An Unofficial Resource Page
2002 Michael A. Covington.
Please connect to this site instead of reproducing copies from it.
This site isn't by any means associated with or endorsed by Eastman Kodak Company or other photo taking manufacturer. Most of the product names that appear in this article are registered trademarks of the particular proprietors.
NOTE ADDED 2006: I'm no more doing much film photography and am no more positively updating this site. I'll make corrections when needed to help keep its contents accurate, however i am no more soliciting more information relating to this developer. Appreciate your interest!
About Xtol
Introduced in 1996. Xtol (pronounced EX-tall) could be the only genuinely new black-and-white-colored film developer invented since Kodak HC-110 three decades earlier.
Xtol is among the couple of developers that don't contain hydroquinone. It uses derivatives of vit c (ascorbic acid) and Phenidone as developing agents. Claimed advantages include low toxicity (essential for ecological reasons in addition to work-related safety), easy mixing (but see below), as well as an unusual mixture of fine grain rich in film speed (true shadow speed, not only push-processing).
Other helpful webpages about Xtol include:- Kodak's Xtol data sheet in British the german language in Spanish
- Jobo's bulletin on how to use Xtol in rotary processors
That Funny Name
Should you perform a web search you'll rapidly discover in mathematical software, xtol frequently means "tolerance around the x -axis," completely unrelated to the the product so far as I understand. Xtol is another word in Zapotec, a local American language, but I'm not sure what it really means.
Probably, the specific developer comes from X (a component in lots of Kodak trademarks) and -tol as with Dektol. Versatol (Kodak developers). Or it might be that Kodak has highly extol brought the product!
Xtol's Questionable Start
Almost when Xtol arrived on the scene, photographers in Internet forums began reporting issues with it. It had been difficult to dissolve in water and would sometimes lose its strength all of a sudden without turning brown or giving every other warning.
Concurrently, other photographers got excellent results and located that Xtol was everything Kodak claimed for this.
Users are convinced that the failures are sudden. The developer doesn't progressively get less strong kept in storage. Rather, eventually it really works and subsequently day it does not. Further, the majority of the failure reports appear to involve Kodak T-Max 100 film.
By 2001, Kodak had tracked the issue to 2 sources.
(1) The little packets of powder, to create 1 liter of solution, weren't adequately sealed to help keep out air and humidity - or possibly there is too little powder inside them, compared towards the air that will inevitably enter. Consequently, the powder would cake and be difficult to dissolve, and also the existence from the developer would be also impaired.
(2) Xtol performed poorly at high dilutions (1:2, 1:3) in water of different quality.
After making several tries to enhance the 1-liter packets, Kodak finally stopped them altogether the tiniest size Xtol that exist has become 5 liters. Also, Kodak stopped publishing developing occasions for Xtol at dilutions greater than 1:1 (but see below).
Update: By March 2002, Xtol is just disappearing in the shelves of numerous camera stores that stock other darkroom supplies. Apparently, by discontinuing the fir-liter packet, Kodak effectively required Xtol from the amateur and small-darkroom market they still advertise it in five- and 50-liter packets to be used in processing machines.
Mixing and Keeping Xtol
Xtol is provided like a two-part powder. My knowledge about Xtol continues to be using the now-stopped 1-liter packets, and that i realize that the five-liter packets tend to be simpler to utilize.
For reproducibility and good keeping qualities, I favor to utilize sterilized water despite the fact that Kodak states plain tap water is protected.
Mixing from 1-Liter Packets
I discovered it better to begin by warming some sterilized water to 85F inside a micro wave (or warming a little area of the water to some much greater temperature after which mixing it). I adopted Kodak's instructions, allowing sufficient time for Medicare Part A to dissolve before adding Medicare Part B. Frequently I possibly could not obtain the last traces of powder to dissolve, and so i filtered the answer after mixing. As lengthy as a minimum of 98% from the powder dissolves, the developer works fine.
On rec.photo.darkroom, Jon Porter states he will get the very best reliability by dissolving Packet A at 95 F, then letting the answer are a symbol of fifteen minutes before adding Packet B.
Mixing from 5-Liter Packets
Apparently, the five-liter packets tend to be simpler to dissolve, and that i have come across people dissolving the entire package by 50 percent liters water, then diluting it.
Ordinarily, however, you'll need 5 liters (1.3 gallons) of sterilized water along with a very clean 2-gallon bucket to complete the blending in, plus five 1-liter bottles to keep prepared developer.
The Container Store sells a 107-ounce (3-liter) French canning jar made from glass that appears handy for mixing and storing a 5-liter packet of Xtol at double strength. (I think I have seen a 5-liter form of this container within their Atlanta store, but call first to verify availability.) Avoid plastic containers for lengthy-term storage of developer.
Keeping Qualities
Inside a full, tightly capped brown glass bottle, Xtol stock solution could keep in excess of 8 several weeks (confirmed by my experience). To obtain Xtol or other developer to last, you have to safeguard it from air. Listed here are three tips:- Make use of a glass bottle, not plastic.