Out of Tri-X !

[x-ray]

Delta 400 is going to look a lot like Tmax.. it's a t-grain structured film vs Tri-X which has a grain signature that's different (as far as I'm aware).

Gene, I've been asking for Tri-X for the last little while - it's no where to be found at Downtown Camera. I too am saddened by this.

For the time being I have a couple rolls of HP5 only because I did like it when I shot it as a kid but I don't know what it's like for pushing to 1600 - which is why I like Tri-X.

Dave

Dave:

I was one of the trade trial testers for the developement of Delta 100 and 400 for Ilford and also did the same for Kodak on the Tmax 100 and 400. I shot hundreds of rolls in the field, processed, printed and wrote reports.

Tmax and Delta are notning alike. Tmax dies in the highlight seperation and mushes out in the shadows and delta keeps very good seperation in both areas. Grain in Tmax is mushy in my view and the grain of Delta is much more attractive. Overall the Delta is a very good broad scale very fine grain film with very high acutance. Delta had full rated speed and pushes and pulls very well witout any problem. I've over exposed Delat 400 2 stops in very contrasty conditions and pulled it -2 with outstanding results. I've also pushed it 2 stops with less grain than HP-5 in acufune. The results are excellent.

 

[dcsang]

Dave:

I was one of the trade trial testers for the developement of Delta 100 and 400 for Ilford and also did the same for Kodak on the Tmax 100 and 400. I shot hundreds of rolls in the field, processed, printed and wrote reports.

Tmax and Delta are notning alike. Tmax dies in the highlight seperation and mushes out in the shadows and delta keeps very good seperation in both areas. Grain in Tmax is mushy in my view and the grain of Delta is much more attractive. Overall the Delta is a very good broad scale very fine grain film with very high acutance. Delta had full rated speed and pushes and pulls very well witout any problem. I've over exposed Delat 400 2 stops in very contrasty conditions and pulled it -2 with outstanding results. I've also pushed it 2 stops with less grain than HP-5 in acufune. The results are excellent.

I don't doubt what you're saying - but I still don't like Delta (other than 3200) - there's just something about it I don't like. I say the same for the lower end T-max's (100 and 400) yet I love 3200 when pulled to 1600.

Perhaps it's just my taste in what I prefer 🙂

Dave

 

[GeneW]

Earl, I really appreciate the gesture. My gesture, unfortunately, is somewhat simple, singular, and rude 🙂

Gene

 

[drewbarb]

Yeah, Kodak has been nothing but a big disappointment for black and white for a while now. The only good thing about this story is that Tri-X is nowhere near as good as it used to be, so it's no great loss that you can't get it regularly. I'm with Joe and others here who say "Support Ilford."

Fuji Neopan 400 seems like a pretty good film. I've shot a lot of it lately, and I like it for 35mm. It has a nice balance of modern emulsion look and feel and old-fashioned, organic looking grain. The base seems pretty good too; it seems pretty durable and resistant to scratching, and has a reasonably low base fog.

I used to be a pretty dedicated Tri-X shooter; but since Kodak seems to have flipped us the bird after 100 years, I'm doing the same back to them.

 

[Trius]

A lot of Tri-X (current emulsion) shots I have seen here and elsewhere don't leave me convinced that the current iteration is "worse" than the older versions ... perhaps different, but still a wonderful film. Beyond that, photographers whom I greatly respect (e.g., Larry Towell/Magnum) use current Tri-X and will be both devasted and incensed if it leaves the scene. Towell et al are not insignificant in their work, and Tri-X is a vital part of their work.

More later.

 

[Doug]

Tri-X out of stock is just shocking; how could that be, it's a classic. I'm afraid I would be left gaping, speechless...

Have to say, though, that HP5 @800 looks very nice developed in Diafine. I've only used one roll of 120 that was in a bag of mixed misc film off eBay, so this may be just one isolated result. Nice tonal qualities though, without that bit of harshness I see in Tri-X Pro (1000 in Diafine).

 

[40oz]

I fail to see how some store not keeping on top of inventory or choosing to forgo Kodak products is a reason to bash kodak. Sounds to me like the sales people are making excuses and then selling you a competing product. What motivation do they have to stock Kodak films if you will buy whatever they put in front of you?

 

[GeneW]

I fail to see how some store not keep on top of inventory or choosing to forgo Kodak products is a reason to bash kodak. Sounds to me like the sales people are making excuses and then selling you a competing product. What motiation do they have to stock Kodak films if you will buy whatever they put in front of you?

This store is one of the best pro shops in Toronto. They make every effort (far more than the other pro shops) to stock what people want (they've gone above and beyond for me on many an occasion). This is not your local Wal-Mart. They didn't put anything in front of me -- just explained why they were out of stock. I asked for Neopan 400 because I needed a brick of good iso 400 B&W.

