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Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 Black and White Film

4.44/5 (39 Reviews)

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  • Film Type120
    ColorBlack & White
    Film Speed320 ASA
    Positive / NegativeNegative
    PackagingConsumer
    MPNTXP120

Product Description

Black-and-white is honest. At times beautiful, at times brutal. Always revealing the truth—of a situation, of an emotion, of the fleeting permanence of nature. KODAK PROFESSIONAL Black-and-White Films deliver superior performance across the board. There simply is no better family of black-and-white films available today. From the always timeless TRI-X, to the incomparably sharp T-MAX 400, there’s a black-and-white film in our family that lets you expose the truth in stunning detail. Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 Film—this classic black-and-white film allows for maximum pushability when you need it, while its wide exposure latitude lets you leverage even the most challenging lighting situations. And the distinctive grain structure adds a level of realism as dramatic and profound as each subject.
  • World’s best-selling black-and-white film
  • Classic grain structure for low light and action
  • Fine grain, high sharpness
  • Wide exposure latitude
  • Maximum pushability to EI 1600
Available in 35mm, 120mm, 70mm, 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10.


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Reviews 1 - 5 (39 Reviews Total) | Next 15

User Reviews

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Phil a Professional

Date Reviewed: March 14, 2006

Strengths:    - 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.




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



Bottom Line:   
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.

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Duration Product Used:   11-20 years

Price Paid:    $4.00

Purchased At:   b&h photo

Similar Products Used:   Agfa APX400
Ilford HP5+
Kodak Tmax 400


Type of photography:   Other

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by leroys a Intermediate

Date Reviewed: August 5, 2005

Strengths:    Wide exposure lattitude, Forgiving with developing. great tonality

Weaknesses:    none with my style of work

Bottom Line:   
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.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   21+ years

Price Paid:    $6.00

Purchased At:   B&H PHOTO

Type of photography:   Outdoor

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:3
Submitted by DaveKasdan a Expert

Date Reviewed: April 15, 2005

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

Weaknesses:    Not as artsy as more exclusive films.

Bottom Line:   
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.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   6-10 years

Price Paid:    $3.00

Purchased At:   local franchise

Similar Products Used:   Ilford HP-5 Plus, Agfa APX400, T-Max.

Type of photography:   Fine Art

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Michael J Hoffman a Expert

Date Reviewed: January 31, 2005

Strengths:    Elastic Exposure Latitude
Classic Photojournalistic Look
Easy to Print

Weaknesses:    Grain Associated with Classic Look

Bottom Line:   
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.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   11-20 years

Price Paid:    $3.00

Purchased At:   B&H

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

Type of photography:   People

Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by taylorje84 a Intermediate

Date Reviewed: April 22, 2004

Strengths:    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.

Weaknesses:    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.

Bottom Line:   
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.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   2-5 years

Purchased At:   7dayshop.com

Similar Products Used:   Kodak Plus-X

Type of photography:   Fine Art


Reviews 1 - 5 (39 Reviews Total) | Next 15

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  • Film Type120
    ColorBlack & White
    Film Speed320 ASA
    Positive / NegativeNegative
    PackagingConsumer
    MPNTXP120


 

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