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01-29-2019, 11:44 AM   #1
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Tmax, Tri-x or Ilford HP5?

I've got a dark room class coming in a week, on top of buying some nitrite gloves and a new battery for my Spotmatic I need to get some black and white film so I have something to process while I'm there.

But I admit I know next to nothing about the differences between 35mm negative film. These 3 are the ones I see talked about the most and was wondering what would be the pros and cons between them?

01-29-2019, 12:09 PM   #2
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I don’t shoot ISO400 film all that often, and I’ve never shot HP5+, but I love Tri-X, and I genuinely wish Kodak made a 100 ISO version. TriX can also be pushed or pulled a great deal with the caveat that pushing will increase the contrast and pulling will reduce it.

EDIT: I should add that TriX and HP5 are traditional cubic grain films, whereas TMAX and Delta 100 are more modern tabular grain films. The tabular grain films have less grain, but generally less latitude to over/under expose.

I’d still recommend TriX, but if you want to start off at the cheaper end of the spectrum there are a lot of good options as well like Kentmere (made by Ilford) Fomapan (a Czech manufacturer) Rollei, and others.

Last edited by abruzzi; 01-29-2019 at 12:15 PM.
01-29-2019, 12:29 PM   #3
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I like ISO 400 films because they can be pushed a bit to reach relative sensitivity needed for hand holding at night. I've shot a bunch of them. Here's a one or two sentence comment in my own words about a number of them.

Delta 400: Kind of featureless but good tonality and okay pushing latitude. A great B&W film for taking pictures of people.
HP5+: In my experience, very fine grained film, with good contrast and it pushes well. Probably my favorite film.
Fomapan 400 Action aka Foma 400: Old school grainy stuff that can push okay. Fun to play with but is cheap for a reason.
Tri-X 400: HP5-like but I found it a touch more grainy. Pushes well, good contrast, not bad stuff.
TMax 400: A good film if you want to push, a bit flat, it's basically Kodak's Delta 400 but I don't care for the tones out of it that much.

I also develop Kodak Ultramax 400 in black and white developer. Results are a bit varied and I've really liked some shots taken with it and not so much with others. It's one of the cheapest mainstream films I can find. Negatives will come out very orange, which is normal for C-41 film, which I deal with in post-processing (I digitize my negatives with my DSLR and process like any other RAW file).

My thread where I show a whole pile of images from my developing work with the above films; Clayton F76! - PentaxForums.com
01-29-2019, 01:37 PM   #4
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Hi,
I used to use Trix a lot and I can say it's a very good product and pleasant to work with. The grain might be a bit bigger than in HP5+ but still very decent for ISO 400. It is also quite tolerant for underexposure. HP5 is also very nice to work with so whichever one you choose from the two, you will be fine. Fomapan 400 has a more pronounced grain but I wouldn't call it bad stuff and you might also try it once just to check if you want to stick to it or not. I got some nice pics with all of them but Trix was ma favored.
To the existing list, I'd add Neopan 400 (by Fuji) - I'd place it just next to HP5 in terms of quality, but I don't know if it's still in production.
regards,
Chris

01-29-2019, 02:07 PM   #5
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My 2 favorites were HP5 and Tri-X

HP5 shoots beautifully at 400, but try Tri-X at 200. And immediately look up "Zone System" if you have not already. Here's a good text, after the classic Ansel Adams' books, "The Camera", "The Negative", and "The Print". This will explain pushing and pulling, but more importantly explain exposuse and "pre-visualisation"


BTW, master D-76 before you go off to explore other developers. It's actually really solid stuff.
01-29-2019, 02:43 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by texandrews Quote
HP5 shoots beautifully at 400, but try Tri-X at 200. And immediately look up "Zone System" if you have not already. Here's a good text, after the classic Ansel Adams' books, "The Camera", "The Negative", and "The Print". This will explain pushing and pulling, but more importantly explain exposuse and "pre-visualisation"


BTW, master D-76 before you go off to explore other developers. It's actually really solid stuff.
I agree with your comments completely! D76//Tri-X combo is a very successful, well documented, photography class staple. T-max films are very good but for teaching & consistency, Tri-X is more tolerant, imo. Ilford HP5 is okay...but I prefer TriX & still use it.
01-29-2019, 03:40 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by texandrews Quote
HP5 shoots beautifully at 400, but try Tri-X at 200.
I've tried TriX at 100 because I wanted to be able to use TriX for everything (I've also shot TriX at up to 3200 as well), and it came out ok, but there was a noticeable decrease in contrast. I tend to like a moderately high contrast, so I wasn't terribly impressed. (developed in Xtol.)

