Stand development, three rolls later
Stand development means very dilute developer and almost no agitation: the developer exhausts itself in the highlights while the shadows keep building density. It is forgiving of mixed exposures on a single roll, which is exactly why I tried it.
The recipe I settled on
- Rodinal 1+100, about 20 °C
- Initial agitation: 30 seconds of gentle inversions
- One slow inversion at 30 minutes
- Total time: 60 minutes, then a plain water stop and a normal fix
What went wrong first
The first roll showed bromide drag — light streaks running down from the sprocket holes. Tapping the tank firmly after each agitation and making sure there was enough solution above the reel helped more than anything else.
Is it worth it?
For HP5 shot at 1600 in dim rooms, yes. Grain is visible but even, and the highlights stay printable. For evenly lit scenes at box speed I still use normal agitation — it is quicker and the tonality is simply better.