Kodak Tri-X

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Tri-X
Trixsmall.jpg
A box of a 2002 version of Tri-X film
Maker Kodak
Speed 400/27°
Type B&W print
Process Gelatin-silver
Format 35 mm, 120
ApplicationGeneral
Tri-X Professional
Maker Kodak
Speed 320/26°
Type B&W print
Process Gelatin-silver
Format sheets
ApplicationGeneral

Tri-X is a black and white photographic film produced by the Eastman Kodak Company. Since 2013 it is distributed by Kodak Alaris which controls the Kodak Professional product line under which it is grouped. [1] The combination of hand-held cameras and high-speed Tri-X film was transformative for photojournalism [2] and for cinema. [3]

Contents

Overview

Introduced around 1940 in sheets rated at ASA daylight 200 and tungsten 160, it was one of Kodak's first high-speed (for the time) black and white films. Tri-X was released in 35 mm and 120 formats in 1954. Currently it is available in two speeds, ISO 320/26° (320TXP) and 400/27° (400TX). Tri-X 400 is the more common of the two, available in 24- and 36-exposure rolls of 35 mm and rolls of 120 as well as 50 and 100 ft bulk rolls of 35 mm. Tri-X 320 is available in 4×5", 5×7", and 8×10" sheets.

Tri-X 400 is usually rated at ISO 400 when processed in standard developers and remains among the fastest black and white films today. Push processing Tri-X to a higher "exposure index" of EI 800 in a standard developer yields very good results, while further pushing to EI 1600 requires more sophisticated processing. [4] A popular method for pushing Tri-X film is using highly diluted developers with little or no agitation and extended development times. [4] This method which is referred to as "stand" or "semi-stand" development, can allow the film to be pushed to speeds up to EI 3200 [4] or 6400.[ citation needed ]

Tri-X panchromatic film was once one of the most popular films used by photojournalists [5] and many amateurs. It was manufactured by Eastman Kodak in the U.S., Kodak Canada, and Kodak Ltd in the UK. Kodak data-sheets once recommended different processing times depending on where the film was manufactured. Its sales declined in the 1970s and 1980s due to the falling price and increasing popularity of color film. Since the advent of digital photography, Tri-X has all but fallen out of use in newspaper journalism, though it remains popular in documentary journalism.

Tri-X has undergone a number of minor engineering changes during its long history. An early change in ASA (ISO) speed from 200 to 400, around 1960, was due to a change in the ASA standard rather than the film. In 2007[ citation needed ], Tri-X was extensively re-engineered, receiving the new designation 400TX in place of TX or TX400, and became finer-grained. The amount of silver in the film stock was reduced. [6] [7]

Tri-X also exists as a reversal film for the 16 mm and Super-8 cine film formats. The speed for tungsten lighting (3200 K) is ISO 160 and for daylight ISO 200 when processed as reversal. It can also be processed as a negative at a small loss of speed while the grain will be slightly increased.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film stock</span> Medium used for recording motion pictures

Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film. The emulsion will gradually darken if left exposed to light, but the process is too slow and incomplete to be of any practical use. Instead, a very short exposure to the image formed by a camera lens is used to produce only a very slight chemical change, proportional to the amount of light absorbed by each crystal. This creates an invisible latent image in the emulsion, which can be chemically developed into a visible photograph. In addition to visible light, all films are sensitive to X-rays and high-energy particles. Most are at least slightly sensitive to invisible ultraviolet (UV) light. Some special-purpose films are sensitive into the infrared (IR) region of the spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film speed</span> Measure of a photographic films sensitivity to light

Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system introduced in 1974. A closely related system, also known as ISO, is used to describe the relationship between exposure and output image lightness in digital cameras. Prior to ISO, the most common systems were ASA in the U.S. and DIN in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodachrome</span> Brand name of an Eastman Kodak film

Kodachrome is the brand name for a color reversal film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. It was one of the first successful color materials and was used for both cinematography and still photography. For many years, Kodachrome was widely used for professional color photography, especially for images intended for publication in print media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reversal film</span> Type of photographic film that produces a positive image on a transparent base

In photography, reversal film or slide film is a type of photographic film that produces a positive image on a transparent base. Instead of negatives and prints, reversal film is processed to produce transparencies or diapositives. Reversal film is produced in various sizes, from 35 mm to roll film to 8×10 inch sheet film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Push processing</span> Film developing technique

Push processing in photography, sometimes called uprating, refers to a film developing technique that increases the effective sensitivity of the film being processed. Push processing involves developing the film for more time, possibly in combination with a higher temperature, than the manufacturer's recommendations. This technique results in effective overdevelopment of the film, compensating for underexposure in the camera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instant film</span> Photographic film which develops in minutes

