Short version: Fuji 100 Acros II negatives developed in Kodak XTOL are too thin, with faint edge markings.
---
1. Kodak XTOL, 5 liter kit mixed with distilled water. Mfg. date is 2019/10/07, exp. 2022-10, which is NOT the recalled lot, right? Powders and mixing seemed normal to me, but this was the first time I've prepared XTOL. All of Part A was completely dissolved in slightly warm water before adding Part B, at which point the solution turned from cloudy tan to clear. Aliquoted into 5 black one-liter plastic containers.
2. The next day, I processed a roll of Kodak T-Max 400, in XTOL at 1+1 with distilled water. Results appear to be normal. That one-liter container of XTOL remained 3/4ths full until ...
3. Twelve days later I mixed a 1+1 dilution of XTOL from the 3/4ths full container, using distilled water - and processed a roll of Fuji 100 Acros II - which is the roll that came out too thin. I use a stainless steel spiral reel in a metal tank. Kodak's <data sheet> says XTOL in "Partially Filled, Tightly Closed Containers" should be good for "At least 2 months"
When I was making the 1+1 dilution, I noticed a few small white floating specs which looked something like tiny fibers. I put a couple of layers of Kimtech Lab Wipes in the bottom of a funnel and filtered the solution to remove the specs. The total volume of these white specs was very small. A mono-layer would not fill the hole left by a paper punch.
Using numbers from the <Massive Dev Chart> I intended to develop for ISO 100, 9:30 at 20*C (68*F), but all my solutions were stable at 70*F (21*C), so I used numbers from the time and temperature correction chart <here> which shows 8:30 at 70*F should be equivalent to 9:30 at 68*F. Initial agitation was 30 seconds, then 3 inversions per minute.
The solution from my pre-soak poured off clear, as did the used XTOL after development. However, the fixer poured off as a bright pinkish-purple, and the hypo clearing agent was moderately pink as well. I was still seeing some faint traces of pink in the early stages of the final wash. This was my first roll of Acros, so I don't know if this is normal? I have seen colored solutions with other films, but as I recall, mostly from the pre-soak/developer?
In the first photo below, the Acros negatives are on the left and the T-Max 400 photos are on the right. I metered the Acros at box speed of ISO 100, and for the T-Max 400, I used an EI of 320. Most settings were taken from incident readings, using hand held Gossen and Sekonic light meters. What makes me think this is a developing problem and not an exposure problem is the faint edge markings (second photo); is that a reasonable assumption?
I suspect my problem may have something to do with my filtering step (?) - either I removed some precipitated ingredient that should have been left in, or the <Kimtech Wipes> may have affected the pH, or ...?
Going forward, I have 4 full liter containers of stock XTOL left. If the remaining bottles have precipitate, should I trash it? Do I need to run a test roll, of throwaway-shots, .... or ... ?
---
1. Kodak XTOL, 5 liter kit mixed with distilled water. Mfg. date is 2019/10/07, exp. 2022-10, which is NOT the recalled lot, right? Powders and mixing seemed normal to me, but this was the first time I've prepared XTOL. All of Part A was completely dissolved in slightly warm water before adding Part B, at which point the solution turned from cloudy tan to clear. Aliquoted into 5 black one-liter plastic containers.
2. The next day, I processed a roll of Kodak T-Max 400, in XTOL at 1+1 with distilled water. Results appear to be normal. That one-liter container of XTOL remained 3/4ths full until ...
3. Twelve days later I mixed a 1+1 dilution of XTOL from the 3/4ths full container, using distilled water - and processed a roll of Fuji 100 Acros II - which is the roll that came out too thin. I use a stainless steel spiral reel in a metal tank. Kodak's <data sheet> says XTOL in "Partially Filled, Tightly Closed Containers" should be good for "At least 2 months"
When I was making the 1+1 dilution, I noticed a few small white floating specs which looked something like tiny fibers. I put a couple of layers of Kimtech Lab Wipes in the bottom of a funnel and filtered the solution to remove the specs. The total volume of these white specs was very small. A mono-layer would not fill the hole left by a paper punch.
Using numbers from the <Massive Dev Chart> I intended to develop for ISO 100, 9:30 at 20*C (68*F), but all my solutions were stable at 70*F (21*C), so I used numbers from the time and temperature correction chart <here> which shows 8:30 at 70*F should be equivalent to 9:30 at 68*F. Initial agitation was 30 seconds, then 3 inversions per minute.
The solution from my pre-soak poured off clear, as did the used XTOL after development. However, the fixer poured off as a bright pinkish-purple, and the hypo clearing agent was moderately pink as well. I was still seeing some faint traces of pink in the early stages of the final wash. This was my first roll of Acros, so I don't know if this is normal? I have seen colored solutions with other films, but as I recall, mostly from the pre-soak/developer?
In the first photo below, the Acros negatives are on the left and the T-Max 400 photos are on the right. I metered the Acros at box speed of ISO 100, and for the T-Max 400, I used an EI of 320. Most settings were taken from incident readings, using hand held Gossen and Sekonic light meters. What makes me think this is a developing problem and not an exposure problem is the faint edge markings (second photo); is that a reasonable assumption?
I suspect my problem may have something to do with my filtering step (?) - either I removed some precipitated ingredient that should have been left in, or the <Kimtech Wipes> may have affected the pH, or ...?
Going forward, I have 4 full liter containers of stock XTOL left. If the remaining bottles have precipitate, should I trash it? Do I need to run a test roll, of throwaway-shots, .... or ... ?
Last edited:
