Response to maximum black on film

I'm no pro, but I do measure the density of the leader on each roll I process. Because I use XTOL at 1:3 dilution, and there have been many reports of development failure, this measurement provides a reality check on how consistant my development is. So far, the answer is "very". One can assume the leader is reasonably well exposed, and my normal density is about 2.0. One can also assume that this will be the highest density found on the roll. One of my concerns is that doing a "pull" will result in very low Dmax, which isn't really what you want. Ideally, the film curve would rise at the desired CI, but continue on to a high density, recording a huge dynamic range. With XTOL, the Dmax is quite low already, and I question the wisdom of using it to record very wide range scenes. Other developers give more density before the curve levels off into a shelf.

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