can i re-use rodinal?

artyeva · 11-08-2010 1:22pm #1

ok so i developed two films on sunday evening with rodinal, stored it straight away in lightproof bottles - can i re-use it to develop 2 more today? i've googled and get conflicting opinions - don't want to risk it but on the other hand it's there so all i'd have to do is heat it up so....:rolleyes:

while i'm at it, can i also re-use ilford stop and ilford fixer? both went into their wee black bottles straight away.... again, google throws up just as many in the ''yeah sure, give it a lash'' camp as in the ''are you mental, no way'' camp....:p

any advice from either camp appreciated!!!

A.Partridge · 11-08-2010 1:28pm

You can reuse the fixer again, no problem.

You can also re-use the stop.

Rodinal is designed as one-shot only developer though so I definitely would discard it after use.

It is false economy to skimp on chemicals, imo.

jpb1974 · 11-08-2010 1:38pm

My personal preference:

Rodinal (Developer) - use once and then discard

Stop - I just use fresh water every time

Fixer - I re-use my fixer about 5 times

sineadw · 11-08-2010 1:41pm

Stop turns from yellow to purple when it's exhausted. Fixer just stops fixing properly, but it usually does a good 20 rolls before it does. I'd re-use away on both.

You *can* reuse developer by extending dev time by (I think?) 10%. I've never done it TBH - I'd rather dilute more (1+30 for R09) and develop for longer, and then just discard.

DaireQuinlan · 11-08-2010 2:25pm

Yeah fix you can use for ages. If you're concerned you can do a clip test, dunk some of the film leader into the fix, wait for it to turn clear, and use twice the time (you were timing that, right ?) to fix the actual film.

Stop, dunno, never use it myself.

Rodinal I've only ever used one shot at extreme dilutions (I think 1:50 is the most concentrated I've ever made it) so I've never been too concerned about keeping the working solution around. It -is- designed as a one shot though so I'd probably toss it. I have, before, used DDX for multiple rolls of film, increasing the times by roughly 10% for each roll.

artyeva · 11-08-2010 3:52pm

- tbh i think i kinda knew that but it's always helpful to get your sucpicions verified before wading in and potentially ruining 72 exposures!!!!

i'll make up another soup of it so. i had done the first one at a higher solution so i'll try this one at 1:50 and see how it goes. see, we were spoonfed in college - we had a photography technician who had the darkrooms set up in such a way that we didn't have to make any decisions... but man, now i remember how addictive this sh!t can be....

can i re-use rodinal?

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