peter_trenchard

<p>I used this film a lot in the 1980s and 90s. I still have a 10mtr reel in the fridge dating from 1990 and used recently it was OK. For pictorial use, expose at 6asa for the best results and develop in R09 (new name for Rodinal) diluted 1+200 for 10 minutes. I've not used it with D76.</p>

<p>Didier<br>

I often use TMax 400 at 200asa and develop in Perceptol 1+3 for 14 minutes and get great results. Frames taken at a stop over, at 100 asa should print well with filter 1 or 2. I've gone off Xtol as I find it gives rather flat mid-tones, Perceptol is much better for this. I use it for most films at 1+1 or 1+3. </p>

<p>Ludwig<br>

You got lucky when you found your APX25. It and its predecessor Agfapan 25 were in my opinion the best slow panchromatic film ever. I exposed it at 12 asa and developed in Perceptol 1+1 for 9 minutes. Very sharp and almost invisible grain.</p>

<p>In my fridge there is a 10mtr tin of Agfa Ortho 25 with an expiry date of Jan 1990. A few months ago I wound a short length into a cassette to see if it was still usable. I shot a indoor scene of the same subject I had shot with film from the same roll when it was new. At 6 ASA it was developed in Rodinal 1+200 for 10 minutes, same as before. The resulting negs and prints were as near identical as possible to the ones made 23+ years ago. During a lean photographic spell a few years ago I had several other films (HP5 & FP4) in the fridge which were about 5 years past their expiry date and when used were perfectly OK.</p>

<p>I have done a similar unscientific test with TMY2 and FP4, both developed in XTOL and TMY2 was the winner by a smidgeon, however if in the future there was to be one film only still being made I would wish it to be FP4.</p>

<p>Ilford info sheet for Ilfostop citric acid stopbath says the working strength solution has a storage life of 7 working days, whatever that means. I use acetic acid stopbath and I mix a 2% solution 2.7 litres and store it in a brown glass Winchester bottle. Its storage life seems to be forever or when the equivalent of 100 8x10 FB prints have passed through it, then I dump it. Fixer for film I discard after one use only and for paper after one or 2 print sessions only, or 7 days whichever comes first.</p>

<p>XTOL is not gone, it is now being produced by Tetenal in Germany and is available in the same packaging from several UK retailers. Some Ilford developers (Perceptol & Bromophen at least) are also being made in Germany according to the small print on the packaging.</p>

<p>Lex, Faint edge markings seem to be normal for Pan F. I used it quite often in the 1980s and the faint edge markings were just the the same then as on a Pan F I processed just a few weeks ago. All other Ilford films have good edge markings, no idea why Pan F should be different.</p>

<p>Note for Jeff or anyone using a curly film like Efke 25 or as it is now Adox CHS25, once you've put the strips of film in the filing sheet, roll the sheet against the curl into a tube about 2" diameter and secure it loosely with 2 or 3 rubber bands. Leave for a week or two. It won't cure the curl completely but it makes it more managable.</p>

<p>Thanks for your comments. The problem is not in the mixing as my normal method has worked OK for the last 35 years with many different powder developers. The precipitate only occurs with Xtol so I am assuming from what you have said the formulation of Xtol being ascorbic acid based is much fussier about the quality of the water than other developers. For my next mix of Xtol I will used as suggested by Didier deionised water which is de-mineralised and much cheaper than distilled water, about £4 for 5 litres from our local motor accessory shop.<br>

Thanks again,<br>

Peter </p>

<p>I have recently started to use Xtol again after a lapse of 10 years. While mixing the 5 litre stock it appeared that there was a large quantity of insoluble particles. I filtered the mix and stored it in clear glass winchester bottles but within 24 hours the particles reappeared as a precipitate. These were denser that the developer and settled like tiny snowflakes onto the bottom of the bottle. Before use I filtered it again and the developed neg was OK. The mix was done as per instructions and the water was ordinary tap water which is quite soft, no carbonates.<br>

Has anyone else had this happen? I have been mixing powder film and paper developers, mainly Ilford, Agfa and Kodak, for more than 35 years and have never seen anything like this.</p>