Instant film is a type of photographic film that was introduced by Polaroid Corporation to produce a visible image within minutes or seconds of the photograph's exposure. The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photograph, and the camera exposes and initiates the developing process after a photo has been taken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ektachrome</span> Brand name of a Kodak film

Ektachrome is a brand name owned by Kodak for a range of transparency, still and motion picture films previously available in many formats, including 35 mm and sheet sizes to 11 × 14 inch size. Ektachrome has a distinctive look that became familiar to many readers of National Geographic, which used it extensively for color photographs for decades in settings where Kodachrome was too slow. In terms of reciprocity characteristics, Ektachrome is stable at shutter speeds between ten seconds and 1/10,000 of a second.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ektar</span> Brand of negative film from Kodak

Kodak Ektar is a professional color negative film introduced in 2008, designed for nature, outdoors, fashion, and product photography. The film offers ultra-fine grains, ultra-vivid colors, and high saturation, and is available in ISO 100 only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Svema</span> Former film and magnetic tape manufacturer in Shostka, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine

Svema was a major Soviet-era state-owned manufacturer of photographic film, magnetic tapes and cassettes, based in Shostka, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. The manufacturing was started in 1931, at the time, in Ukrainian SSR, USSR. Svema had a registered trade mark and formerly was referred as "NPO Svema" of the Shostka Chemical Plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provia</span>

Provia is a brandname for a pair of daylight-balanced color reversal films produced by the Japanese film company Fujifilm. It is currently available in one speed, 100/21°, marketed as Fujichrome Provia 100F Professional [RDP III],. An additional speed of 400/27°, marketed as Fujichrome Provia 400X Professional [RXP], was previously available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Analog photography</span> Non-digital photography that uses film or chemical emulsions

Analog photography, also known as film photography, is a term usually applied to photography that uses chemical processes to capture an image, typically on paper, film or a hard plate. These processes were the only methods available to photographers for more than a century prior to the invention of digital photography, which uses electronic sensors to record images to digital media. Analog electronic photography was sometimes used in the late 20th century but soon died out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodacolor (still photography)</span> Brand name of an Eastman Kodak film

In still photography, Kodak's Kodacolor brand has been associated with various color negative films since 1942. Kodak claims that Kodacolor was "the world's first true color negative film". More accurately, it was the first color negative film intended for making paper prints: in 1939, Agfa had introduced a 35 mm Agfacolor negative film for use by the German motion picture industry, in which the negative was used only for making positive projection prints on 35 mm film. There have been several varieties of Kodacolor negative film, including Kodacolor-X, Kodacolor VR and Kodacolor Gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilford Delta</span>

Ilford Delta is a series of photographic films manufactured by Harman Technology Limited. Delta films are tabular-grain black-and-white films, and originally released in 400 ISO only to compete with Kodak's T-Max film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodak T-MAX</span> Family of tabular-grain panchromatic black and white films

Kodak Professional T-MAX Film is a continuous tone, panchromatic, tabular-grain black and white negative film originally developed and manufactured by Eastman Kodak since 1986. It is still manufactured by Eastman Kodak but distributed and marketed by Kodak Alaris, as with other products under Kodak Professional banner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photographic film</span> Film used by film (analog) cameras

Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast, and resolution of the film. Film is typically segmented in frames, that give rise to separate photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinestill</span>

Cinestill Film is a Los Angeles-based company selling photographic film for analog cameras in collaboration with Kodak motion picture cinema film stock. The two brothers who founded the company started as a small business shooting music and wedding photography, building and modifying cameras and lenses, then moved on to chemically adapting motion picture film so it could be processed at photo labs.

Kodak Alaris is a British-based company currently comprising two divisions: Alaris, hardware and software for digital imaging and information management; and Kodak Moments, retail photo printing kiosks and sales and marketing of traditional photographic film. The company is headquartered in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. The company shares ownership of the Kodak brand with the Eastman Kodak Company.

References

  1. "Kodak Professional Films". Kodak Alaris. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  2. "Life without Tri-X". Absolute Photo. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  3. Thirlwell, Adam (17 April 2009). "Adam Thirlwell on the Nouvelle Vague cinema movement". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  4. 1 2 3 "Camera". The New York Times. 6 May 1979. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  5. Tooth, Roger (19 January 2012). "Kodak: a fond farewell". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  6. McCabe, Eamonn (5 October 2011). "Don't take my Kodak away". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  7. "Shortcuts". The Guardian. 15 January 2004. Retrieved 2018-11-26.