Kodak XTOL trade concern announcment

[john_s]

So far 8, 8x10 sheets of film through and all looks great. Just added a bit of fresh stock to working solution for replenishment. This seems to be all about nothing.

Lucky you!

 

[Jonno85uk]

Just out of curiosity, what should the colour of fresh stock look like?

I mixed up my first batch a few weeks ago and it went from straw to clear on addition of part b. I did end up with a bit of undissolved chems but left them in the stock to be filtered out before use.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Just out of curiosity, what should the colour of fresh stock look like?

I mixed up my first batch a few weeks ago and it went from straw to clear on addition of part b. I did end up with a bit of undissolved chems but left them in the stock to be filtered out before use.

That sounds pretty normal. When I used this regularly back in the 90's, there were always little white floaties after mixing. I just ignored these as they tend to go away, and poured the stock into bottles. When I mixed up this new batch a few days ago, A went dark straw colour (which was as so in the 90's), but went completely clear with the addition of B (again as was so in the 90's). There were no floaties, though...
Anyways, it's working beautifully.

 

[Jonno85uk]

Typically part A will be orange or similar when mixed. When part B is added it should become colourless.

Cheers. I was a bit confused by people earlier saying their stock is straw yellow

 

[MattKing]

I wonder if the inclusion of a question about from which distributor the Xtol was purchased has any significance It would suggest a link or at least SinoPromise's feeling that there may be a link between the problem and the distributor? Or might there be another reason for asking this question that gives SinoPromise other important information about distributors that might have nothing to do with the actual problem?

pentaxuser

I'm guessing that "distributor" really means retailer.
Apparently Beau Photo, who is the retailer Andrew and I purchased from, have already heard from Sino Promise.

 

[pentaxuser]

I'm guessing that "distributor" really means retailer.
Apparently Beau Photo, who is the retailer Andrew and I purchased from, have already heard from Sino Promise.

Yes that makes sense but only if SinoPromise needs this info to try recover the potentially faulty stock before the retailer sells and inadvertently creates another dissatisfied customer but I had just assumed that SinoPromise would either know who the retailers were or could find this out more easily via the actual distributors.

However I have no idea how the whole chain of distribution works from SinoPromise to the end retailer

pentaxuser

 

[lenshood]

Thanks very much for this post - i got the same response, and am reassured.

Thanks also to all who have responded with info about Xtol clones & alternatives - very helpful discussion.

 

[MattKing]

However I have no idea how the whole chain of distribution works from SinoPromise to the end retailer

There can be many steps.
My favourite local retailer has in the past bought their amateur Kodak film products from distributors that specialize in supplying grocery, drug and corner stores, because their minimum order quantities were so much more reasonable.

 

[Donald Qualls]

As of when I left home this morning, I hadn't received a reply from Sino Promise (can't reliably get email while at work due to poor cell phone signal) -- but I was probably fairly far down the queue, since I didn't see the announcement on Facebook and didn't read it here the instant it went up.

My current stock/replenisher will easily last into February, so I'm not very concerned (yet).

 

[radiant]

Same here, not response but I wasn't first ones to contact.

I've decided to take crusade to ID-11 and maybe mix some Foma Excel too. And maybe Pyrocat-HD .. oh well. And not to mention for my current project I am using using Rodinal.

Maybe I get films developed

 

[ADOX Fotoimpex]

Yeah? I wondered if it might be Adox??? I have no idea. The New XTOL I got the first time worked just fine. It was different, much lower dust. I wondered if the vendor was using the same technology that Adox is using with fixer powder.
Who knows, I think Sino Promise may be bringing back everything, starting fresh across the board. The bottles that are used for the color chemistry coming out of China are top notch, these folks know how to produce chemistry. I would bet everything is going to China.

We have never produced for Kodak Alaris.
All powder chemicals made by ADOX in the new factory can be identified by the aluminum bags with oxygen barrier.
Apart from this we have a chemical and photographic QC on all outgoing batches.

 

[ADOX Fotoimpex]

I think it may be an EU mandate to reduce emissions. Adox inferred that this technology reduced the complexity of their new plant. Adox should jump on this and make some new product offerings.

This is planned and coming. We decided about three years ago that we want a strong focus on powder chemicals. A D76 and Xtol equivalent are in preparation.
We are currently working on the (optional) replacement of potentionally hazardous substances by more eco-friendly and modern ones as well as on the scale up of the production.

 

[ADOX Fotoimpex]

Old Tetenal already was able to do so long ago.

To my knowledge with a different technical aproach.

 

[pentaxuser]

We have never produced for Kodak Alaris. All powder chemicals made by ADOX in the new factory can be identified by the aluminum bags with oxygen barrier. We do not use any simple PVC packaging for powder chemicals.

