Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1

Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

By Geoff Chaplin

I decided to expose RPX 25 (two years past its use by date) at 100asa unfiltered. Why? Well (a) I am after all British, and that’s the sort of stupid thing we do sometimes, (b) because I was in a funny mood, and (c) because I was unimpressed with the first roll of film I shot a box speed and I had 4 more two-year expired rolls to use up.

I processed the film in Rodinal 100:1 semi-stand development for 60 minutes, scanning with a Black Box 135, Sony A7Riii and 105mm Sigma macro lens. RAW files were converted to B&W positive in RawTherapee, cropped and straightened if necessary. Note that no specific “push” development is used. Stand development is however a compensating process unlike most short developing processes. Developer soaked into the film (which is not refreshed after initial agitation) gets used up in heavily developed areas and then processing stops because the developer is exhausted, while in the less exposed areas the developer may continue working for the full time.

The only contrast curve adjustments were to nudge the black point (the lowlights generally being well exposed!), otherwise in most cases the curve was left as a straight line (not the auto-matched tone curve). Note also that more information in the lowlights can be recovered with an inverted S-curve than I have generally shown using the straight line curve.

The camera was a Leica M3 with the Zeiss 50mm Planar lens. The camera shutter is known to be reasonably accurate based on results from other films and comparisons with results from recently overhauled camera bodies.

Most shots were taken in bright spring sunlight at f8 while some alleyways were dark and wider aperture was used. At f8 aperture diffraction limits the resolution on the film to something of the order of 40-60 mega-pixel equivalent. One internet source quotes the film itself as capable of about 40mpx while the Rollei data sheet implies the higher figure. The Sony has a 42mp sensor, plus all the inbuilt raw data processing software, so the film and the aperture used probably are testing my scanning setup to its limits. High resolution film really needs wet process printing with a top quality enlarging lens to get the best from the negative!

I’m showing a selection of 14 of the images being my favourites from the roll taken in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. The following image is a full size enlargement (corresponding to a print about 1m by 1.5m) of the central area of the featured image – note the level of detail and how fine the grain is in the enlargement.

Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
full size enlargement from the featured image
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Izakaya “kita no yoridokoro”
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Signpost to the bars and restaurants
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Old izakaya sign
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Entrance to a new development of restaurants
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Take out or eat in
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
“ichiban shibori” lanterns in alleyway of restaurants
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Traditional window shutters
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Post or oil?
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Narrow dark alleyway. I was surprised anything showed in the print here at all.
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Dumplings
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
“Big ship” pub restaurant
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Shadow
Rollei RPX 25 at 100asa in Rodinal 100:1
Yakitori restaurant

Even allowing for the fact that a compensating developer was used I expected the highlights to be a dullish grey, and the lowlights to be buried. To my surprise what I got was 36 perfectly exposed dynamic images. I am stunned by the performance of the film in terms of resolution, flexibility, contrast and lack of grain. I’m tempted to replace my favourite Fomapan 100 with this film at 100asa whenever I want a detailed rather than gritty image.

FOOTNOTE: According to Wikipedia and others RPX25 and Retro 80S are in fact the same film (Agfa-Gaevert Aviphot 80). If true this would explain why it works so well at 100asa!

Thanks for reading

 

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About The Author

By Geoff Chaplin
Primarily a user of Leica film cameras and 8x10 for the past 30 years, recently a mix of film and digital. Interests are concept and series based art work. Professionally trained in astronomical photography, a scientist and mathematician.
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Comments

Greg Hammond on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 17/06/2024

I enjoyed this very much. Thanks for posting.
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 17/06/2024

Thank you Greg.

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Roger on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 17/06/2024

I echo Greg's comment. You say semi-stand development, but could you be a bit more precise about what agitation you gave it? One inversion of the tank at half-time? I have never tried stand development but perhaps I should. I am also intrigued by your claim that it is the scanning set-up that may be constraining the resolution, as I had naively assumed that 35mm film could never beat a 42 megapixel sensor for resolution.
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 17/06/2024

Roger .... can of worms has been opened! I have another post coming about resolution. You're right, most films have resolution comparable to 10-40mpx sensors. Fine grain films can go higher, much, much higher. On development, no pre-wet and I give 20 inversions at the start and 2 at half time. I don't think it makes much difference but I do it to avoid possible streaking in uniform areas of the image which can sometimes happen with pure stand development.

