Tri-X is a
black and white photographic
film produced by the
Eastman Kodak Company
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
. Since 2013 it is distributed by
Kodak Alaris
Kodak Alaris is a British manufacturer and marketer of traditional photographic supplies (including film, paper, and processing chemicals), hardware and software for digital imaging and information management, and retail printing kiosks. The com ...
which controls the ''Kodak Professional'' product line under which it is grouped. The combination of hand held cameras and high speed Tri-X film was transformative for
photojournalism and for cinema.
Overview
Introduced around 1940 in
sheets
A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, but below blankets and other bedding (such as ...
rated at
ASA
ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent
* Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin
* Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery
* Anterior spinal ar ...
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
120 120 may refer to:
*120 (number), the number
* AD 120, a year in the 2nd century AD
*120 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
*120 film, a film format for still photography
* ''120'' (film), a 2008 film
* 120 (MBTA bus)
* 120 (New Jersey bus)
* 120 (Ken ...
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
A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, but below blankets and other bedding (such as ...
.
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
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 comb ...
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.
A popular method for pushing Tri-X film is using highly diluted developers with little or no agitation and extended development times.
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
or 6400.
Tri-X
panchromatic film
Panchromatic emulsion is a type of black-and-white photographic emulsion that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light.
Description
A panchromatic emulsion renders a realistic reproduction of a scene as it appears to the human eye, alth ...
was once one of the most popular films used by
photojournalists
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
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, 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.
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.
File:Kodak Tri X Film 1959.jpg, Kodak Tri-X 120 Film (Expired: March 1959)
File:0184 Tri-X 6x9 Sheet Film Expired in 1967! (5136414722).jpg, Tri-X 6x9 Sheet Film Expired in 1967
Image:Tri-X.jpg, A Tri-X 35mm (135) film canister, version 2002.
File:Kodak Tri-X film.jpg, Tri-X box, circa 1986
See also
*
Kodak T-MAX
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 marke ...
*
Ilford HP5
*
List of photographic films
*
List of discontinued photographic films
References
External links
Kodak Alaris Tri-X data sheet'Photo Op: Devoted to Kodak's Tri-X Film Stock'– National Public Radio's Alex Chadwick talks with National Geographic Society photographer Chris Rainier about Tri-X
'Kodak Tri-X Reversal Film 7266 product information brochure PDF'{{Eastman Kodak
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