A49 and R09 developer
 

It is my understanding that these two developers are old Agfa formulas for
Atomal and Rodinal.
They are alleged to be pre-war & that Calbe who make them are the former
photo chemical part of ORWO.

I know the present Agfa Rodinal, that it is a developer for sharpness and
has a very long shelf life. Is the R09 similar in that respect?

I have never come across the Atomal or the Calbe A49. What sort of developer
is this? Is it primarily for slow speed films or is it a fine grain
developer for general use?

A49 and R09 developer
 

Neil Purling wrote:

It is my understanding that these two developers are old Agfa formulas for
Atomal and Rodinal.
They are alleged to be pre-war & that Calbe who make them are the former
photo chemical part of ORWO.

I know the present Agfa Rodinal, that it is a developer for sharpness and
has a very long shelf life. Is the R09 similar in that respect?

I have never come across the Atomal or the Calbe A49. What sort of developer
is this? Is it primarily for slow speed films or is it a fine grain
developer for general use?



Calbe is the former chemical division of ORWO; the film production
division became Efke. ORWO was the East German company derived from the
original Agfa company; the company we know today as Agfa was started by
engineers and technicians from the old Agfa who escaped to the West
during or after the war and subsequently managed to gain control of the
company name during Cold War years.

Their R09 developer is close to "traditional Rodinal" while Agfa Rodinal
has been altered through the years in unpublished ways; there is little
or no photographic difference between them, according to experts who
have tested both.

The A49 is the same as Atomal from before WWII; it was/is a fine grain
developer similar in some respects to Microdol. As such, it may not
work well with some modern films (my reading suggests dichroic fog may
be a problem due to excessive solvent action), but likely works well
with Efke and probably Foma films, which are for the most part similar
to films of the 1940s and 1950s.

--
I may be a scwewy wabbit, but I'm not going to Alcatwaz!
-- E. J. Fudd, 1954

Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer
Lathe Building Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/HomebuiltLathe.htm
Speedway 7x12 Lathe Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/my7x12.htm

Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth
and don't expect them to be perfect.

A49 and R09 developer
 

"Neil Purling" wrote

It is my understanding that these two developers are old Agfa formulas for
Atomal and Rodinal.
They are alleged to be pre-war & that Calbe who make them are the former
photo chemical part of ORWO.

I know the present Agfa Rodinal, that it is a developer for sharpness and
has a very long shelf life. Is the R09 similar in that respect?

I have never come across the Atomal or the Calbe A49. What sort of developer
is this? Is it primarily for slow speed films or is it a fine grain
developer for general use?


It is Calbe RO9 or R09; that last is a zero. It is a Rodinal type.
A49, IMMSMC, ( if my memory serves me correctly ), is the Calbe
via Foma. Dan

A49 and R09 developer
 

Am 2004-05-01,
schrieb Neil Purling :
It is my understanding that these two developers are old Agfa formulas for
Atomal and Rodinal.

I would say, that the differences between Agfa Rodinal and Calbe R 09
are nearly similar to the differences between Kodak D76 and Ilford
ID-11.

And for A49, there is no similar product from Agfa anymore.

I know the present Agfa Rodinal, that it is a developer for sharpness and
has a very long shelf life. Is the R09 similar in that respect?

Yes.

I have never come across the Atomal or the Calbe A49.

It's comparable to Microdol X.

At http://www.calbe-fotochemie.com/ you can download all data sheets for
these chemicals.

Alex
--
Alexander Selzer http://www.grosskabinett.de/