Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/08/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 15/8/00 1:13 pm, Dan Honemann at ddh@home.com wrote: > Dear Ted, Mark, Tina, Johnny and other Xtol advocates: > > I plan to start experimenting with Xtol now that I've learned how to process > my own film. I'll start with Tri-X and Delta 100 emulsions. Can you please > share your recipe for times, temps, agitation periods, etc. when using Xtol > to process these films? > > All I know at this point is that 1:3 seems to be the right dilution. 1:3 is ideal so long as you have room in your tank! Each film needs 400 ml of dilute developer so 5 rolls is all you can do in an 8-roll 2l tank (you can figure out the math for other tank sizes yourself!) 1:1 is *almost* as good and I use it whenever I have more than 5 rolls to dunk at a time. The main difference is slightly larger grain with the 1:1 (this is counterintuitive but true) plus slightly less sharpness and less compression of tones (useful) due to compensating effect of very dilute developer in 1:3 soup. I use the times recommended in the kodak datasheet for everything except Tmax films. Some people get good results at the stated times for these films: others like me find they have to add 20-25% to get an acceptable result. You need to run a test if you are using these films. 1:1 I agitate 7-8s each minute (a twist and three gentle inversions), with 30s at the beginning. 1:3 I agitate the same, except for the last 6 minutes or so I only agitate once every 2 mins, sometimes only once in the last 3 mins. This is just personal voodoo as I think it builds up shadow detail and sharpness-enhancing edge effects but I could be totally wrong. That's it! It's so easy it's a sin. - -- Johnny Deadman http://www.pinkheadedbug.com