Question about Tri X 400

Dwayneb9584

Well-known
Local time
6:08 PM
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
261
Location
NYC
Hey all,

So I normally shoot HP5 Plus 400. I decided to experiment a little and bought a couple of rolls of Tri X 400 at B&H yesterday. I wanted to know if It's ok to develop this kodak film in ilfords hp5 developing process with ilford chemicals. That's what I currently use at the moment. Just wanted to know if any of you have ever done this.
 
You can certainly use the Ilford chemicals, but you will probably need to change the developing time. What developer are you using? The Ilford spec sheet (on their website) probably has times listed for Tri-X.
 
Chemicals is chemicals.

Fix is fix until you Need rapid fix for T Max and such.

ID11 and D76 are fairly interchangeable.

Times for HP 5 and Tri X are possibly not the same, Ilford has times for films on their website.

When you bounce around film and developers, you never learn to optimize.
There is no magic film or magic developer, so stop the quest.

I have no idea what HP5 process is, but all films require develope, fix and wash. No more, no less.
 
I agree, it's hard to get a handle on all of one film's capabilities unless you stick w/ it for a while, but trying others is a good idea. Who knows, you may end up liking the Tri X a lot more. I shot HP5 for years, mostly because that's what my local lab did well, but when I tried Tri X it was love at first sight. It's an amazing film for tones, and you either you like it or you don't. Probably not the best portrait film unless you shoot medium format (or are just plain good). It's the closest thing to a magical film that there is, and very forgiving of "creative" metering and developing.
 
I know no one has pointed this out and it might already have crossed your mind, but there's no harm pointing out that you might be able to get timings for Tri-X in most Ilford chemicals on the massive dev chart.
 
Yes, and so does the Ilford chart 😉 I don't really understand the attraction of the massive dev charts for current films & developers. The numbers are all over the place, does really take into account agitation and sometimes do not match up with the manufacturers data. I'd much rather trust what kodak & ilford give as a starting point than some random stranger on the internet.
 
Back
Top Bottom