Response to xtol 1+3

Xtol can be a very nice developer. But having had 3 failures, with both tap water & distilled water and at different dilutions I no longer take the chance that negatives I have worked hard to get come out blank. To those who like the one litre packets you better stock up quickly as The Yellow Godfather is discontinuing them. Those who call Kodak & get answers might try doing so at various times & then comparing the differing answers. You don't always get the same information twice in a row. Same question...different answers. Not exactly confidence inspiring, but there is always the possibility some are not asking the same question or that the answer is couched with qualifiers that the questioner doesn't pay attention to. Xtol can be a really nice developer but I don't chance the failures. And for those who are sure we who have had failures are poor darkroom workers, I measure the amount of chemistry carefully, even to the point of marking the bottles with each use to keep track of the mixing variables. Xtol for me has been an exercise much like driving. A drunk is out there on the road & the fact he didn't get me this time is no indication he didn't hit someone else. So I have solved the Xtol failure problem with a simple solution... Ilford & Agfa make some nice products.

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