Is Lucky film T-Max ?

[rknewcomb]

I read much of what has been said here about Lucky and ERA film but I still don't really know the straight poop.
Is the Lucky brand film the "same" as T-Max? - Some people have talked about the partnership between Lucky and Kodak.
I liked the idea of the absences of the non antihalation layer of Lucky film, so if it is now much the same as T-Max why bother to buy the Lucky?

Any help is appreciated.

Robert Newcomb

[Gene McCluney]

The Lucky film I purchased a couple years ago (35mm) from Freestyle is IN NO WAY similar to T-max whatsoever. It is (in my opinion) far inferior, but has some unique charm about it. The packages I got say "New" Lucky. I was under the impression that the "partnership" between Lucky and Kodak was for C-41 color negative films.

[IanG]

I bought some New Lucky B&W films in 120 about 3 years ago, it was quite similar to Tmax, which was hardly surprising as it was made using the same Kodak emulsion technology. There were plenty of official joint statements available at the time quoting the use of Tmax technology. I tried to see how bad the lack of the anti-halation layer was but it wasn't noticeable compared to the previous version of Lucky 100ISO film.

I only tried it because of an online discussion with John from J&C, and I was pleasantly surprised by its quality. I didn't continue using it because I prefer to use the same emulsion in all formats that I use if possible.

Ian

[D. Bryant]

I read much of what has been said here about Lucky and ERA film but I still don't really know the straight poop.
Is the Lucky brand film the "same" as T-Max? - Some people have talked about the partnership between Lucky and Kodak.
I liked the idea of the absences of the non antihalation layer of Lucky film, so if it is now much the same as T-Max why bother to buy the Lucky?

Any help is appreciated.

Robert Newcomb
Based on my limited experience with the Lucky film no it's not.

Don Bryant

[Neil Purling]

Does even the 'new' Lucky still not have much anti-halation, and did the 'old' stuff have absolutely none at all? I used some in early 2005. The dev times were very short, the SHD400 having the dev time of FP4 and the SHD100 being the time for Pan F.
Was the 2005 stuff I used what you describe as 'old'? Retro Photographic in the UK had it in stock for a time.

[Gordon Moat]

My understanding was that the investment and agreement between Lucky Film and Kodak was for technology exchange. I think some Kodak films were being made at Lucky facilities, though I don't recall the agreement allowing Lucky to rebrand Kodak products. However, if they got technological expertise from Kodak, it could allow them to improve what they make.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[JBrunner]

No, lucky is not Tmax.

[Ash]

Definitely not. Maybe it borrows technology, but it isn't the same film under the label.