Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/04/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Friends I used Xtol for a few years when it was still possible to get someone to ship to me from the US. Two things I noticed about Xtol: 1. The smaller portion of the 1 -liter packs more then often became clumpy or caked up. When dissolved in water, if I was lucky I got a clear solution when the bigger packet was added. If not, the solution became a bit yellowish and that will get me very nervous because I will get inconsistent results ranging from perfect development to NIL development. 2. One solitary experience with the 5-liter packs seem to produce better results but I hardly need such a large quantity. In the end, I gave up trying to get it shipped to me. Exit Xtol, enter D-23. Now I am talking about a dream developer. I mix 2.25g of metol and 30 grams of sodium sulphite in 300 mls of water (at 40degC) and voila, I have a beautiful one shot developer which does not overdevelop nor burn out the highlights. Grain is the way I like it and not much coarser than with Xtol. Unless one is allergic to metol, this is one great developer which is largely forgotten and severely underrated. Dan K. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html