Re: xtol wrecked my HIE!

[tom <thomas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Christina Z. Anderson" wrote:
> 
> BTW, not that this relates to HIE in specific, but on another list (pure
> silver) I brought up the fact that Kodak has a snafu with XTol, in that you
> must as said below have a minimum of 100 ml developer full strength per roll
> of film or 80 sq. inches of film if doing sheets (4 sheets).  What this
> means, of course, is that in a 16 oz. tank with one reel of film to develop
> you can only go up to a dilution of 1:2 at most.  IN talking with Kodak,
> they don't recommend higher dilutions, in fact, they recommend 1:1 as the
> best because you have the greatest acutance increase going from full to 1:1.

Anchell and Troop suggest that higher dilutions are often preferable. I
believe they cite Kodak and personal experience.

I find that undiluted xtol gives grain that is too smooth and therefore
slightly unsharp in appearance. Higher dilutions give more prnounced
edge effects and a higher perceived degree of sharpness at the expense
of slightly more pronounced grain. I prefer this look and use xtol 1:3
for 13.5 minutes at 72 degrees for HIE.

I usually err on the side of caution and use 125ml per roll, which means
I can develop 2 rolls of 135 in my jobo tank with extension collar.

<snip>
>  I also read somewhere, though that there were problems with some
> batches of Xtol and I cannot remember what the deal was

The original 1 liter packs of xtol were badly packaged, and part A would
cake up. People reported thin negs.

It's also suggested that xtol is sensitive to variations in water
quality, so distilled water may be preferred.

tv
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