maggiore. Rollei SL35, Distagon 35/2.8

I think the image speaks by itself when I speak about highlight detail (sky) and shadow detail (framing arch). Rollei R80S is a difficult film in the shadows, so it a good test.

You can buy this image as fine art print on Fine Art America; available also framed, as home-decor and even bags and pouches!

Rollei RPX100, first medium format experience

The Rollei RPX100 was presented as a Agfapan APX 100 successor. Is it really? I don't know. It is a traditional film and it is coated ona classic base instead of polyester like many modern Avio-derived Rollei/Agfa offers.
I already used the film with success in 35mm, yielding results which are similar to the mythical AgfaPan, but which also reminds me a bit of the Ilford FP4+.
I found it to have very nice tones and exceptional shadow detail and richness. The grain is present, not disturbing, but not exceptionally fine grained. A bit less than FP4, but still visible, not on par with Tmax or Acros, however pleasant. This is why I thought that in medium format the film must give its best.

This is my first experiment in Medium Format. The 120 Rollfilm appears to use the same base as the 35mm film, so it is a bit thicker and darker than one is accustomed. However, the final results are very good. I am still working with developers, testing between Rodinal and Studional (and its modern alilkes with different names).
Here ad development with standard Rodinal. 58x72mm coming out from the Linhof are a beauty of tones, richness in detail (thanks to the exceptional Tessar lens too). Definitely a combination I will use again

H&D F-Head, Linhof, Tessar 105/3.5 RPX100

Neopan Acros and Rodinal

Neopan Acros 100 (120 rolls), Rodinal 1+50. 20 °C, 16 minutes: agitation first minute, then every one and a half minutes.

Quite good results, compensated, not very dense. Could probably use 17 minute without problems.


Here a negative scan: Rollei SL66E, Sonnar 150 HFT. Evening light in Orvieto.