XT-3 Replenishment

tth-photo · 2026-07-07T12:47:13+00:00

moin. hat von euch schon jemand das xt-3 repleshment gemacht? ich teste es derzeit. im kodak xtol-datenblatt ist es beschrieben: von den 5l kommt 1l in eine...

tth-photo

Hi there.
Has anyone here tried the XT-3 replenishment method yet?
I’m currently testing it.
It’s described in the Kodak XTL data sheet:
out of the 5 litres, 1 litre goes into a bottle that you always use to develop your films. I put the residue into four 1-litre bottles for storage.
For every roll of 35mm or medium format film, or four 4×5 sheet films, you add 70ml of fresh developer to the empty bottle whilst the film is being developed.
After development, pour the developer back into the bottle and dispose of any excess (max. 70 ml).
The development times should always be the same as for the undiluted stock developer.
The developer should keep for a very long time in all bottles.
This means that over 50 films can be developed with it.
Enjoy!

MirkoBoeddecker

That’s exactly how it’s meant to work, and it’s much better than the dilution factors for the stock solution.
However, there’s a second thing to bear in mind, and that’s throughput. This only works if you have a certain weekly throughput, and the 4-litre replenisher bottles mustn’t be left standing around for ages.
The latter can, of course, be resolved by preparing 1-litre packs one after the other. Please do share your experiences. As it’s a bit more complicated to test with the various set-ups, we don’t yet have a great deal of experience in this area.

tth-photo

Hi there.
Here’s an initial test run:
I prepared the XT-3 at the end of June.
Yesterday and today, after a break of about three weeks, I’ve had great success developing again:
HP5 and Delta 400.
The HP5 is a sheet film for my pinhole camera.
It’s always struggled with backlighting.
As a test – though not actually on purpose – I took a backlit photo of the setting sun.
The development with XT-3 Repl turned out very well.
An absolutely good, usable photo.
Delta 400 also comes out very well:
good development of the shadows but no overdevelopment of the highlights (with a 1+1 ratio, there were always occasional difficulties).
I’ll be testing Ilford’s Ortho 80 shortly.
Oh,
and two weeks ago I developed several rolls of Foma 400 sheet film using this method, with very good results.
The stock solution is supposed to last at least six months. However, many people have still been able to use it after a year.
It’s stored in dark bottles protected with Protectan (I’ve still got a few bottles of it in the darkroom).
What I find handy is
that I always have ‘fresh’ developer ready for immediate use in the darkroom.
It’s easy to replenish.
The development times are always the same and short.
At last, I can use the development times recommended by Foma.
It works out very cheaply per roll of film.
More on this soon.

tth-photo

Unfortunately, that’s the end of the test.

The negatives developed so far look good.

A T-Max 400 with fresh developer 1 + 2, on the other hand, didn’t turn out quite as I’d have liked.

And the longer I look at the enlarged photos, the more I think: the grain is a bit too soft for my liking.

So I did a quick comparison: an evening sky with dark clouds and an even darker forest in the background, developed with Adox D-76 1+1.
The result is exactly how I want it.

…Clearly, I haven’t quite got the hang of XT-3. So I’ll be going back to D-76. And if that’s all there is, I’ll switch to D-76 Eco.

It’s a shame; I’d have liked to switch to a hydroquinone-free developer.