Jim, your images in Xtol 1:1 look great. I just started with Adox XT-3 1:1 and my negatives have been difficult to scan. I have tried the times recommended for Xtol but they always look too dense. I’m on the verge of going back to Rodinal at 50:1. Any suggestions are appreciated.
madNbad wrote:
Jim, your images in Xtol 1:1 look great. I just started with Adox XT-3 1:1 and my negatives have been difficult to scan. I have tried the times recommended for Xtol but they always look too dense. I’m on the verge of going back to Rodinal at 50:1. Any suggestions are appreciated.
It really depends on the film (in my experience). With T-Max, Tri-X, 5222 or any of the Foma films, I have no issues with “normal” agitation. With HP5+ I have to agitate way less. Massively less. I’ll do 15 seconds of continuous agitation at the start, then 4 gentle inversions every minute there after. Even then, the negatives are dense, but HP5+ holds highlights well, so it’s usually not an issue.
Are you experiencing density problems on different stocks?
_jim_ wrote:
It really depends on the film (in my experience). With T-Max, Tri-X, 5222 or any of the Foma films, I have no issues with “normal” agitation. With HP5+ I have to agitate way less. Massively less. I’ll do 15 seconds of continuous agitation at the start, then 4 gentle inversions every minute there after. Even then, the negatives are dense, but HP5+ holds highlights well, so it’s usually not an issue.
Are you experiencing density problems on different stocks?
I mostly use Tri-X. I did try a few rolls of HP5+ but gave most of it to Huss. Both the recommended agitation schedules from Kodak and Adox seem too aggressive. The trick with Rodinal is gentle and not too often. I also may try reducing the development time from nine minutes down to eight and see how that works. I’ve been using NLP for conversations and currently have my boarder buffer set at 5%. I’ll try some adjustments there. My problem is trying to get negatives that will convert without needing manipulation or minimal changes. It was working pretty well with Rodinal and I like the results from the XT-3, just need more practice. Thanks for the help.
You gave it to Huss?!?! I'm just over the hill. He's, at least, many, many hills away.
jkjkjk
I'm sure he's putting it to good use.
As to your Xtol clone issues, I'm flumoxed. How big are the batches you are making? I know they have packages for making 1L of chem. With the 5L Xtol batches the margin for error is bigger. I doubt it's the case, but is it possible your dilution is off?
_jim_ wrote:
You gave it to Huss?!?! I'm just over the hill. He's, at least, many, many hills away.
jkjkjk
I'm sure he's putting it to good use.
As to your Xtol clone issues, I'm flumoxed. How big are the batches you are making? I know they have packages for making 1L of chem. With the 5L Xtol batches the margin for error is bigger. I doubt it's the case, but is it possible your dilution is off?
They're the one liter packs of XT-3. I mix them with distilled water, heated to 26C and use a hand mixer with a emersion attachment. Decant the liter into 4 250ml brown bottles and mix it 1:1 with tap water. The last two rolls were 9 minutes at 20c with the Kodak agitation schedule. One roll looked good and didn't need too much adjustment but the roll from my Retina 1a was way over exposed and took some work. I use a Sekonic 308 for incident metering but a Reveni cube with the Retina. My borders might be off in NLP causing some of the problem with conversions and I've tried a couple of the preset profiles.
I like the results from the XT-3 but it is a new developer to me, so there is some learning. It took a while but I was getting consistently good result with Rodinal at 50:1 giving me a negative that scanned well. I'll give the XT-3 some more time before I make any changes.
I was sending his 50 Summicron DR back to him and they were a thank you present. You're in line for any remaining bags of XT-3 depending on my frustration level.
I don’t think you need wider open with these, they are great. She clearly pops from the background, but while the background is out of focus, you can still make out what it is which makes the whole image more interesting.
I took photos at an outdoor concert last Saturday, mostly digital but I did shoot a roll of Flic Film Aurora 800 on my Minolta XD with the lovely MC Rokkor 55/1.7 lens (my original post said the 35/1.8 but it seems more likely the 55). I wasn't expecting much, but wow, I love how they turned out.
bjhurley wrote:
I took photos at an outdoor concert last Saturday, mostly digital but I did shoot a roll of Flic Film Aurora 800 on my Minolta XD with the lovely MC Rokkor 35/1.8 lens. I wasn't expecting much, but wow, I love how they turned out.
Desmolicious wrote:
I keep telling you Brad, film is where it’s at.
Yes, I think I'm convinced now. :-) This was a kind of make-or-break test of my Minolta system; I've been using the lenses for years but am mainly using rangefinder lenses or Nikon lenses these days and was thinking of selling all my Minolta gear. Not any more. My XD is producing light-leaks, though; the last 8 frames on the roll were completely unusable, I'm not sure how that happened. The seals were already replaced when I bought it. The XD is cheap enough that I'm sure I can find another one if necessary; I do have a Minolta SRT-303b that I tried to sell but the meter doesn't work and nobody wants it. So maybe I'll just switch to that and meter by hand.
bjhurley wrote:
Yes, I think I'm convinced now. :-) This was a kind of make-or-break test of my Minolta system; I've been using the lenses for years but am mainly using rangefinder lenses or Nikon lenses these days and was thinking of selling all my Minolta gear. Not any more. My XD is producing light-leaks, though; the last 8 frames on the roll were completely unusable, I'm not sure how that happened. The seals were already replaced when I bought it. The XD is cheap enough that I'm sure I can find another one if necessary; I do have a Minolta SRT-303b that I tried to sell but the meter doesn't work and nobody wants it. So maybe I'll just switch to that and meter by hand....Show more →
Check that XD with a regular roll of film. The time I get light leaks in any of my cameras is when I use 'off brand' re-spooled film. I've even been getting it with Cinestill 800 which is why I have stopped using it.
It seems that when they are spooling this film they get sloppy.
Desmolicious wrote:
Check that XD with a regular roll of film. The time I get light leaks in any of my cameras is when I use 'off brand' re-spooled film.
I did get a few leaks with ProImage 100 and Portra 400, though, so it's gotta be the camera. I hate that it happens only occasionally, though: if it were always leaking I'd just replace the seals (again). On this roll it started happening toward the end of the roll, and the last eight or so shots were almost completely white. I rewound and unloaded that film when I got back home, in dim light (it was night by then).
bjhurley wrote:
I did get a few leaks with ProImage 100 and Portra 400, though, so it's gotta be the camera. I hate that it happens only occasionally, though: if it were always leaking I'd just replace the seals (again). On this roll it started happening toward the end of the roll, and the last eight or so shots were almost completely white. I rewound and unloaded that film when I got back home, in dim light (it was night by then).
I was going to say you should buy my amazing Minolta XK, but you live in Canada and that becomes a whole thing with the import fees etc.
I think you need to replace the light seals, but also stay away from that respooled stuff.
Desmolicious wrote:
I think you need to replace the light seals, but also stay away from that respooled stuff.
I'll definitely replace the light seals again, but I've shot about 7 rolls of this Flic Film Aurora so far (on other cameras) with no issues. They do a good job with their respooling; I've shot a few of their other films with no problems. Cinestill, on the other hand, has been a complete disaster for me and I stay away from that.
. M3, 50mm Sonnar, Fuji ACROSii, XTOL
