Kodak presented XTOL 1996 as a new ecological standard developer on the market. As outstanding characteristic a derivative of the ascorbic acid was called as developer instead of Hydrochinon and Phenidon as development substance. Beyond that Kodak mentions in the XTOL data sheet a 10% increase of the enlargebility of negatives in relation to a equivalent standard developer with same sharpness and same grain [1].

XTOL possesses besides the characteristic of the full utilization of sensitivity of the films under retention of a very fine grain. The developer is very well suitable for the normal, pull and push prozess. The developer can be diluted, or be used in the machine with appropriate regeneration. The powder that it gives to buy in the smallest package for a 5 liter beginning, is set at room temperature simply and fast. XTOL has problems with iron in the water.

I recommend to set from there this developer with aqua dest. That is besides very comfortably, since the powder can be set directly in the cans available in markets. An easy increase of the water temperature on 30° lets the powder dissolve faster. Respect with the employment of the powder part " B" on the before complete dissolution of the powder part " A". After the dissolution of the powder part " A" the dillution gets brown and gets clear when dissolving the part " B" up. I let this 5 liters rest over night, in order to fill it over 24 hours later into 1 liter of chemistry potash bottles crammed. XTOL holds at least 10 months without problems with this process, if you worked with clean bottles.

The developer does not only use the full sensitivity of the films, it uses also the full dissolution reserve of the respective film. Kodak indicates times for the development in the data sheet undilutet and in the 1+1 dilution. Diluting higher than 1+1 results in a higher sharpness, an higher filmspeed and a somewhat rougher grain. If you guarantees a use of 100ml stock solution per film, XTOL can be dilutet to 1+3. The higher dilution increases the sharpness. Likewise the exposure index is continued to increase.

A TX400 reached during my tested normal process with a gamma of 0,58 a sensitivity of scarcely 800ASA with a development of the dilution 1+3. thereby I reach the highest sharpness with this film and a still fine grain. The tilt Ryhtmus recommended by Kodak is important. This has a serious portion of the contrast which can be reached. After filling in chemistry the first half minute is permanently tilted. Subsequently, the box is each 30 seconds to 5 seconds fast and good to tilt, at least 3x within the 5 seconds. This ryhtmus is decisive for the time table below this text. A longer development with a slow tilt for increasing contrast is not sufficient alone, since the film density increases and the contrast is hardly affected by it. Likewise I stated that current flat crystal films are already developed more sharply in XTOL in the 1+1 development than classical films. With exception of the Ilford FP4, which shows its almost maximum sharpness in the 1+1 dilution, classical films should be developed like Kodak PlusX, Ilford HP5 and Agfa APX100 in higher dilutions. A good compromise with the achievement of a good sharpness and still pleasant development times those the 1+2 dilution. I point out here that the differences between the individual dilutions are to be differentiated regarding sharpness only in enlargements of 20x30 cm upward from the KB film to. If small prints are the goal, then a hardly visible difference can be attained regarding the accutance with a higher dilution. With KB films I use usually the 1+2 dilution. If I use middle format films, I remain usually with the 1+1 dilution.

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_{[1] Stephen G. Anchell, Bill Troop / The Film Developing Cookbook}