I find this plenty of reason to bash the 'suits' who now run Kodak. If they can't keep stock in one of the biggest pro film-selling stores in the largest city in Canada, they're an incompetent bunch, at best. That's being kind to them.

Gene

 

[Trius]

OK, I just got off the phone with Pete in pro support at Kodak. He investigated and learned that there was a supply problem around the end of December '06, so it is indeed on backorder. He didn't know the specifics, but stated that he would investigate further. I told him I would call back in a couple of days to see what he had discovered ... but ...

About 10-15 minutes later he called back and said that the supply issue was caused by a huge order for Tri-X that was placed in December, and they are now in production to recover.

I spoke with Gene on the phone (since I saw he was online and therefore not at Starbucks!), who thinks it's a bit fishy ... why would they sell out their inventory to one vendor, not partially fill the order instead, etc? That's logical, but I've dealt with this CSR before and what he has told me has proven to be correct, so I am going to assume the explanation is correct. 😀

Pete and I also spoke about the obvious thought that some might have, i.e., is it being phased out, discontinued, etc., and he was emphatic that was not the case and that if something were happening Kodak would have a lot of explaining to do.

It sounded to me like Tri-X is still selling well; we didn't discuss that in any detail, that's simply the sense I got.

Let's everyone breathe easy. 😉

 

[mw_uio]

Our global friend, Trius 🙂 Seriously that is great, that you were able to reach someone that you know at Kodak, and get a response, and find out more about the reason for the out of stock issue.

Gene are you still going to write a letter? 🙂

Cheers

MArk
Quito, EC

 

[Trius]

If Gene writes a letter he'll probably want me to hand deliver ... which I would be glad to do. 😉

 

[shadowfox]

kodak stopped caring about photographers years ago.

joe

Yes, the more I see how Kodak behaves, the more I'm with Joe. This hilarious, but sad ad is another proof (sorry if this has been circulated before):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz6XjXu-oT8

My boss, who is a commercial printing expert showed this to us at work, all of us got a good chuckle, but I think I'm the only one who ended up feeling depressed 🙁

 

[shadowfox]

OK, I just got off the phone with Pete in pro support at Kodak. He investigated and learned that there was a supply problem around the end of December '06, so it is indeed on backorder. He didn't know the specifics, but stated that he would investigate further. I told him I would call back in a couple of days to see what he had discovered ... but ...

About 10-15 minutes later he called back and said that the supply issue was caused by a huge order for Tri-X that was placed in December, and they are now in production to recover.

I spoke with Gene on the phone (since I saw he was online and therefore not at Starbucks!), who thinks it's a bit fishy ... why would they sell out their inventory to one vendor, not partially fill the order instead, etc? That's logical, but I've dealt with this CSR before and what he has told me has proven to be correct, so I am going to assume the explanation is correct. 😀

Pete and I also spoke about the obvious thought that some might have, i.e., is it being phased out, discontinued, etc., and he was emphatic that was not the case and that if something were happening Kodak would have a lot of explaining to do.

It sounded to me like Tri-X is still selling well; we didn't discuss that in any detail, that's simply the sense I got.

Let's everyone breathe easy. 😉

Trius, you da man!

 

[dcsang]

Earl..

You truly give back to this forum..
seriously.

Thanks man - remind me to buy you a drink next time you're up here.

Dave

 

[GeneW]

Earl, I'm gonna start calling you Duke!

Thank you very much. I still don't buy the story, but that's not a reflection on you or your contact.

No, I'm not going to write a letter. But I am going to call my broker and instruct him to examine my portfolio. If there's any Kodak stock in there, trade it up to something with a future: STARBUCKS! 🙂

Gene

 

[ed1k]

Too sad to learn Tri-X is out of stock and thanks Earl for some relief you gave us. I hope, Tri-X will be back on shelf soon.
I don't know what Tri-X used to be. Gene recently gave me a 135/36 roll for tryout and I'm very pleased with results. Thank you Gene, tri-x is really good stuff. I like it a lot, as much as I dislike Silvertone 400 I have tried before.
Some my pics from Vienna where I shot tri-x roll are here:
http://art-elle.info/cgi/view.cgi?autor=7&lng=en
Nothing spectacular but day was really gray... I hate that kind of overcast when shooting city landscapes 🙂
P.S. Guys at Downtown Camera are really good to deal with. There are some items not reasonable priced there, but this is typical for any store I guess.

 

[Trius]

Dave: I won't be up for awhile, but that gives me plenty of time to decide on which brew to pick. Know any place that serves Wellington County Bitter? 😀 Thanks for the offer ... truly appreciated.

Gene: I admit to being a tiny bit skeptical as well, but that's no reflection on you. 😉

 

[lZr]

Thanks Trius. You did it also for me.

 

[Ewoud]

I don't know where Tri-X for Europe is made but I come's in in great bunches in the photostore I work at..

But its good to hear, there's no talking about a discontinuing...

 

[Trius]

Ewoud: Maybe a European distributor made that huge purchase!