Efke PL25 M 5x7 / 4x5 in Straight XTOL or XTOL 1:1, Dev Times?

[Leigh]

DOES ANYONE DEVELOP EFKE PL25 IN XTOL 1:1 OR STRAIGHT XTOL? WHAT ARE YOUR DEVELOPMENT TIMES?

THE MDC HAS TIMES FOR XTOL STRAIGHT, 1+1, AND 1+3.

YOU'RE UNABLE TO ACCESS IT FOR WHAT REASON?

We're not your private gofers. Do your homework.

- Leigh

[mikew]

...haven't read all the responses but wanted to add this:

- I've processed 4x5 Efke PL 25 in Xtol 1+3, 1+4 using minimal agitation (constant for first 1.5min then 15sec every 3min) and the negs are much much sharper compared to constant agitation or otherwise 'normal' cycles. That's the only way that you'll get a sharper neg.

- the reason why there are so many Rodinal fanatics is that the chemistry is ridiculously flexible with things like compensating development, minimal agitation, semi-stand, etc... Other developers just don't work the same way and just can't produce the same results. Same idea with Pyrocat but completely different animal with a new set of variables to consider.

The main thing is that you find a process that works for you. The easiest thing to do would be to expose a scene 4-6 times and develop each neg with different agitation cycles and dilutions to compare the results. That's what I've done, but with Xtol, Rodinal, D-76, HC-110, and Pyrocat-HD,M,and P. Hope that helps some and sorry if this was redundant.

Mikew

I just don't understand why there are so many Rodinal fanatics.

I didn't say there was anything wrong with Rodinal -- but I was hoping to keep this thread clean and devote it exclusively to XTOL processing: in my opinion, that's one of the problems with trying to glean any useful information from online forums, i.e., they tend to get "dirty" as people post answers that are off topic!

I'm not suggesting that I won't ever use Rodinal -- and I'm not disparaging it! The fact is, I have a fresh batch of Xtol in my kit and I'm not buying any more developer at this moment. Is that a good enough answer???

Now, PLEASE, no more Rodinal / Pyrocat hijacking of this thread!

I am interested in XTOL full strength or 1:1 development times for Efke films, thank you very much.

[EOTS]

Hi mikew!

Coming from an streamlined E6 process, I'm trying to get my feet wet with B&W.
I have decided to use the Efke 25 ASA film for slow stuff, and HP5 for fast stuff,
but I'm not yet sure whether I should go for XTOL or Pyrocat-HD.

You seem to have used both developers with the Efke 25 film, and also with the minimal agitation approach, that I also want to use.

How would you compare XTOL and Pyrocat-HD with this film?
What differences can I expect?

Thanks,