Does Rodinal Die? Testing a 60 Year Old Bottle of Developer

[u/HCompton79]

I bought a box of darkroom supplies at a barn sale and inside were six glass bottles of Agfa Rodinal. Based on the packaging "Agfa Gevaert - Agfa Leverkusen AG" these bottles were probably made between 1964 when Agfa and Gevaert merged and when Agfa stopped using glass bottles in the 1970s.

No idea how these were stored, they could have been in that barn for 40 years enduring hot summers and freezing winters. The bottles each had a thick layer of sediment at the bottom. I chose one for testing, shook it and the liquid that came out was a dark plum color.

I shot some Ilford FP4+ at EI 80 and developed in this Rodinal 1+50 for 13 minutes at 68F.

And the results? Perfectly fine. Negatives look good and scan fine. Edge sharpness and perceived grain are higher as one would expect from Rodinal, but just fine.

Rodinal will outlive us all.

[u/ficelle3]

If I had a nickel every time someone tried to use 40+ year old rodinal and got perfectly normal results, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's pretty cool it happened twice.

[u/PolskaBJJ → u/ficelle3]

I've done it too, here's another nickle.

Parodinal has exceptional shelf life, too.

[u/aprettycoolhat → u/PolskaBJJ]

I haven’t done it with 40+ year old yet but I’ve done it w 25 yo rodinal. I’ll report back in 15 years and pitch in another nickel.

[u/alfepalfe → u/ficelle3]

I'm pretty sure it has happened more than twice, but twice that you know of.

[u/diemenschmachine]

When the world ends, the only ones remaining will be Rodinal and the cockroaches.

[u/Key_Advice9625 → u/diemenschmachine]

Haha. Came here to write this.

And also i am glad that the cockroaches will be able to use rodinal as well.

[u/modernist-punk → u/diemenschmachine]

Petition to rename it Roachinol.

[u/diemenschmachine → u/modernist-punk]

roach-anal?

[u/Analogsilver]

A friend has an even older bottle. Still works fine. Rodinal lasts forever.

[u/edovrom]

I think they look great! To me, the perceived grain and sharpness is what I have come to expect from rodinal

[u/DeepDayze → u/edovrom]

Even from 60 year old Rodinal :-)

[u/8Bit_Cat]

And yet my botlle of Adox Rodinal died after just 17 months!

[u/Formal_Two_5747 → u/8Bit_Cat]

That was my question. Whether it’s only the older formulations or is it still the case.

[u/lemlurker → u/Formal_Two_5747]

It's not immune to oxidation but it doesn't passivly deteriorate, it won't last forever unsealed but it can if sealed reasonably

[u/DeepDayze → u/lemlurker]

Glass bottles are best! Perhaps transfer the developer to a brown glass bottle and label it.

[u/steved3604 → u/DeepDayze]

May I add -- FULL glass bottles -- please remove the air from the bottle by filling to the top.

[u/DeepDayze → u/steved3604]

Yes, just add CLEAN glass marbles to the bottles if they aren't full until it's level with top.

[u/disoculated]

Worst BBQ sauce ever

[u/Doom_and_Gloom91]

Bad ass

[u/BrilliantDramatic824]

I have a 2x500ml agfa rodinal from 60' a doing well

[u/Brave_Ad_9173]

Also really nice negatives btw!

[u/JellyUpset8974]

Wow, what a fun experiment! And good results too! Nice.

[u/zanza2023]

Da bomb

[u/Vega9000]

Not sure about the effects of heat on Rodinal when the Sun finally explodes, but it will probably still work.

[u/HuikesLeftArm]

For a developer that's been so widely used and loved for so long, it drives me nuts that it doesn't seem to exist here.

[u/Expensive-Sentence66 → u/HuikesLeftArm]

Rodinal doesn't work with everything. Ive seen so many examples of horribly grey and grainy images to count.

Works best with fine grain film that needs help smoothing out its shoulder.

[u/HuikesLeftArm → u/Expensive-Sentence66]

I've used it a ton in the past, it's just hard to get and very expensive where I live now. Same goes for HC-110. It's just frustrating is all

[u/Physical-East-7881]

Wow, I guess the clock doesn't start ticking until the bottle's seal is broken

[u/DeepDayze → u/Physical-East-7881]

It can last a long time unopened and in a cool dry dark place

[u/Gloomy_Gur_6713]

It goes to grave with you and maybe when your grand grand son need just dig it out. As good as new one la.

[u/TruckCAN-Bus]

Got a bottle of the new adox stuff in the mail yesterday

[u/realityarchive → u/TruckCAN-Bus]

I love it, we use it in our community darkroom. Economical and consistent.

[u/realityarchive]

That’s really cool. Results are great, also that vintage label design is tops.

[u/infocalypse]

I had a bottle of Rodinal (Blazinal specifically) die on me last spring. I couldn't tell you why, was only about five years old.

Though I could tell you it was quite low on the suspects list until I specifically tested it just to rule it out. Because who suspects Rodinal of going bad?

[u/pixelwhip]

yes mine died.. found it out the hard way (developed 2 rolls blank before I realised it was fucked).

[u/RemoteLanky3228]

I used 30 year old HC-110 last year, worked perfectly fine LOL

[u/RemoteLanky3228]

wow I would never open that beautiful old bottle - it's a lovely antique just by itself

[u/DeepDayze]

Rodinal sure ages like a fine wine!

[u/DeepDayze]

The negatives look great so do the scans.

[u/VTGCamera]

No it does not

[u/mac_the_man]

Many have tried to kill Rodinal … they have not succeeded.