Rollei R09 Film Developer (Rodinal formula), 500ml

"I think there comes a time when every black n white film photographer has to try RO9/Rodinal at least once. Test shots were taken with Tri X 400 shot a box speed on a sunny day and the subject was derelict buildings, I mixed 1+100 parts and stand developed for one hour and I found the results to be very pleasing,with nice detail and edge to edge sharpness on the negatives.With great detail retained in the sky And while slightly brilliant/contrasty "maybe too much for some peoples tastes" It definitely brought something new to the look of my negative scans.. with fewer adjustments required in photo shop. Next was a roll of Fuji Across shot at box speed,this time at a 1+50 dilution and processed for 10 minutes,again great results,,very clean sharp images with lovely shadow detail and a broad range of tones. Some call Rodinal the "Magic Elixir",it certainly has it's own little character,and one which I'm glad to have in my collection. RO9 doesn't hide grain of faster films at all,but I don't feel that this grain is overly apparent,,especially at higher dilution quantities,so if grain is not your thing,this may not be a developer for you. R09 in it's concentrate is reputed to have a very long shelf life,, but it doesn't keep well diluted,,only 2 days in a litre bottle half full,,the solution was dark brown when I opened the bottle and highly suspect looking..so this is definitely a mix as you go developer. I'd recommend trying R09 if you haven't already,,as it's reasonably cheap,, so hours of experimentation is possible at very little cost. "