Response to xtol - thin negs

This sure sounds like XTOL failure. It drives me crazy that no one has been able to pin this down to age, water, storage conditions, etc., and that there doesn't seem to be a test for the stuff that would tell you that it's gone bad. I think they need an indicator like the indicator stop bath. I thought I had a failure once, but it was probably a goof up on my part. I check the packaging carefully and shake the contents to be sure it's not caked. Living near Rochester, I probably get fresher XTOL than most. Just to prove I'm crazy, I use the Kodak time for FP4+ and generally get too much contrast. I keep reducing the agitation and time, but still get half a grade more contrast than I really want. I keep at it because I really like the fine grain and nice edges.

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