to those who have never experienced this failure, I am sure you suspect process problems. I believe most of us are reacting to developing not only hundreds of rolls of film in Xtol, but also to the history of developing films in other developers. if these problems occurred with other chemistry, we would certainly moderate our carpings.(posted 8512 days ago)I am a process freak, and have had failures from the same stock solution, same film, same day. it is much like an activation threshold must be crossed, and through a combination of contributors, it either is or isn't. if not, the reaction is somehow quenched and unable to sustain itself.
using Xtol yields much the same feeling and confidence, as using a rented Hasselblad lens that you know has a sticky shutter. once every hundred exposures, it will stick closed.