TMX 100 packaged as Delta 100?

[photog_ed]

I just finished developing some 4x5 Ilford Delta 100. When I hung it up to dry, I did a double-take, because along the edge near the notches there is printed "Kodak 100TMX". The notches are not Delta 100, so I assume they are TMX100. Surely I'm not the only one to see this, but a search didn't turn up any discussion of it.

What's going on? Is Ilford buying TMX100 from Kodak and packaging it as Delta 100? Or is Ilford making TMX 100 for Kodak and packaging it as Delta 100? The former seems more likely. I knew the films were similar, but in my search I read many posts about people preferring one over the other.

[vinny]

Yes. Ilford is putting kodak film in their boxes and selling as their own at a significant discount.

[Duolab123]

Yes. Ilford is putting kodak film in their boxes and selling as their own at a significant discount.

Say what?

[rich815]

Say what?

I think his sarcasm implies"user error". Are you absolutely sure?

[koraks]

In my experience, delta 100 and tmx are different enough for Kodak and ilford not to be able to exchange them without users noticing. I think you done goofed somewhere ;)

[photog_ed]

I have never, ever bought TMX. I don't shoot a lot of film, so there's little room for mistaken film identity. I am as certain as I can be that the film came from a box of Ilford Delta 100 4x5. I double- and triple-checked before posting.

[photog_ed]

OK, time for me to wipe the egg off my face, as I now realize, or rather remember, what happened.

A couple of years ago I shot a box of Delta 100. I didn't have a darkroom at the time, so I sent the exposed film off to someone I found on ebay to process it. When he sent back the developed negatives, I now remember, as a way to say thank you he returned the box with a few sheets of TMX100 in it. In the meantime (which included moving, and no photography for a while) I forgot about it. When I went out to shoot last weekend, I thought I'd finish up the box of Delta 100 I found in my freezer.

[koraks]

The most remarkable about this affair is that you remembered! It's funny how the mind works, isn't it?

[photog_ed]

It took about 13 hours, including 7 of them asleep, to remember. It seems to take longer the older I get.

At least I was right about never having bought TMX 100 and that the film came out of a Delta 100 box.

[rich815]

9 times out of 10 something like this is always user error.

:-)

[vinny]

Say what?

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

[Drew Wiley]

They are VERY different animals.

[Jac@stafford.net]

You don't even have to look at the film. Feel the notch codes. They are very different.
.

[BetterSense]

For all the people saying Delta100 is very different than TMX, in what ways do you find them different? Effective speed? Reciprocity? Grain/sharpness?

[koraks]

The quality of the grain is different under high magnifications, which I notice particularly when scanning 35mm film. The films also behave differently; with Delta 100, I always get much more contrasty negatives with a different CI curve than I get from TMX using the same developer and developing for normal contrast. I can also extract a little more shadow detail from TMX negatives that I expose and process in a similar way (using the right times for both films).

[Drew Wiley]

Delta and TMX are both T-grain modern thin-emulsion film, nominally 100 speed. It's the curve shape that is completely different. TMax has a very long straight line favoring excellent shadow separation and overall high contrast (if desired). Delta has a relative long sweep to the toe best for modest lighting or favoring
excellent upper midtone and highlight separation, analogous to old-school Plus-X is that respect, though not quite as exaggerated a toe. For the same reason, TMX is actually a higher speed film, based on threshold exposure needed to get decent shadow reproduction. It easily digs down into Zone I, whereas Delta has troublebelow III in analogous contrasty situations. Both are excellent films, and I know there will be some arguments over this. But once you enter the realm of technical applications (for instance, in my case, matched color separation negs and matching masks), you REALLY start noticing the difference. Back when TMax
products were first being designed they wanted a silver-bullet film that replaced several extant ones, and they did end up with a remarkable combination of
qualities which conventional photographers might be unaware of. It still has some substantial industrial users who buy the sheets in large volume - for what, I
have no idea.

[HMG]

Well, at least you had the decency to admit and post your mistake. Many don't.

[ic-racer]

This reminds me of the time I took the lenscap off my Fujinon and saw Fuji must have put a Schneider lens under that lenscap....no way I could have mixed up lenscaps....right?