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Process control

Film sheets repeat 5–7 cycles; J-109 uses 2–5 subsequent

Shows that Kodak’s T-MAX and TRI-X film sheets examined here, and T-MAX Developer J-86, instruct small-tank workers to repeat the initial 5–7 inversion cycles every 30 seconds, while XTOL publication J-109 bases its small-tank times on subsequent agitation of 2–5 cycles in that same interval — and F-4016 still points to J-109 for detailed XTOL instructions without reconciling the subsequent-agitation conflict.

Published by AnalogFixer ·

Kodak publishes two different subsequent-agitation instructions for small-tank roll processing that a reader can meet on one T-MAX / XTOL job.

On the film sheets, the interval agitation is the same procedure as the start: 5 to 7 inversion cycles in 5 seconds, repeated every 30 seconds. On XTOL’s developer sheet J-109, the times are based on a later band of 2 to 5 cycles for 5 seconds at those same 30-second intervals. T-MAX Developer sheet J-86 matches the film-sheet wording, not J-109. F-4016 still points to J-109 for detailed XTOL processing instructions and does not reconcile the subsequent band.

This article compares those agitation regimes. It is not an agitation recipe, and it does not choose which instruction governs a tank.

What the film sheets say

F-4016 for T-MAX 100 (June 2018), under Small-Tank Processing (8- or 16-ounce tank)—Rolls, gives the starting procedure and then defines the interval by reference to it:

Provide initial agitation of 5 to 7 inversion cycles in 5 seconds, i.e., extend your arm and vigorously twist your wrist 180 degrees. Then repeat this agitation procedure at 30-second intervals for the rest of the development time.

The same two-sentence pattern — initial 5–7 inversions in 5 seconds, then “repeat this agitation procedure” at 30-second intervals — appears in F-4016 February 2016, F-4043 for T-MAX 400 (February 2016), and F-4017 for TRI-X 320/400 (December 2016). An October 2007 third-party mirror of the combined T-MAX Films F-4016 already carries the same subsequent-agitation wording for that family. That 2007 file is not manufacturer-hosted; it is cited only as dated evidence that the film-sheet pattern predates the later single-product sheets.

None of those film pages states a separate, lower cycle count for the intervals after the first half-minute. “This agitation procedure” points back at the 5–7-cycle initial instruction.

Bar comparison of rinse cycle counts: 5–7 on film sheets versus 2–5 subsequent on J-109.

T-MAX Developer matches the film sheets

J-86 for KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX Developers (December 2017, Revised 12-17) uses the same house style on its small-tank roll page:

Provide initial agitation of 5 to 7 inversion cycles in 5 seconds, i.e. extend your arm and vigorously twist your wrist 180 degrees as shown below. Then repeat this agitation procedure at 30-second intervals for the rest of the development time.

The developer that shares the T-MAX product family therefore publishes the same subsequent-agitation rule as the film sheets. The split is not “every Kodak sheet versus every other Kodak sheet.” It is specific among the sources examined here to the XTOL publication.

What J-109 bases its times on

J-109 February 2018, under Agitating Rolls in Small Tanks, ties its tables to a six-step procedure. The initial T-MAX band matches the film sheets — “For KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX Films, provide initial agitation of 5 to 7 cycles in 5 seconds” — and then the subsequent step does not:

After the first 30 seconds, agitate for 5 seconds at 30-second intervals. Agitation should consist of 2 to 5 cycles, depending on the contrast you need and the type of tank.

The same page states that the small-tank development times “are based on” that procedure. The March 2008 J-109 revision hosted on a Kodak Moments business domain carries the same subsequent 2–5-cycle wording and the same “based on” sentence.

The numeric bands are not fully disjoint: 5 cycles sits in both 5–7 and 2–5. The instructions still disagree on what the interval agitation is. The film sheets and J-86 tell the reader to repeat the initial 5–7-cycle procedure. J-109 substitutes a 2–5-cycle band that it also treats as a contrast and tank-type variable. That is a published regime difference, not a proof that every possible tank motion under one sheet is impossible under the other.

F-4016 points at J-109 anyway

In its contrast-adjustment section, F-4016 June 2018 says:

For detailed processing instructions for XTOL Developer, see KODAK PROFESSIONAL XTOL Developer, KODAK Publication No. J-109.

The film sheet that prints the “repeat this agitation procedure” rule for the small-tank tables that include XTOL therefore also defers “detailed” XTOL instructions to the publication whose subsequent band is 2–5 cycles. Neither document marks the other subsequent-agitation wording as superseded, and neither supplies a cross-reference that reconciles the two regimes for a T-MAX / XTOL small-tank path. J-109’s short-time floor also diverges from F-4016’s five-minute rotary footnote; see J-109’s short-time floor is 4 or 5 minutes by table. The XTOL reuse ladder F-4016 defers to is another J-109 rule not restated inline; see Kodak XTOL “adjusted” 15% makes the total increase 32.25%.

What a citation has to carry

Anyone quoting “Kodak’s” small-tank agitation for T-MAX in XTOL from these sheets is quoting one of two published subsequent bands unless the citation names the document. The film sheets and J-86 publish a repeated 5–7-cycle procedure; J-109 publishes a 2–5-cycle subsequent band and states that its times are based on that procedure; F-4016 points to J-109 for detailed XTOL instructions without resolving the conflict.

No sheet in the sources examined here explains why the subsequent instructions diverge, ranks one regime over the other for XTOL work, or states that matching times between F-4016 and J-109 were produced under one shared subsequent cycle count. Choosing a cycle count, converting one sheet’s times into the other’s agitation language, or treating the overlap at 5 cycles as identity goes past the documents.

References