XTOL at 80 degrees

[Ed Richards]

Anyone using Xtol at 80 degrees? I live in the south and during the LONG summer my workroom temperatures range between 74 and 78 degrees. Kodak publishes times for Xtol at 80 degrees, and they are not much shorter than at 75, i.e., about 11 minutes versus 12. It would be easy to use an aquarium heater and an ice chest to keep the developer and diluting water at 80, much easier than adding cold water to make up to 75. I am just curious if anyone has noticed any problems at 80.

[Mark Sampson]

The only problems I can think of are 1) development times would be too short and 2) film might possibly get too soft at 80F. To solve #1, dilute the developer; my tests show that XTOL provides a neg I like better (more sharpness, longer tonal scale) when diluted 1:1 or 1:2. And since you likely have dealt with 80F processing before, #2 is probably a non-issue. Of course it's a good idea to keep all the processing solutions at the same temp- but I'm sure you knew that too.

[Ed Richards]

I use Xtol at 1:3, so even at 80, the development time is nearly 11 minutes. I also use Tmax, which I do not think has the temp problems of classic emulsions. I am less worried about the temps of the other solution, in that they will all be within a few degrees.

[Armin Seeholzer]

I see no problem if the developing time goes not shorter then 5 minutes, with the film dev. combo!

[Henry Ambrose]

Ed,
I use a chart that gives time corrections for different temperatures. I keep distilled water (for diluting my Xtol) and all my chemicals in containers in the dark room so they are already at ambient temperature. If the thermometer in the developer I'm diluting says 76 degrees I look up that temperature on the chart for my correct time. I find this much easier than altering the temperatures of the whole process.

The exception is the wash - where I draw a gallon pitcher of water from the lines first thing. That way I have the first gallon of wash at room ambient as well. As I use the first half of that I refill from the tap so I ease the temperature up to match before hooking up the washer and letting it run.

[Ed Richards]

Henry,

I have been doing the same, but I would like to stablize the temp to try work on my +n/-n processing.

[Henry Ambrose]

I subtract percentages of whatever time the chart gives. So, 15 minutes on the chart less 20% = 12 minutes. Still I think maintaining 80 degrees will work fine - it just seems more difficult to me.