I'm using D-76 right now. My negatives are very low in contrast (I have to use 3.5 filter to get something I like). When I develope longer to get the contrast that I like, I start to get HUGE obtrusive grain. I orginally got this film because of its advertised resolving power. So I took it by Wolf Camera to see what they could do. Bad news...super high contrast (me likie) but super huge grain (me hate it). So I went to the Kodak website and started looking for a new developer.

Anyone have any experience with XTOL with TMAX 400? I like to print on 8x10 and 11x14 so sharpness is the most important thing to me. I also like to have true blacks and clean whites in every print. If not XTOL, then I may try T-MAX developer. What do you guys think?

By the way, the chemicals I use are mixed by students in the school darkroom. So they could be at fault.