- Flexible. Shoot it from 200 to 1600 asa and get great results, when paired with the proper developer.

- Classic look. It's gorgeous stuff.

- Five decades of professional experience and testing have made this the best 400 asa black and white stock money can buy.

- None to speak of. It's about as perfect a 400 asa black and white film, as you could ask for.

Over the past five decades Tri-X has achieved a well deserved, mythical status.
It's the Leica of film stocks.

People have strong feelings about this stock.

Those in favor of Tri-X, won't shoot anything else and live by the slogan "Give me Tri-X or give me death!".

Others view Tri-X as a grainy relic, that has long since been made obsolete by the TMAX type of films.

I've been shooting Tri-X for at least a decade now and as far as I am concerned it's the black and white film to beat. If I could only pick one stock to use for the rest of my life, this would be it. Obviously I fall in to the "Give me Tri-X or give me death" category.

The latest incarnation of this stock has finer grain, than previous versions (including TMAX400), yet it retains the trademark Tri-X salt and pepper pattern.

Depending the speed you rate it at, and the developer used, Tri-X can be smooth and fine grained or course as sand paper. With enough skill and practive, you can make it look like almost anything you want to.

Tri-X offers a lush tonal scale and is capable of capturing a huge exposure range. You can rate it from 200 to 1600 asa, and still get good results, with the proper developer.

There is a certain classic look to the negatives this stock delivers, which to an experienced eye, is instantly recognizable. If there ever was a film with a personality, this is it. Nothing else quite looks like Tri-X.

Over the past 50 years, Tri-X has been and still is, the black and white stock that photojournalists and artists swear by. It is almost certain, that more famous shots have been taken with this stock, than any other in the history of film.

I dread the day that Kodak decides to shut down production, but I have a feeling that this will happen long after I have shuffled off the planet. I just can't (or don't want to) imagine it going away.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Agfa APX400
Ilford HP5+
Kodak Tmax 400

Wide exposure lattitude, Forgiving with developing. great tonality

none with my style of work

My favorite film as my favorite genre is B&W Street Photography. I especially like what this film does with my work with street folk with weathered faces. This film seems to have a timeless character about it.It serves me well.

Customer Service

not needed

Good compromise of speed to grain, availability, ease of development.

Not as artsy as more exclusive films.

I as forced to use this by virtue of format: only B&W available in 220. Also was given a few rolls of old 35mm from a mentor. The 35mm came out extremely sharp and clear. Blew up to 8x10 and had minimal grain, even contrast range, good representation in all tones. The 220 was extremely forgiving in exposure (forgot about the polarizer's factor) and looked cleaner than Agfa 400 in the shadows. Use with Rodinal to get a little more bite. I hesitated to use Kodak, just because of the commonality, but have to give credit when it's due: Tri-X, despite it's availability in sizes, is a solid medium range film.

Customer Service

Never used, but the website gives plenty of information.

Similar Products Used:

Ilford HP-5 Plus, Agfa APX400, T-Max.

Elastic Exposure Latitude Classic Photojournalistic Look Easy to Print

Grain Associated with Classic Look

Tri-X is the most utilitarian film in the history of film photography. I rate it at EI 200 for general, daylight and flash photography. I rate it at EI 1600 for existing light photography. I use the same developer (TMax 1:4) and follow the development time from the chart on Kodak's website. With regard to exposure this film is elastic. Results are grainy at EI 400 and faster, less grainy at EI 200. This film has the classic look I like. I print all my images at 9 X 13.5 inches and the results are always great. This film prints very easily.

Customer Service

Just keep makin' it, Kodak!

Similar Products Used:

Ilford HP5 Plus which has a some what "softer" look. I prefer the hard-edged look of Tri-X.

Tri-X has great character, forgiving exposure latitude, large but certainly not unattractive grain, it is a good general purpose film for both amateur and professional photographers, plus it has been used by many a well known photographer over the years, such as; Bailey, Cartier-Bresson, Salgado etc.

