>>3433425>thanks for the info I'll read more on rodinalAnon here's the deal:
Film grain size is mostly controlled by the film used. The biggest factor is t-grain vs traditional, and then fast vs slow.
Secondarily grain is slightly controlled by developer: you can choose between super fine grain (lots of solvent action, like Perceptol), fine grain/general purpose (a bit of solvent action like D-76, Xtol), and grainy (like Rodinal).
In every case, you trade grain size for grain definition/sharpness. The super fine grain developers, since they dissolve the grain more, make its edges a bit smoother. The grainy ones (otherwise called "accutance developers" or "surface developers") give bigger grain, but really etch the borders the the grains, making it more well defined.
Since you mention rodinal, just letting you know it's a physical *impossibility* to get finer grain with rodinal than with *any* developer with solvent action (D-76, XTol, ID-11, DD-X, etc. etc.).
You may like the look more, but the grain will always be bigger. Some people perceive the final image as more sharp because the grain is better defined, but it'll be bigger for sure, no doubt about it.
Since you have Xtol already, I recommend you try high dilutions, like 1+3 or 1+2 first. The solvent action is minimised in higher dilutions (not nullified), and you get sharper grain (bigger), closer to what you'd get with developers like Rodinal. See if you like that direction, and if you do, you might wanna try Rodinal. If you find those results worse, no reason to waste your time going even further down that direction by using rodinal.
If you try 1+3 with Xtol, make sure to have at least 100ml of stock developer in the mix (i.e. 400ml working solution), to be enough to develop the film without getting exhausted. That's for a roll of 135 or 120, adjust accordingly for larger formats.
Also, the pure solvent developers (Perceptol) cause a loss of speed of about 1 stop.
Around 1/3rd-half stop for Rodinal.