With its present troubles, there would seem to be no better time to bring out a replacement for Xtol which another video said you were working on. Can you say what the progress is on your Xtol equivalent?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yeah? I wondered if it might be Adox??? I have no idea. The New XTOL I got the first time worked just fine. It was different, much lower dust. I wondered if the vendor was using the same technology that Adox is using with fixer powder.
Who knows, I think Sino Promise may be bringing back everything, starting fresh across the board. The bottles that are used for the color chemistry coming out of China are top notch, these folks know how to produce chemistry. I would bet everything is going to China.

We have never produced for Kodak Alaris. All powder chemicals made by ADOX in the new factory can be identified by the aluminum bags with oxygen barrier.
We do not use any simple PVC packaging for powder chemicals.
Apart from this we have a chemical and photographic QC on all outgoing batches.

This is planned and coming. We decided about three years ago that we want a strong focus on powder chemicals. A D76 and Xtol equivalent are in preparation.
We are currently working on the (optional) replacement of potentionally hazardous substances by more eco-friendly and modern ones as well as on the scale up of the production.

To my knowledge with a different technical aproach.

ADOX Fotoimpex is donating their time to help us, so how about stopping posting wild speculation and conspiracy theories and letting ADOX spend their time supporting us.

 

[AgX]

To my knowledge with a different technical aproach.

There are different ways to achieve granulation. Tetenal's way was a kettle with a blending plow, thus likely needing a binder of some kind.

But however, you were the first to introduce granulated powders to the consumer market. On the reason for that I already speculated above.

 

[ADOX Fotoimpex]

With its present troubles, there would seem to be no better time to bring out a replacement for Xtol which another video said you were working on. Can you say what the progress is on your Xtol equivalent?

Thanks

pentaxuser

We need to ramp up production capacities. Our current production is completely booked out with the existing products. Our new mixer can be installed in about 4-6 weeks if all goes well.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

We need to ramp up production capacities. Our current production is completely booked out with the existing products. Our new mixer can be installed in about 4-6 weeks if all goes well.

Mirko,

Very positive to hear about these developments. I'm an XTOL user so have a vested interest in seeing what you come up with. Also, powder developers are a great idea, for one thing they take up much less space in the darkroom and usually have fewer concerns about manufacturing dates and storage before mixing etc. I have tended to mix up my own print developers recently but have no issue with buying a good quality commercial product.

Tom

 

[toyoboyo]

A low dust, revised XTOL would be amazing from Adox.

 

[pentaxuser]

We need to ramp up production capacities. Our current production is completely booked out with the existing products. Our new mixer can be installed in about 4-6 weeks if all goes well.

Thanks, that sounds very promising. Can I also ask: Will this new mixer also be able to mix the C41 and RA4 tablets that were mentioned several months ago or are these tablets quite different and will need much longer to produce?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[warden]

We need to ramp up production capacities. Our current production is completely booked out with the existing products. Our new mixer can be installed in about 4-6 weeks if all goes well.

Thanks for participating here. I'll be trying your products soon.

 

[Ai Print]

Good to see ADOX Fotoimpex here, smart move as usual.

I just saw this and checked my recent shipment...all 20 kits are affected batches ( 2/26 and 2/27). Thankfully I have a lot of the older packaging from the last time I re-stocked so I am good for a few years yet if this continues to be an issue.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I just saw this and checked my recent shipment...all 20 kits are affected batches ( 2/26 and 2/27). Thankfully I have a lot of the older packaging from the last time I re-stocked so I am good for a few years yet if this continues to be an issue.

Do you use XTOL exclusively?

 

[Ai Print]

Do you use XTOL exclusively?

I would say so, like 90% with some HC-110 and Rodinal mixed in here and there.

 

[mshchem]

This is planned and coming. We decided about three years ago that we want a strong focus on powder chemicals. A D76 and Xtol equivalent are in preparation.
We are currently working on the (optional) replacement of potentionally hazardous substances by more eco-friendly and modern ones as well as on the scale up of the production.

That's great. These two developers are a commodity in the United States. Point I'm trying to make is, if Arista can produce quality products, in volume to replace the Kodak's screw up. Don't expect to come in at twice the price. Foma makes beautiful paper but I've never considered their chemistry. Maybe I shall.

I will say for many reasons, I would pay a premium for products made in liberal democracies.

When Tetenal got in trouble I bought at least 15 packages of the Original German version of XTOL, not the screwed up, Alaris, we need to be profitable in 90 days, so let's destroy the brand before we sell it to Sino Promise, version.

I'm done with Kodak chemistry, I use Kodak rapid fix with hardener, for fiber paper, because I use a Pako drum dryer. So whatever Fixer I end up with is going to need to be a ammonium thiosulfate solution with hardener . The announcement that Dektol is brown, but that's OK. That's was the final straw. I could not believe that was published.

I use Kodak rapid selenium toner, Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent, no Dektol, I've been using Bromophen for 20+ years. I've got stocks to last 12 to 15 months.
Put it in cans, I've got 60 year old cans of Selectol (D52), made up a gallon a couple weeks back, perfect white crystals, clear clean solution.