Xtol vs Rodinal

[ronlamarsh]

I don't want to start an argument but I am looking for some honest advise. I know rodinal has a cult following and well deserved, I have used it for years. Due to its being taken off the market(although the formulary is working on their own liquid replacement to be out soon) and having used xtol recently at a workshop I am thinking about switching due to ease of availability etc. I use FP4 & forte 200 and 400 and some efke pL100 most of the time. I liked the crisp contrasty negatives I got with FP4 and xtol. Any thoughts? Remember no arguing!

 

[fhovie]

XTOL is very different than Rodinal - XTOL is based on a version of Vitamin C and contains some sulfites and phenidone. It offers crisp grain and full film speed and works well for pushing. Its shelf life is not as good and it offers less accutance than Rodinal. Rodinal also offers some highlight clamping that XTOL will not do. For an improved replacement for Rodinal try Pyrocat HD - It will cost you a stop, but will give you finer grain than Rodinal with many of the other simular benefits of Rodinal. 510 Pyro is probably closest to Rodinal performance and convenience. XTOL will cost you a small amount of accutance but overall will give you an extremely good image. For small formats, push processing or great enlarging - use XTOL. For larger formats, high accutance, highlight clamping and smaller (relative) enlargements - use Pyrocat HD.