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Graham Orbell on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 17/06/2024

Impressive results Geoff. I’m intrigued by the dilution and long development time. Did you use distilled water. I’m guessing that any impurities in the water such as chlorine would have a greater adverse effect given such a low concentration of developer. I’m reminded of this having years ago worked in a colour lab. The owner chose its location because it had its own supply of pure water from a bore deep in the ground
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 17/06/2024

Thanks Graham. On this occasion it happened to be purified water but only because I'm trying to use up 100 litres I was given. Usually I use boiled tap water. My water is pH7, and also comes from ..... a bore deep in the ground! Coincidence, but does it matter? I think not - I recently developed film in London using boiled tap water and no problem. In Brussels, knowing the tap water tastes awful, I use distilled water.

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Stephen Barnett on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 18/06/2024

Very interesting Graham, particularly as I have a few rolls of RPX25 which I'd given up on the idea of ever using. Previous attempts to tame it came to nothing, or rather it could be tamed but I still didn't like the results. Most definitely I'm going to try your stand development idea. cheers, Steve
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 18/06/2024

Thanks Stephen. It's rather misleading for Rollei to sell an 80asa film as 25asa. Anyone who doesn't follow their developing instructions will simple have over-exposed film. Ideally expose at 80asa but 100 was obviously fine.

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Tony Warren on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 19/06/2024

Another fascinating set of images from such a unique part of the world Geoff. And you may have set me off with yet another trial for my "perfect" film for sub-miniature. The grain and acutance of these shots is impressive. I had decided on Rollei Superpan 200 rated at 80 in Rodinal 1;50 as first choice but I will definitely try this using semi-stand. I see you don't pre-soak?
Thanks again for showing us this corner of the world.
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 19/06/2024

Thanks again Tony. Superpan and RPX/Retro 80S are both Agfa Aviphot films, different speeds (200/80 respectively) with finer grain for the lower speed. Both are normal films (as opposed to CMS 20 and the Copex films which have very steep response curves) with long IR sensitivity. The contrast of the 80 asa film is quite strong, which I like, and for a softer response I'd be tempted to try Rodinal 200:1 semi-stand for 1-2 hours. If you experiment let me know the results please!

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Tony Warren replied:

Comment posted: 19/06/2024

Certainly will Geoff and thanks for the intel on the other films. Interesting. A lot of the current films available seem to be from a surveilance source of some description.

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Tony Warren replied:

Comment posted: 19/06/2024

Finally gotten around to giving this a try with my Minolta 16 MG. Posted a 5 frames but that won't appear for a couple of months I guess. Results were good, fine grain and god contrast and detail. I have posted a couple of images on the RPF forum. Discovered a roll of 120 80S in the fridge so will give that a go since you say it is the same emulsion but I will process conventionally.

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William Ryan on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 20/06/2024

Thanks Geoff. I'm drinking up your description of the development process (and the attending techniques), as well as the work you did in post.
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 20/06/2024

Do bear in mind Rodinal is toxic so wash it down with plenty of water, and whisky if you like, but don't blame me if body parts start dropping off.

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Jens Kotlenga on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 20/06/2024

Geoff,
you really had me scampering down a new rabbit hole with your last post. I have never tried stand developing before (in fact, I have just become a covert to continuous rotation development), so I had nothing more pressing to do than to load some RPX25 into my 4x5 filmholders, rush out on an overcast Wednesday morning and take two shots of the local village architecture and develop the sheets as per your recommendations.
The results turned out to be very encouraging indeed. The negatives looked good after development and scanning them was quickly completed. A minimum of postproduction yielded images with lots of detail in both the deep shadows and the sparkling highlights and beautiful fine grey tones everywhere in between - just the way I like it. Pitchblack shadows and blown highlights don't really tick any of my boxes - other photographers' mileage may vary on this issue.
Thanks for your inspiring post!
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 20/06/2024

You're welcome Jens, and thanks. With hindsight (experience) a little more exposure on my shots would have brought more information in the dark areas to the fore even with a straight line scan. My real reason for Rodinal stand development is laziness - just set it up and go and have a coffee.

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Massimiliano Grivetti on Rollei RPX 25 at 100 ASA stand developed in Rodinal 100:1

Comment posted: 21/06/2024

Super interesting post! Many thanks!
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Geoff Chaplin replied:

Comment posted: 21/06/2024

Thank you very much Massimiliano.

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