You are busy taking the most beautiful photos, and we are constantly engaged in obtaining the best result from your film. Most companies where you submit your black and white film for development often use one type of chemistry for all the films they receive. And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that, and in fact, we do that too. In our standard procedure, we use Adox Rodinal chemistry.
Adox Rodinal is one of the most universal film developers with a very wide range of development times. Rodinal was developed in 1891 by Momme Andersen, thereby laying the foundation for what would later become Agfa. This developer is produced according to the last original Agfa recipe with selected and post-processed raw materials and is absolutely identical to Agfa Rodinal.
The developer is the oldest photochemical patent in the world. The developer is characterized by excellent edge sharpness. Adox Rodinal distinguishes itself by improved grain fineness, while sharpness and edge sharpness are still enhanced.
When should you or we choose this method?
The main reason we opt for this method is when we receive a black-and-white film from an unknown brand or a black-and-white film that has been expired for years. The result itself can also be a reason to choose this development method. There are many examples on the internet of the results of this development method.
Given the large number of black-and-white films we receive in the shop, we cannot apply this method as standard. Otherwise, we would only be able to develop about 5 or 6 films a day, and then wait times could quickly extend to weeks. For your black-and-white film, we use the rotation developing method. We load your film onto a reel, and it goes into a developing tank. After we’ve added the chemicals, the tank is placed on a machine that spins at a certain speed left and right to evenly distribute the chemicals in the tank over the entire film. This method reduces the development time from 1 hour to 5 to 10 minutes per film.
But can it always be better, you just wrote? That’s correct. This is where the chemistry of Jobo comes into play. The Jobo Alpha B&W Film Developer was developed in collaboration with the German chemist Klaus Wehner. It is based on the original formula of Agfa Atomal, which differs from the Adox version that is currently available.
The Jobo Alpha B&W Film developer fully utilizes film speed and is still characterized by a very fine grain structure and high sharpness. The developer is specifically designed for rotatory development of any type of black-and-white negative film. Of course, it can also be used for inversion development, but in rotatory development, the developer really excels.
If you want better results than the standard Rodinal developer, then choose this upgrade. During the testing and comparing of this chemistry with other brands, we were truly impressed by the result. If you choose to have your film developed in this chemistry, then you are getting the best that is currently available for rotation development. We prepare fresh developer chemistry, a fresh stop bath, and fixer for your film. This guarantees the best result for your film.
We receive a lot of Ilford film. For this brand of film, we can offer you the very best of the best. The Ilford chemistry is matched to the entire range of Ilford black and white films, but that’s not all. For developing your film in this chemistry, we use a new developing machine. This machine also uses the rotation developing method, but as an extra, the temperature of the chemistry is constantly monitored during development. If the temperature in the developing tank becomes higher or lower, the development process is also lengthened or shortened. This way, your film always gets the best possible development time and, of course, the best result. Also, with this method, a fresh bath of chemistry is prepared specifically for your film.
A film can only be developed once.
And then you better do it right. Developing your film with the extra options is a bit more expensive than the standard method, but that’s mainly because the chemistry for the extra options is more expensive, and because we have to create new chemistry for each film. Also, this chemistry has a shorter shelf life. But take it from us, it’s worth the few extra euros.