XTOL Stock solution and APX 400

I've seen several development time charts which give times for the above combination and none of them (including the AGFA) chart have recommended times. I assumed that was because the combination would result in pretty awful film. So... I tried it.

The film was exposed in the same way, with the same camera under the same sort of lighting conditions ( in a zone system sorta way ) as my usual procedure. I developed for 9 minutes at 68 degrees with 10 second agitation every 30 seconds. The result was really really nice. Minimal grain, nice contrast and good sharpness. The film speed didn't suffer at all either.

Has anyone else tried this? If so, what results?

Any idea why times are not published for the combo?

I've tried it at 1:1 and had equally impressive results. I prefer to use a dilution if possible since I want to use it one shot and my tank is larger. Since Xtol will increase film speed somewhat, you'll have to do some test and see where it winds up when used stock. I'm going to order more film and try it at increasingly greater dilutions and compare it to other films that I have developed in Xtol. So far I like what I see and prefer to use APX 400 compared to HP5+.

waynecrider said:

I've tried it at 1:1 and had equally impressive results. I prefer to use a dilution if possible since I want to use it one shot and my tank is larger. So far I like what I see and prefer to use APX 400 compared to HP5+.

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No kidding Wayne! I just tried the 1:1 diution last night and put the results in the standard gallery. I think its my only picture so far. should be easy to find. I LOVE THE RESULTS of this combo perhaps even more than the stock solution. This APX 400 film is really good. So darn close to Tri-X at half the price!