Rodinal - Reducing That Grain - Update 

It would be marvelous to see if this additive works when using Rodinal 1:100 stand development.

Excellent results! I'd also be curious to see how it behaves in stand development.

I think there is some misunderstanding about the so-called 'grain'. First, the 'grain' is not black, it is white. The black in the print is caused by two things. First, where the silver halide crystals have not been activated by exposure to light, they will be cleared during the fixing process - the shadow areas. Secondly, the tiny black specks are gaps between the developed halides. This happens because of clumping, which means that with certain developers, and Rodinal is a prime example, the silver halide crystals that are activated a by exposure to light and then reduced to metallic silver by the developer, tend to form into large clumps leaving gaps between them. These gaps are like holes between the metallic silver and show up as black specks on the positive. A solvent developer smooths out these gaps by slightly dissolving the sharper edges of the metallic silver clumps and this tends to diffuse the light passing between the clumps of silver and thus shows up on the positive as softer 'grain'. The downside of this is slightly less acutance. It's also true that the visual appearance of the grain will change depending on contrast, development time, even the agitation method. Film developing is like alchemy.

A big thank you to Tim! Thanks!!

Thanks for following up, John!

Very useful update. I can see the reduction in the grain easier here and the "punch" of the Rodinal seems to be retained.

I've found about the same amount of apparent grain reduction just by using 1:25 dilution. It would be interesting to further this exploration by comparing the 1:50 with grain reducer to 1:25 straight.

Thanks John this is a good Rodinal customization. I can see the grain reduction easily. Especially since one can choose to use it, or not, at the time of development.

Thanks for that John.

Great!!

Thank you, very interesting! However, instead working in the darkroom I have photographed the negativ with my Nikon Z6 instead of scanning it and as result I got less grain with Adox Rodinal. Kind regards from Sweden!

For most photography I don't see that reducing grain would be much of a benefit. For portraits, and especially head shots, I could see reducing grain to smooth out imperfections and blemishes.

John, does the grain reducer have the same longevity characteristics as the Rodinal? Thanks

Hi John. If you're going to reduce the grain of Rodinal ....... why use Rodinal? There are plenty of other options available including the standard/s D76 - ID11. Best wishes as always from The Rhondda.

Grain is smaller but you lose the detail in the tree. Sodium sulfite disolves the grain, like in D76........

Hello John, could you tell if the contrast was lowered uniformly when using the grain reducer? I'm interested in the finer grain and reducing highlights in portraits of women but I would still like good separation of skin (mid) tones. Is there an ideal film/developer combination that can be used that is ideal for portraits of white caucasion females.

What is the make up of the grain reducer? I watch the previous video but didnt catch it...

-50% grain and also -50% acutace!!!