Evo jedan isjecak iz super knjige o filmovima TriX i Tmax mozda koga zanima:

"In the 1950s Kodak introduced Tri-X fi lm. At ISO 400 Tri-X was the fi rst fast fi lm made

for general use. Even though the grain of the original Tri-X was characterized as being

the size of golf balls it became an immediate success with photojournalists who had

only just fi nished recording an entire World War and the Korean confl ict with fi lms rated

at ISO 100 and 200. Within a short time Kodak had improved the grain size of Tri-X

and over the years other improvements and tweaks were made. As a result Kodak Tri-X

became the world’s best-selling black-and-white fi lm.

In the 1980s Kodak introduced T-Max tabular grain fi lms. These fi lms were based

on “growing” fl at silver halide crystals with the fl at surface of each crystal facing the

surface of the fi lm to more effi ciently collect light. In order to further increase the sensitivity of the fl at-grain crystals to light, color-dye technology, developed through years

of research on color negative and transparency fi lms, was added. This allowed Kodak to

use less silver. The result was a line of fi lms that Kodak was able to make for less money

and label as “modern” allowing them to be sold at a higher price.

At fi rst many photographers, myself included, anxious to be in the forefront of new

and better fi lm technology fell for the marketing hype. Kodak executives watched closely

as the sale of Tri-X dropped precipitously and the sale of T-Max 400 soared. When sales

of Tri-X reached a predetermined baseline, Kodak planned to discontinue it altogether.

Unfortunately for Kodak, in a very short time photographers worldwide realized that

T-Max was inferior to Tri-X. The reason is that the thin, fl at grains of silver literally do not

have the depth of rounded pebble shape grains which enable them to record microscopic

variations in contrast. In other words, the fl atter the grain the less capable it is of recording micro-contrast. Almost overnight the sales fi gures reversed, and T-Max 400 nearly fell

off the sales charts. Kodak’s response was to increase the advertising budget for T-Max.

But the story does not end here. Excited with the increased profi t that color

dye–sensitized fi lms could bring if only photographers would cooperate, Kodak

reengineered all of their fi lms, including Tri-X, reducing the silver content and replacing

it with increased color-dye sensitization, and semi-fl attening the silver grains. So, instead

of a fl at-grain fi lm with color-dye sensitizers like T-Max 400, Tri-X is now a semi-fl at grain

fi lm with color-dye sensitizers. (In fairness to Kodak, the same treatment appears to

have improved Plus-X which was formerly noted for “mushy” grain.)

The end result is that while Tri-X remains a better fi lm than T-Max it has lost the

grainy, gutsy Tri-X look so prized by photographers. It now has a homogeneous appearance with no distinct characteristics other than being a fast fi lm with “super-fi ne grain.”