Xtol: what difference does it make?

Rolfe Tessem said:

My understanding is that Kodak removed the 1:2 and 1:3 dilution recommendations because people were not abiding by the 100ml stock solution per 8x10 film area guideline...

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Pay close attention to these words. Wiser ones were never posted.

jnanian said:

...my several years of using this developer...it was nothing but thin-film no matter how i mixed it, what typie of water i mixed it with, dilutions used ( or straight ), agitation schemes, exposure schemes. while your advice is sound for the lions share of xtol users and hopeful users it doesn't cover all the bases...

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I think the concise protocol I posted does cover all bases. More details are needed to evaluate your experience.

First, please define, sensitometrically, "thin." Second, please let us know whether or not you conducted trials for each film type to establish an "N" developing time. Relying on published starting times is insufficient when using XTOL. Many films demand to be processed much longer than the usual sources say they need to be. This is particularly evident when employing inversion, rather than rotary, agitation.

I suggest giving the product another chance. Five liters for ten bucks, as well as results far better than obtainable from alternative developers, means it's worth the effort to dial in one's process with XTOL.

sal

i don't have a densitometer, my negatives were weak, they lacked contrast and density. if i put them "on a newspaper"
as described in ansel adam's "the negative" .. the image on the negative was nearly lost to the print. i do not do the zone system,
i process my film by using the published time and temperture as recommended by the manufacturer as a starting point and if additional contrast/density
is required i increase time or exposure. i have processed film like this since 1980-81 with no issues, and my methods were refined even more when i was
processing hundreds of sheets of 5x7 film daily, for a well established portrait photographer ( 50 years established ). using xtol was not something i did willy-nilly
it was recommended to me by a printer i was using after she met the husband and wife team who invented the developer, and she warned me that it would behave as it did.
i bracketed exposures and even used straight developer at times at 2x the suggeted starting point. dip/dunk sheet film with hangers, rotary processors, hand tank/inversion
continuous shuffling sheet film in trays finaly after 2-3 years i gave up ( although i picked up another packet years later and tried again, with equally lackluster results ).
sorry sal, i will never buy that developer again, i really have no need to because i have already found my magic bullet.

best of luck !
john

Andrew O'Neill said:

Thanks, John. Is Xtol-R with Rodinal? If so, I conducted tests back in the lat 90's with this combo and like the results I got, but not enough to do more. I got hooked into Pyrocat-HD. I'll have to dig up those old notes and take another look.

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Andrew? You just confused me a bit.
Xtol R with Rodinal ??
I just ran to google to look after.
R is no longer a replunisher they have a brand new formula to ??

It is not impossibe at all - Tetenal have some very new developers too.

When regarding the details it is the opposite : Not as brand new as doubt.

Out of the year1896 Tetenals new formula.

Xtol R IS just a replunisher - without
Rodinal.

It would make no sence to combine both
agends. But I should neuer say never !

Rodinal with its superaditive ascorbic acid.???

So what you should need could be
Neofin Red - just remenber it ! ! !

with regards

Xtol R is simply replenished Xtol.
Using stock Xtol, you add 70 ml of new Xtol to your stock bottle of Xtol and then add your used Xtol back into the stock.
Air tight, this will last a very, very long time and it also gives it a more consistent and controllable developer.
Users of replenished Xtol believe that the results are better this way
There is no Rodinal in Xtol R

Dilute xtol tends to give less contrast, better for pushing and higher accutance. Personally I am not of fan of xtol, prefer d76