Pro tip: I thought stand development was just a fad, but it saved a roll for me last week.

For a long time, I thought stand development in Rodinal was just a trick for people who didn't want to watch the clock. I figured you had to follow the times on the chart to get it right. Then I shot a roll of HP5 at a family picnic and completely forgot what I had the camera set to. I was sure the shots were ruined. A guy at the camera shop in Springfield said to try a 1:100 Rodinal stand for a full hour, with just one gentle turn at the start. I was so sure it would be flat and grainy. I did it, and every single frame came out perfect, with detail in the shadows and highlights I didn't think were there. It handled my bad guess on the exposure like it was nothing. Has anyone else had a 'last resort' method turn into a go-to fix for a messed up roll?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley_ramirez8113d ago

That's a great story, and it's exactly why I keep a bottle of Rodinal around. It feels like a magic trick when it pulls detail out of a roll you were sure was lost. I had a similar thing happen with some old film I found in a camera at a yard sale. Stand development was the only thing that gave me usable images. It's not my everyday method, but for problem rolls, it's become my first call now.

mark_nguyen9513d ago

Honestly, I've had the opposite happen with stand development. For me, it gave my problem rolls really flat contrast and weird, mushy grain. I switched to just giving extra development time in my normal routine, like D-76, and that works way better for my messed up film.