If someone does not like the graininess of Tri-X, then I would suggest using a T-Grain film instead, but personally I can certainly live with the grain, it is more of a positive than a negative to me.

This is arguably "The Daddy" of all b&w films. My favourite 400 ASA black and white film bar none. It has been around for years and hopefully for many years to come too. It looks sort of similar to Ilford HP5, but I believe Tri-X has an 'X-factor' which Ilford HP5 does not have. I am not aware if the new Tri-X is any better, worse or identical to the old Tri-X, but who really cares? This film has forgiving exposure latitude, beautiful grain, great character, it is a good speed for hand-held work and I find works really well when developed in a fine grain developer such as ID-11 and I am sure it would work well when developed in others. I once had a roll of this film developed in Rodinol and was happy with the results.

Similar Products Used:

Kodak Plus-X

It does what it's designed to do better than any other film. Cheap and easy to find.

None, if used for it's intended purpose. Everything, if used for copy work.

If you want sharp contours and tight grain, get another film. But if you want classic B&W pictures of almost dream-like quality, this film has no equal. I use it for portraits of "mature" people--sometimes enlarged up to 24X30--and for photos of old tools, old cars, old barns, etc. I use the ISO 400 version of Tri-X in 35mm for all candid shots at weddings and re-unions for usual enlargements to 5 X 7 and occasionally 8 X 10. With this film, I don't have to use soft focus filters to tone down the inherent sharpness of Zeiss lenses. For sharp photos that show every freckle and every thread in white gowns and black tuxedoes, Fuji's Acros is hard to beat-- but for that classic, "old-timey" look, Tri-X is top o' the heap.

Customer Service

I get a live person everytime I call Kodak and they usually know what they're talking about. If not, they'll transfer me to someone who does.

Similar Products Used:

All B&W films by the major manufacturers

This is meant as a warning. I've been a Tri-X user for 20 years and think it is (was?!) one of the best black and white films on the market. But this years Kodak changed all their B&W emulsions...moved them to a new manufacturing facility and 'improved' them. After shooting 20 roll of the new version (identifiable by new packaging) I've found that, though Kodak says the only difference will be slightly changed developing times I infact have found far less contrast, and negs that develop thinner than before at recommended times (the new times are on the Kodak website). I'm not saying the problems can't be overcome, but beware...it is a different film.

Easily pushed in Rodinol.

None

I like Tri-X's old-fashioned look. I have developed Tri-x in D-76, T-max, Rodinal, and twice in Technidol. I liked the results in all of them. One time, when I used Rodinol, I pushed Tri-X to EI 1600, and liked the results. When I tried EI 3200, it was rather contrasty. With the film introduced in 1954, and the developer patented in the 1890's, This would be the best low-light performance available in the 1950's

Similar Products Used:

T-Max 3200

Classic black and white look, nice grain structure, beautiful rich tones. Speed is also a bonus.

None, if used for the right purpose (ie, when fine grain is important).

A great choice when you're after that classic black and white look. Great, rich tones, and a nice grain structure which adds good character to the images. This is a particular favourite of mine when photographing old delapidated structures .. it complements the nostalgic feel of the images perfectly. Developing in ID-11 (stock) keeps the grain fine, while keeping the classic character.

Similar Products Used:

All Ilford Films, TMax 400, etc etc

Extremely forgiving.....a real asset when one roll is used under a variety of lighting conditions...(daylight, flash low available light all on the same roll)

May be too grainy if you don''t develop carefully.....but the grain pattern is why some prefer this film.

When I first used this film (in 1972)we were into fine grain so we always used Microdol. Contrast not as good as D76 but grain is acceptable to 11 x 14. Recently went back to this combinition and I find it is still an excellent combination for people photographs. 35 mm 8 x 10''s look like they came from 2 1/4 negatives.

Similar Products Used:

t max hp 5