Efke/Xtol

[Flotsam]

I shoot a lot of Efke 50 and 100 in 35mm and 120. I have been looking to replace the D-76 1:1 that I have been using up to now to Xtol.

Anyone have any experience, opinions or suggestions?

I use inversion in SS tanks.

 

[panchromatic]

I shot my first of efke (25) in 35mm for the first time the other day. I developed as per the suggestion of someone from apug. Rodinal 1:100 @ 68F for 25 min with only a few inversions at the beginning and none thereafter.

Absolutely LOVED the results.

 

[Ole]

I agree wit hRyan - there's absolutely no need for a fine(ish)-grain developer with these films. Go for a non-solvent speed-enhancing developer - like Neofin or dilute Rodinal - and you'll love the results.

 

[Gene Johnson]

I shot my first of efke (25) in 35mm for the first time the other day. I developed as per the suggestion of someone from apug. Rodinal 1:100 @ 68F for 25 min with only a few inversions at the beginning and none thereafter.

Absolutely LOVED the results.

That was me! Glad that was helpful Nice to be able to set a timer and go do something. Also no problems with consistent agitation.

 

[titrisol]

I don;t know the effect of diluting Xtol, but straight Xtol will require extremely short times for Efke 25.

PS. JandC lists a time of 6 minutes in Xtol for efke 25

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Xtol has been reported to work well at dilutions up to 3:1.

 

[panchromatic]

That was me! Glad that was helpful Nice to be able to set a timer and go do something. Also no problems with consistent agitation.

THANK YOU for the data, it worked awesome. I took shots of my trumpet and they where sharp and the negs where very easy to print.

 

[mmcclellan]

I've been shooting a lot of the Efke 25 and developing it in the R-09 developer from jandc.

It's a great combination and gives me just the result I want from that film. Since you can get both from jandc, it's also quite convenient.

I recommend giving that a shot -- you'll probably find it's just the trick! BTW, I also shoot that film at EI 16 (after testing) and the development time is different from the manufacturer's recommendation.

Michael McClellan

 

[Ian Grant]

I've been shooting EFKE PL50 in 5x4 and processing in replenished Xtol for quite a while now, over a year, getting superb results, I also use Tmax400 at 200 ISO for 120 & Tmax100 at 50 ISO for 5x4 in Xtol and the negatives definately have an edge over D76. I'd add that I was getting comparable results in Rodinal but with larger formats it became uneconomic

However today I processed my first PL50 10x8 negs in Pyrocat HD, and this really is a superb combination.

Ian

I shoot a lot of Efke 50 and 100 in 35mm and 120. I have been looking to replace the D-76 1:1 that I have been using up to now to Xtol.

Anyone have any experience, opinions or suggestions?

I use inversion in SS tanks.

 

[Flotsam]

Thanks Ian, It should be interesting to see how the smaller formats turn out. I felt that KB100 in Rodinal came out very nice but a bit grainy for some uses. I'm looking for a finer grain developer for subjects that would benefit from it. I'm a long-time fan of FG-7 and FG-7 in 9% Sodium Sulfite but would like to try Xtol based on comments that I have read on APUG.

I had JandC toss a few rolls of KB25 into my current order and look forward to checking them out in Rodi.

 

[titrisol]

I have developed KB100 in DDX/Clayton F76+. The results were vry good, graininess is a lot smaller than with Rodinal, sharpness ws good, and the tonal range was awesome.
I found that 12 min for 100 and 15 min for 200 in DDX 1+9 was enough, with agitation every other minute.
I had to go check on my daughter while processing one of these at 200, and even though I didn;t agitate in like 15 minutes, I foun dthat 20 minutes was too much . But the tonal range was extremely long, and my EM-10 (used as cheap-o densitometer) confirmed it. It covered 12 stops.

Xtol should giv you very good results

Thanks Ian, It should be interesting to see how the smaller formats turn out. I felt that KB100 in Rodinal came out very nice but a bit grainy for some uses. I'm looking for a finer grain developer for subjects that would benefit from it. I'm a long-time fan of FG-7 and FG-7 in 9% Sodium Sulfite but would like to try Xtol based on comments that I have read on APUG.

I had JandC toss a few rolls of KB25 into my current order and look forward to checking them out in Rodi.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Please do inform on how the results are. I am using Rodinal for everything right now, but am ready to try something different. There was a bag of Xtol sitting around at my local store, and I was sooooo tempted to purchase it and try it.
I have had film commercially developed in Xtol, and those negs look great and make enlargements with very little grain from them. Really like the results.

Besides that, Efke 25 is one of my favorite films, especially for the smaller formats 35mm and 6x6.

Thanks,

- Thom

Thanks Ian, It should be interesting to see how the smaller formats turn out. I felt that KB100 in Rodinal came out very nice but a bit grainy for some uses. I'm looking for a finer grain developer for subjects that would benefit from it. I'm a long-time fan of FG-7 and FG-7 in 9% Sodium Sulfite but would like to try Xtol based on comments that I have read on APUG.

I had JandC toss a few rolls of KB25 into my current order and look forward to checking them out in Rodi.