Accidents with XTol

naruto

naruto

GASitis.. finally cured?
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I shot a few rolls of Arista Premium 400 (which I think has been established as TriX) at the box speed. My developer stock of XTol has been around for 3 months, and I thought of using 1+3 for 12.5 mins@20degC. Once I poured in the XTol, I realized that it was yellow in colour. This meant either it was shot or the action of the developer would be slow. So, just for the kicks of it, I added 3 ml of Rodinal into it, and prayed that things would go fine.

Here are the results. The grain structure is very pleasing, and the negatives look to be printed directly on Grade 2 or 3 paper.

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Xtol is more resilient than you might think. I always keep my clipped 35mm leaders to use to test the dev if it is old. It yellows a touch and still works fine in every case I have tested in including five months in half full plastic bottles.

Rodinal and Xtol combined has produced some nice negs for me. Finer grain than rodinal, more bite than Xtol. A good balance, but the grain structure is what appeals to me most - crisp. It also retains the speed of Xtol it seems.
 
Xtol 1:3 and Rodinal 1:100 is very nice for HP5+. The only film I have tried. However, the time was rather short. If you GOOGLE around for the Unblinking Eye, you will find a page about Rodinal. On that page there is the formula of Xtol 1:4 or 1:5 and 4ml or 5ml of Rodinal. I will try that next.
 
I stored the Xtol in a dark glass bottle, in a room which has very less light getting into it. Yet, my Xtol turned yellow pretty fast.

venchka: Xtol+Rodinal is my standard development. I think a member here mentioned the timings in one of his posts. TriX@250 is 12.5 mins in 1+4 XTol + 1:100 Rodinal. The timing is similar for APX100 in the same combination. I have tried both and they give excellent results.
 
I store mine in plastic water bottles in a shoe cupboard that has no light at all. It's been 7 months since I mixed mine and they're still fine. I've only got about 1.5 litres left. I normally use 1:3 dilution. Very economical.
 
It just keeps going and going and going

It just keeps going and going and going

Xtol mixed August 1, 2008.
Stored in a wine in a box container in my fridge.
Developed 4 sheets of Delta 100 last night.

I really like Xtol.
 
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