Fuji Acros in XTOL 1+1 vs. Beutler or Rodinal

[Tony-S]

Edit: Doh! I just saw your post above mine.

My parameters are: Rodinal 1:1...

Is this really what you mean? I've never head of Rodinal used undiluted (or 1+1 if that's what you mean). I've never seen anything more concentrated than 1:25.

[Mark Fisher]

sorry, I made the correction in an earlier post...1:50

[rince]

I actually use D-76 1:1 with Acros 100 and I am very happy with the results.

[ath]

OK, here are the first preliminary results. I printed test strips at a magnification of 12 (ca. 30*40cm from 35mm). The Beutler film strip had a bit lower contrast and I compensated this by adapting the paper contrast. Not ideal, I know.

Beutler shows a bit more resolution than Rodinal and XTOL 1+1 (one step in the USAF chart). Rodinal is visibly grainier, XTOL and Beutler roughly the same. Rodinal looks slightly sharper than XTOL, Beutler maybe even a bit more but looks (due to the finer grain) cleaner.

All in all the differences in grain (except Rodinal) and sharpness are subtle and one has to examine a 30*40 print quite close to see the difference.

Rodinal had 22°C during development which is counterproductive for fine grain. Other people report that Rodinal at 16°C gives visibly finer grain but not at the level of D76 and friends.

[brucemuir]

Not to hijack but can anyone explain the reason that rodinal gives finer grain at slightly lower temps?
I've seen this mentioned several times and am curious.