Although I will always love pyro (for LF) - it rarely fits the bill for me in regards to roll film that will get blown up large - Yes - I have had some success with Pyrocat in 6x6 blown up to 16x20 but I have always wanted to find a way to get really tight grain for my roll film. I also like to shoot with available light and I always regret giving up a stop for pyro. Because of this I had been making my own Microdol X but again always giving up a stop. Microdol and TRI-X works well because the Microdol makes the grain mushy and TRI-X grain is pretty bulletproof, even with all that table salt!
I recently began mixing a version of XTOL called MYTOL that uses easily obtained soduim ascorbate and other common chemicals I have had on hand for other developers. I am amazed at the increase in film speed and the tightness of the grain, even with TRI-X. I used it to push TRI-X to 1600 (a modest push) and the contrast is very usable and the grain is very fine. The big surprize is how fine the grain is on TMAX 400! I may never need 100 ASA films again in MF. So the downside might be cost - it seems a little more expensive than other brews but I think I will no longer make Microdol now and likely no more D76 in any version either. I will still keep some split D-23 for those mixed exposure rolls but I think MYTOL may be my new permanant brew for roll films across the board.
I recently began mixing a version of XTOL called MYTOL that uses easily obtained soduim ascorbate and other common chemicals I have had on hand for other developers. I am amazed at the increase in film speed and the tightness of the grain, even with TRI-X. I used it to push TRI-X to 1600 (a modest push) and the contrast is very usable and the grain is very fine. The big surprize is how fine the grain is on TMAX 400! I may never need 100 ASA films again in MF. So the downside might be cost - it seems a little more expensive than other brews but I think I will no longer make Microdol now and likely no more D76 in any version either. I will still keep some split D-23 for those mixed exposure rolls but I think MYTOL may be my new permanant brew for roll films across the board.
