Rodinal Shipping

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B&H will not ship Rodinal. If shipping Rodinal is prohibited, how does it get to the photo store?

-- John Galloway (john.galloway@butlersnow.com), February 04, 2002

Answers

Shipping is not prohibited. B&H opted to go with FEDEX and their 3 days shipment does not allow hazardous materials to be shipped. Call Adorama. They will ship it UPS ground. I switched to Adorama completely because of that. Adorama's prices are either the same or slightly cheaper.

-- Boris Krivoruk (boris.krivoruk@kp.org), February 04, 2002.

As implied above, there are only problems when shipping Rodinal via air freight. Calumet (in the Chicago area) also ships Rodinal via UPS.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), February 04, 2002.

Rodinal is in fact shipped via airmail. Orders from Fotoimpex in Berlin are always shipped airmail, even though they may contain Rodinal or Calbe R09. The US postal service has to pass on parcels that have been accepted by the German postal service as being in accordance with mail regulations. In past emails I have stressed that Calbe R09, which is the original Rodinal formula, has much better working characterstics than AGFA Rodinal -- finer grain, better tonality, better acutance. The plastic container for Calbe R09 is certified for mail transportation in Europe and therefore can be shipped airmail to the US. People having problems buying Rodinal mailorder should consider purchasing Calbe R09 instead.

-- Volker Schier (Volker.Schier@fen-net.de), February 04, 2002.

Is Calbe R09 available from a U.S. seller? I thought Rodinal was Rodinal, unchanged over many years.

-- John Galloway (john.galloway@butlersnow.com), February 04, 2002.

AGFA Rodinal obviously is very different to the classic AGFA formula. Simply have a look at the ingredients listed on the bottle. AGFA Rodinal now contains a restrainer, R09 does not and is very clear working. Also R09 is more concentrated, which means that AGFA Rodinal is more "watered down". The results differ a lot in a direct comparison and everything speaks for R09. By the way: R is short for Rodinal. 09 designates the receipe no 9 in the AGFA receipe book. Calbe was formerly part of ORWO, the East German AGFA company. When the two companies split up in the 1970s and East German AGFA gave up its name and trademarks they started selling Rodinal under the new name R09. Unfortunately it is not available through a US dealer, but Fotoimpex is an excellent source. They are specializing in male order to the US and have special shipping rates. Look for my other postings concerning the differences between the two "Rodinals".

-- Volker Schier (Volker.Schier@fen-net.de), February 04, 2002.


One of the benefits of Rodinal is that it is a very long lasting concentrated developer. Most people purchase one bottle at a time. When purchasing Rodinal via mail order in the US, most people order other products at the same time to offset the shipping overhead. Ordering a single bottle of R09 from Europe is probably not economical.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), February 04, 2002.

The actual prices may have changed, but a 250mm bottle of Calbe /Classic R09 was around only $4! The "standard" dilution is 1:40 instead of 1:25 of AGFA Rodinal thus makin R09 go further than the AGFA product. I use it a 1:100, which give me 25 liters of working solution. The flat fee shipping fee of Fotoimpex used to be roughly equal to the hazardous material surcharge (that applies for Rodinal in the US) plus the shipping and handling fee from the large US mail order companies. I did not see much of a difference even for one bottle shipped in from Europe and -- as you point out -- you can order several at a time to make it more economical. Also it is not only the price the makes me buy R09, it is the better quality.

-- Volker Schier (Volker.Schier@fen-net.de), February 04, 2002.

After reading several posts about photoimpex in Berlin being a source of Foma film and Calbe R09 film developer, I have tried contacting them via e-mail several times with no response. Any suggestions from those who have done business with them? I also learned of a new USA source for Calbe R09 developer, Efke film, and 100 speed Foma film. I bought a few rolls of 25 speed 120 film from them on ebay, and inquired about other European products. They stock the films mentioned and have the Calbe developer on order. They will contact me when it arrives, and I will then be able to update this post regarding price. Any suggestions that could be offered in regard to processing times with the Calbe developer would be appreciated, I'm returning to photography and darkroom work after a 25 year absence. I have found this forum very

-- Scott Marcellus (maramoto@prodigy.net), April 03, 2002.

Oops, forgot to list the e-mail of the US source for Calbe R09. It's sales@jandcphoto.com

-- Scott Marcellus (maramoto@prodigy.net), April 04, 2002.

I contacted photoimpex.de last week about Efke film. They replied to my email the next day (though they were out of stock!). So they do seem to answer email. Give them another try.

-- Bob Atkins (bobatkins@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.


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