01-29-2019, 05:38 PM   #8
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Prepare to fall in love!

I'd start with a conventional BW film, not tabular grain type like T-Max.
Of those you mentioned I prefer the look of Tri-X; others prefer HP5+.

Exposed at 400 Tri-X has higher contrast than HP5+.

HP5+ dries clearer and flatter than Tri-X.

You might want to choose the film your instructor prefers and has the most experience with.

You will probably need to make quite a few prints before you start to get the hang of it.
If not supplied suggest you get a box of 100 5" X 7" Ilford Multigrade IV RC Deluxe paper,
and a smaller amount of the same paper in 8" x 10" size. It's excellent and easy-to-use.

The darkroom and especially wet printing is my favorite part of the photographic process.
Good luck and enjoy the course!

Chris

Last edited by ChrisPlatt; 01-29-2019 at 06:00 PM.
01-29-2019, 05:58 PM   #9
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I always liked TMax when someone else was buying the supplies... and I liked the way it printed on the multi grade paper.

When I have other people develop it, I prefer the Ilford films for some reason. I think they’re less likely to mess it up where I am...

That said, Tri-X in D76 is classic, and you can push it and pull it to get a ton of flexibility out of it.

-Eric
01-29-2019, 06:12 PM - 3 Likes   #10
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Of the three, my preference when I was shooting film was HP5. It was nearly as flexible as Tri-X with what I thought was nicer grain. I never got along well with any of the T-Max films, though I did name a cat after the stuff.
Meet Leica and T-Max. Pentax content: Shot on Fuji 400 print film, more than likely, with a Pentax Zoom 90.
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01-29-2019, 06:22 PM   #11
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I've shot all three over the past few years: hp5 the most, tri-x just to try it, then just a little t-max. Currently my freezer is stocked with mainly t-max and a bit of hp5. I'm not savvy enough to really tell the difference between tri-x and hp5, but t-max is obviously different even to me, so perhaps it's worth experimenting with both t-max and one of the others.

Developing either in ilfosol 3 or dd-x was fine using data from the "massive dev chart", but I found hp5 easier to physically work with because it curls less than tri-x (didn't have issues with t-max curling, maybe my technique improved or it's that different from tri-x?)
01-29-2019, 06:59 PM   #12
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There is a natural tendency to want to try every combination of film and developer.

Suggest that as an absolute beginner you standardize on one film and one developer, until you fully understand and are comfortable with the process.
There will be plenty of time for experimentation later on.

Chris
01-29-2019, 08:28 PM   #13
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HP5 for me

I like the classic look when I shoot B&W, so I don't use Tmax, but if you want low grain and sharp image, Tmax is great.
Tri-x is great and honestly it's very similar to HP5, contrast is slightly better than HP5, but I shoot at 1600 all the time and the shadow detail can get lost from time to time,
01-30-2019, 02:19 AM   #14
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HP5+ or Tri-X for a more classic look (bigger grain).

T-Max or Delta for a more modern look (finer grain).

Of course there are differences beyond grain but all four of these options are good. There are a few other 400-speed B&W films out there too but I haven't tried most of them so I won't comment. The four above are the most common and of them my favourite is Ilford Delta 400, which I find to have the tones of a classic B&W film but with finer grain. Tri-X is very nice too, especially for pushing, but as mentioned above, can be tricky as it curls (snip the leading corners at 45º if you have trouble loading it onto a developing spool). T-Max 400 has a nice clean look to it and can easily be used at 200 (and pushed a stop or two I imagine). HP5+ is my least favourite of those as I find it has low contrast, but that can be remedied by altering the developing, I just don't bother as any of the others produces great results without any experimentation.

QuoteOriginally posted by ChrisPlatt Quote
There is a natural tendency to want to try every combination of film and developer.

Suggest that as an absolute beginner you standardize on one film and one developer, until you fully understand and are comfortable with the process.
There will be plenty of time for experimentation later on.

Chris
I started trying out lots of different films when I first got into film photography around seven years ago. I still haven't finished .
01-30-2019, 02:40 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by ZombieArmy Quote
But I admit I know next to nothing about the differences between 35mm negative film.
400TX (Tri-X) and HP5+ are very similar films - get which ever is cheapest. Honestly if you're a beginner to the world of black and white films I really, really doubt you will tell the difference (despite how much forums like to agonise over these differences...).

Tmax is a different beast.
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