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View Full Version : Goodbye 8 x 10 Tri-X, Hello ?????



Jim Andrada
20-Dec-2011, 12:00
I've loved Tri-X for around 50 years now but all good things have to come to an end (sob)

So, a question to all those who use other films. How would you compare the available alternatives to Tri-X? Such as the various Ilford emulsions

Sal Santamaura
20-Dec-2011, 12:16
I'd suggest FP4 Plus. That's the nearest match I've found. Unfortunately, a lower exposure index, but nothing else looks closer to 320TXP in my experience. I've not carefully compared with lower-quality film manufacturers' products, limiting purchases to Kodak, Ilford and Fuji.

BradS
20-Dec-2011, 12:26
I agree with Sal on this. FP4+ is the closest alternative I've found to 320TXP. In actual practice the exposure indices are not that far apart. I rate 320TXP at ASA200 or even ASA160 and FP4+ gets full box speed.

Oren Grad
20-Dec-2011, 12:49
+1. To my eye none of the Ilford emulsions looks like TXP, but in terms of curve shape, FP4 Plus is as close as you're going to get.

Jim Andrada
20-Dec-2011, 13:20
Thanks - I know Tri-x has more grain than more modern emulsions, but that is not necessarily bad - in some ways I think it accounts for a lot of the character of the film. Not sure in reality how much of an issue it will be - very few people will look at a print and yell "You should have used XXX"instead of that awful "YYY."

Oh well - it's time to order a couple of boxes of FP4+ and start getting used to it. I still have a total of maybe a couple of hundred sheets of Tri-x in 4 x 5, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10 so I have ample time to learn something new before i run out.

Mark Sampson
20-Dec-2011, 13:28
Jim, as I understand it, only 8x10 TXP has been discontinued. 4x5, at least, is still available. As a side note, I've had people telling me that Tri-X Pan Professional was being discontinued since 1989; at that time it was retailers trying to sell people T-Max 400 instead. Now, in a different world, it's at least partly true.

BradS
20-Dec-2011, 13:32
Kodak hasn't actually discontinued 320TXP - they only made it a special order item in 8x10. The film stock will still be available but 8x10 will only be available by special order - same as TMY-2 is today. Not really a "sky is falling" situation.

Fred L
20-Dec-2011, 13:42
An upside I see to special orders would be buying fresh stock and not stuff that's been on a shelf for some time. Given the option, I'd still rather have taken my chances with the shelf ;)

Have a bit of Forté but the quality was nowhere near Big Yellow's.

Curt
20-Dec-2011, 17:15
Now to get Harman to put into the retail market FP4 11x14 size film. I'm begging you please! Once a year is a god send however the ability to buy it sooner would be a welcome service.

John Kasaian
20-Dec-2011, 22:27
Ilford. Ansel Adams used the stuff, after all and he wrote the book on Tri-X & HC 110

Jim Andrada
21-Dec-2011, 08:55
Was there ANYTHING AA didn't use at one time or another? I think I remember him talking up Tri-X when I took his workshop decades ago - but I might be wrong. I definitely remember that he was really enthusiastic about Polaroid at the time.

Jim Andrada
21-Dec-2011, 12:05
Was there anything that St. Ansel DIDN'T use? I remember him being really high on Polaroid at one time.

I guess it's just like having one of your favorite tools stolen from your tool bag.

John Kasaian
22-Dec-2011, 01:17
I've seen more than enough outstanding prints from HP-5+ and FP-4+ to have every bit as much confidence in Ilford emulsions as I have had in Kodak film.
I do miss the cheerful yellow boxes though!

