Traditional, T-Grain films and whats out there?

[Shootar401]

I should know this, but for the life of me I can't remember any of this. Can anybody tell me when t-grain films came into existence? I remember something like early 80's, but don't remember exactly. Also if I wanted to emulate a film from the 40's and 50's in terms of grain and tonality what type should I look for? I know Arista EDU Ultra (Fomapan 100) is probably pretty close, but is there another I should be looking for? If it matters I'm developing in HC110.

Right now I'm shooting portraits in T-Max, and nudes, and everything else in traditional grain.

[Andrew O'Neill]

If I recall, I believe Tmax films arrived around 87/88... Not sure which film you'd want to use to emulate 40's/50's... Tri-X?

[chassis]

Tri-X seems like an old-ish film, having been introduced in 1940's. It was changed (reengineered) in 2007 to be finer grained. Looking at the characteristic curves in Kodak Tech Pub F-9 (pre-reengineering), and Tech Pub F4017 (post-reengineering), it looks like the contrast was increased with the new version. The general shape of the curves doesn't seem to have changed. The 35mm emulsion has a slightly concave downward curve, while the 120 and 4x5 emulsions have slightly concave upward curves.

Today's Tri-X is definitely not the same as it was in the 40s and 50s, but to my eye looks very different than Tmax films.

I searched for Super XX and Panatomic X curves and couldn't find anything to compare to.

[C. D. Keth]

Foma 100 would probably be the best choice. Most of the tonality and "look" of that period's photos is in the lenses and lighting. Don't neglect that.