Since I was pleased (but not necessarily blown away) with the first roll of film I put through my Olympus 35 SP, I was eager to give it another go. This time I decide to try a different film.

For those keeping track, my first roll in the Olympus was Kentmere 100 developed in Rodinal 1:50. This time around, I loaded up a roll of Adox HR-50 I had on hand. I’d never shot this film before and was excited to try it. Due to a busy work week, it took me several weeks to get through the 36 exposures. I shot it at box speed. Even though Adox makes both this film and the developer I wanted to use, I was nervous about the combo. My online research indicated that Rodinal might not be a good choice since Adox makes a dedicated developer for HR-50. (HR-Dev, to be specific.) Since I didn’t have any HR-Dev, I forged ahead.

If I’ve learned anything about developing film, it’s to not judge a negative by a first, cursory glance when it’s removed from the tank.

The Massive Development Chart gave a development time of only five minutes at 68 degrees. This seemed dangerously short to me. But I’m a rule follower and developed at that suggested time and temperature (with fingers crossed).

If I’ve learned anything about developing film, it’s to not judge a negative by a first, cursory glance when it’s removed from the tank. I’ve been fooled before. (And I’m writing this portion of this post before the negatives are even dry.) But when I took this roll out of the tank to hang it up, I was immediately taken by how sharp and contrasty the frames looked. This is often the look I’m going for.

And I’m writing this paragraph and below after examining and scanning the negatives:

The film performed better than expectations! The scans are crisp, clean and super contrasty. Maybe too contrasty. The highlights didn’t blow out, even in the skies. They were very easy to scan and didn’t require much post editing. And the clarity and sharpness of the photos are tack sharp. I’m very happy with these. I’ll definitely be using this film again, but will get some HR-Dev to try next time.