Drew Wiley
22-Dec-2011, 09:23
There's always yellow spray paint, John! Or just save up those ole yeller boxes and
repack the new film in them. I too have made many wonderful prints with Ilford films,
esp FP4 and HP5, but also the smaller stuff like PanF. The high country and deserts are always the biggest problem, where the shadows drop really hard, esp if there is
a red filter in use. That where a straighter toe section really helps if you don't want
to overexp and push the highlights onto the shoulder. Maybe you get more wiggle room
contact printing, but I found myself having to sometimes resort to unsharp masking
with Ilford films, and still didn't get exactly what I wanted. Bergger 200 was a dream
come true, but the grain was a bit much when shooting 4x5 vs the 810. TMY seems to
allow me to have my cake and eat it too. If it disappears some day, I'll just adapt like
I always have. I'm not too worried about the fate of decent b&w sheet films. It's color
that problematic in the long run. But I'll fade away too.

William McEwen
22-Dec-2011, 13:02
Calumet no longer lists 8x10 Tri-X, but others list it as temporarily out of stock. I telephoned Kodak and talked to someone who told me that they still make it, and it's not a special order item. (I'd feel better if I got the guy's name, though!)

William McEwen
22-Dec-2011, 13:39
Clarification... I just looked at Sal's original post with the Kodak announcement.

I think the bozo I talked to at Kodak just looked at the catalog and saw 8x10 Tri-X was there.

The document Sal posted said discontinued stuff will stay in the catalog until the present inventory is deleted.

So it makes sense he saw 8x10 Tri-X there and concluded it was still being manufactured.

Robert Hall
22-Dec-2011, 16:26
I just spoke with Keith Canham yesterday. We had a good long chat about Kodak and what we wish we could do to help keep costs down. It may just be that Kodak has done things one way so long they just cant wrap their heads around doing something differently. He did mention that they have done quite a few special orders.

Keith mentioned that Tri-X is now a special order.

Here is his Facebook page where he posts updates on what is happening with special orders.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/K-B-Canham-Cameras-Inc/131324393576850

Gene McCluney
23-Dec-2011, 07:15
Was there anything that St. Ansel DIDN'T use? I remember him being really high on Polaroid at one time.

I guess it's just like having one of your favorite tools stolen from your tool bag.

Ansel was a spokes-photographer for Polaroid at one time. Possibly he got paid for it.

Gene McCluney
23-Dec-2011, 07:19
Was there ANYTHING AA didn't use at one time or another? I think I remember him talking up Tri-X when I took his workshop decades ago - but I might be wrong. I definitely remember that he was really enthusiastic about Polaroid at the time.

Ansel was a commercial photographer too. He shot photos on assignment for money. He used what the client required.

Jim Andrada
23-Dec-2011, 08:14
I seem to remember that he had someone from Polaroid with him at one of the Yosemite workshops I attended. Would have been 1971 0r 1972. Brett Weston showed up as well (still have a few of his prints) and Ansel was delighted to tell us that he was getting $50 or $100 more for his prints than Weston was for his. It seemed that more than the money itself it was the sense of winning some kind of competition that had him positively beaming.

evan clarke
23-Dec-2011, 14:29
I use 5x7, 8x10 and 11x14 HP5..it gives great results..EC

Robert Crigan
26-Dec-2011, 01:49
I know where you're coming from and can only sympathise. I was in the same postion regarding dye transfer and with fibre-based B&W papers with heavy silver content. I would have bemoaned the demise of platinum papers when WWI sent the cost of platinum through the roof.
My answer was to accept that the world doesn't owe me a hobby. If I want to be a photographer I have to cut my coat according to my cloth. Now go out there and make wonderful photos, with the same advantages and the same disadvantages as everyone else.
Robert, Melbourne

cosmicexplosion
26-Dec-2011, 04:20
I know where you're coming from and can only sympathise. I was in the same postion regarding dye transfer and with fibre-based B&W papers with heavy silver content. I would have bemoaned the demise of platinum papers when WWI sent the cost of platinum through the roof.
My answer was to accept that the world doesn't owe me a hobby. If I want to be a photographer I have to cut my coat according to my cloth. Now go out there and make wonderful photos, with the same advantages and the same disadvantages as everyone else.
Robert, Melbourne



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