Tri-X 320 vs 400 in 120

Rich Silfver · 10-09-2003

I just recently 'abandoned' T-Max 100 for Tri-X 320 in 120 format film as I was very, very impressed with the film - although I felt it had a tendency to blow out some of the highlights.

Now I stumbled upon the Tri-400 - also in 120.

Does anyone have any experience in using both films and what their strengths and weakness may be compared to eachother?

I'm planning to take a few test rolls of the 400 but was looking for heads-up on how it behaves.

Tri-X 320 Example:

back alley · 10-10-2003

on a completely different tangent, i recommend trying the delta films from ilford. they come in 100/400/3200 iso.
i much prefer them over kodak products.
of course i'm biased, i don't care for kodak the company much at all.

joe

znapschatz · 10-10-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by rsilfverberg
I just recently 'abandoned' T-Max 100 for Tri-X 320 in 120 format film as I was very, very impressed with the film - although I felt it had a tendency to blow out some of the highlights.

Now I stumbled upon the Tri-400 - also in 120.

Does anyone have any experience in using both films and what their strengths and weakness may be compared to eachother?

I'm planning to take a few test rolls of the 400 but was looking for heads-up on how it behaves.

Tri-X 320 Example:

Swell pic, rs, and a fine example of what Tri-X Pan Professional (TXP) can do. The film was designed for studio/controlled lighting use. It's good with on camera flash, too. TXP tonality, under those conditions, looks a lot like Tmax 400 (TMY) to me, but like TMY, it is not as flexible for general photography. Both tend to be affected more by flare than Tri-X 400 (TX) and highlight densities build up rather steep, causing the highlight blowout which you have observed. TX is more resistant to both and is therefore better suited to uncontrolled lighting conditions.
TX was my main film in both 120 and 35 mm for 30+ years. These days I use HP5+ for no better reason than it comes in 220 rolls. It is sort of in between TX and TMY in its overall look with more of a straight line characteristic curve like TMY but with a TX-y shoulder. Delta 400 is also good, with finer grain. Just between us, if the price is right I will use almost any film. Almost all can be made to work well.