Assistance with developing Fuji Acros 100 II

[ejg1890]

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Has anyone shot and developed Fuji Acros 100 II? I need some assistance on development of this film stock. I just developed my first 2 rolls of Acros however, there's not much on either roll. I know it's not the camera as other film shots have had no problem either prior to these rolls or after. I also know it's not the chemicals as I successfully developed Tri-X with the same set up prior to Acros. I used Xtol 1+1, 19.5C for 9:53 minutes. I used Ilford stop bath and Photographers Formulary TF-15. I was first concerned when the water was a pinkish color when dumping the TF-15 and rinse at the end. The Xtol solution when dump was clear. If there was any color that's when I would have expected the color to appear. Any development suggestions for developing Acros 100? I have 2 135 rolls and 3 120 yet to develop. I don't want to develop these until I understand what might have happened. Thanks.

[oldwino]

It would be helpful to see the negatives, which might offer clues as to what happened. 
I will say that Xtol is know for “sudden death”, in that the chemistry can be fine one day, and then completely lose effectiveness the next. How old is the stock Xtol mixture? 

[Huss]

I have developed Acros and Acros II with no issues using Cinestill DF96 Monobath.  You have to double the dev time using the monobath to clear the base fog.

[ejg1890]

19 hours ago, oldwino said:

It would be helpful to see the negatives, which might offer clues as to what happened. 
I will say that Xtol is know for “sudden death”, in that the chemistry can be fine one day, and then completely lose effectiveness the next. How old is the stock Xtol mixture? 

The Xtol solution was mixed around Christmas so it’s just over 4 months. I understand it is to last about 6 months. It appears the film was under developed so it’s very dark once converted. I only converted about 5-6 frames. The Tri-X 120 film from earlier in the day came out good, so did the Acros 120 this afternoon. It’s still drying so I’ll convert it tonight or tomorrow.  I did see else where on the internet to develop Xtol 1+1 at 10 min rather than 9:30. The Acros 120 I did a rinse on it first. There is definitely a coating on the film that came off with the pre-wash and then also with the fixer and end rinse, but nothing came off with the developer. 

[oldwino]

If everything else is coming out fine, and you've developed rolls after the "underdeveloped" rolls, and they were ok, I would maybe think it is a camera issue. On these bad rolls, how are the edge markings? clear and easy to read?  Seeing the negatives, even just a phone shot of them, would help.

Acros has an anti-halation layer which comes off with a pre-wash, that's normal. 

[Stuart Richardson]

I agree with Oldwino, it is very hard to say without seeing the negatives preferably unprocessed…just a raw shot of the negatives in a sleeve etc. 
 

How are you storing the xtol? I have gone significantly past six months with a tank with a floating lid, but it is not good to push your luck… The sudden death problem was primarily in the 1L pouches and was a very long time ago now. I have used 5L pouches in my lab for almost fifteen years with no failures. Like any chemical, you need to mix it properly and store it properly. And like food, if it looks off or smells off, don’t risk it.

In my experience acros official times were always a bit short to me. The colors in the wash and fixer are not a problem. As said, they are the anti halation layer. 

[williamj]

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On 5/4/2023 at 11:54 AM, ejg1890 said:

Has anyone shot and developed Fuji Acros 100 II? I need some assistance on development of this film stock. I just developed my first 2 rolls of Acros however, there's not much on either roll. I know it's not the camera as other film shots have had no problem either prior to these rolls or after. I also know it's not the chemicals as I successfully developed Tri-X with the same set up prior to Acros. I used Xtol 1+1, 19.5C for 9:53 minutes. I used Ilford stop bath and Photographers Formulary TF-15. I was first concerned when the water was a pinkish color when dumping the TF-15 and rinse at the end. The Xtol solution when dump was clear. If there was any color that's when I would have expected the color to appear. Any development suggestions for developing Acros 100? I have 2 135 rolls and 3 120 yet to develop. I don't want to develop these until I understand what might have happened. Thanks.

The pink at the end is interesting, the only time I've seen that is when fixing and first rinse of Kodak TMAX film especially TMAX P3200. If the fixer is close to exhaustion then there is a pink stain left on that film as well.

ACROS 100 II is a film made by Ilford for Fuji to mimic ACROS 100, so I expect it to be a solid performer and to have Delta technology as an underpinning. I've used XTOL with ACROS 100 using the instructions on the box and got good results, developed for 8 minutes at 20 C, although that's not relevant to your problem. I've not had sudden XTOL failure in 20 years but if there is a significant air space then all bets are off. Post some scans of the negatives. Cheers.

[ejg1890]

54 minutes ago, williamj said:

The pink at the end is interesting, the only time I've seen that is when fixing and first rinse of Kodak TMAX film especially TMAX P3200. If the fixer is close to exhaustion then there is a pink stain left on that film as well.

ACROS 100 II is a film made by Ilford for Fuji to mimic ACROS 100, so I expect it to be a solid performer and to have Delta technology as an underpinning. I've used XTOL with ACROS 100 using the instructions on the box and got good results, developed for 8 minutes at 20 C, although that's not relevant to your problem. I've not had sudden XTOL failure in 20 years but if there is a significant air space then all bets are off. Post some scans of the negatives. Cheers.

The fixer is new - photographers formulary TF-15. Neither the box nor the website has development times for Xtol.  The massive Dev chart indicates about 9:30 min, while a few websites indicate 10 min at 20c. The website did mention a pre-wash.  I did that with a 120 film roll and looks better. I know it’s not the camera as I have already had color film developed from the same trip and all was good. I will try another 135 roll over the next few days and this time do a pre-wash before development.