XTOL 1+1 capacity? Sanity check

Paul645 · Oct 25, 2024

I've used XTOL replenished in a Patterson small tank for quite a few years without any problems. I store fresh in full 500ml bottles and it lasts for ages. I keep replenished XTOL in full 500ml bottles, filter through paper and add 80ml fresh developer for each film. 12 minutes for a single roll of FP4+ in 300ml XYOLR at 20 degrees. Lots of discussion on the site about using XTOLR for quality but it's cheaper too.

retina_restoration · Oct 25, 2024

radialMelt said:
I'm currently wondering if I could get away with processing 2 consecutive tanks of 2x 120 rolls each, with a single litre of 1+1 XTOL before disposal.

I don't see why you'd want to squeeze every last penny's worth of value out of Xtol. It's only likely to introduce errors and inconsistency. I mean, it's not that much more costly than most any other middle of the road developer. Even D-76 costs about $15 for a gallon package, so you're looking at a situation where most developers cost about the same. There are some that are far more expensive (per roll) and some that are cheaper (I mentioned PMK, which is about as cheap as they come), but Xtol is average, and you're looking at a per roll cost that's similar to much of what's out there.
You pay about $10-$12 per roll of 120 film these days, and you're concerned about spending ONE dollar to develop it??

radialMelt · Oct 25, 2024

Don't put words in my mouth please. I am not concerned with spending one dollar to develop it. I started the thread because in all the reading I did it seemed that people cited costs as low as $0.25-0.40 per roll. I wanted to ensure I wasn't missing something. And if there is a way I can further maximize efficiency (short of a replenishment routine, which is what I do for C41), I'd like to at least be aware of it.

Tim Stapp · Oct 25, 2024

For what it's worth: anymore, I process so few rolls or sheets of film that I use XTOL (or it's Freestyle equivalent) straight, one shot. Consistency is always my goal. The small cost of the developer vs. the cost of film, the time to get to the location (not to mention the time off work) and any other associated costs is minimal. To me, to try to squeeze the last penny out of a relatively (at least in today's US economy) a fools' errand.

It cost me less per roll using XTOL straight that a pot of home made coffee (given today's coffee prices) or less than a cup of coffee at the truck stop down the road.

Now keep in mind this: I'm that individual that when making purchases will ask myself this: "How many hours will I have to work to make this purchase?"

Sirius Glass · Oct 26, 2024

radialMelt said:
Hi all,

Decided to give XTOL a try for my next batch of B&W dev. I'm inclined to go for the 1+1 dilution based on my reading. However, since I am using Patterson tanks and since Kodak (and everyone else) recommends using the 1+1 solution in a "one shot" manner it seems to be quite uneconomical.

I am using a 1L tank, which can hold 3x 35mm rolls, or 2x 120 rolls. Using 1+1 dilution, I will have 10L of working solution, meaning I can only get 20 rolls of 120 or 30 rolls of 35mm in total?

Am I thinking about this correctly? Do people use 1+1 XTOL for more than "one tank's" worth of developing?

Cheers

One can get similar or better results than 1+1 and get much better savings using replenished XTOL. I have been doing that since I shortly after I joined APUG, now known as Photrio in 2007.

radialMelt · Oct 26, 2024

Just gave it a shot. 1L 1+1 used on 2 tanks of 2x 120 each, within about 30mins of one another. Film still drying but on first glance look perfectly fine!

pentaxuser · Oct 26, 2024

radialMelt said:
Just gave it a shot. 1L 1+1 used on 2 tanks of 2x 120 each, within about 30mins of one another. Film still drying but on first glance look perfectly fine!

Great but I never expected anything else That's 500ml of stock for 4 films so if Kodak says 100ml stock per film you have a safety margin of 100ml Less than 30 mins of an break between the 2 sets of 2 films is nothing to worry about

pentaxuser

Paul645 · Oct 26, 2024

Sirius Glass said:
One can get similar or better results than 1+1 and get much better savings using replenished XTOL. I have been doing that since I shortly after I joined APUG, now known as Photrio in 2007.

A quick thankyou. I think it was your earlier posts about getting better results with XTOLR that prompted me to change from single shot developing. It took a few experiments to settle on developing time and temp. The only problem I had was when, on auto-pilot and still getting used to the new workflow, I tipped the seasoned developer down the drain instead of re-bottling it!

npl · Oct 26, 2024

radialMelt said:
[...]I started the thread because in all the reading I did it seemed that people cited costs as low as $0.25-0.40 per roll. I wanted to ensure I wasn't missing something. And if there is a way I can further maximize efficiency (short of a replenishment routine, which is what I do for C41), I'd like to at least be aware of it.

The $0.25-0.40 cost per rolls sound about right. I'll use Euros but that's about the same :

Xtol used to be cheaper, about 16€ where I live, so for 1:1 assuming 35mm and a 300ml small tank (150ml stock, 150ml water), 33 rolls, 0.48€ per roll. Now it's more around 20€ for a 5L pack.

If you use a replenishement system it get very cheap because you only need to replenish with 70-80ml of stock solution per roll. Even with a 20€ 5L package that's 71 rolls, 0.28€ per rolls.

radialMelt · Nov 4, 2024

radialMelt said:
Just gave it a shot. 1L 1+1 used on 2 tanks of 2x 120 each, within about 30mins of one another. Film still drying but on first glance look perfectly fine!

Although I just did another 2-tank run, but this time the second tank was a single 500ML tank containing one roll of 120. It came out on the underdeveloped side for sure. Fixable in scanning, but I wouldn't do it again.

XTOL 1+1 capacity? Sanity check

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