Working with Kodak TMax 100
Nov 16, 2023 11:51:52 #
The Kodak TMax family (ISO ratings 100, 400, and 3200) use a tabular grain (T-grain) similar to virtually all color film types. Both the 100 and 400 versions were released together in 1986 and have been updated a couple of times since then. TMax P3200 was added a few years later in 1988, discontinued in 2012, and then resurrected in 2018.
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by Paul Sager, on Flickr
This series of images looks at my own TMax 100 results dating from 2014 through 2020, presented in time-sequence order. The images beginning in late 2015 are processed and scanned to roughly 17MP, then edited in Adobe Lightroom v6. Slightly larger versions can be viewed on the host Flickr pages via the URL lines of each image title.
B&W Water lily
The 1986 release of the TMax line gave the first modern T-Grain film, 'T' for tabular. The Ilford Delta line uses the same Tabular Grain model, but wasn't released until 1992.
Old Car City in B&W
Traditionally, film emulsions are composed of cubic grains, where the general rule “the larger the grain, the faster the film” applied. This meant that in order to make faster films, you had to make those films grainier. Tabular grain emulsions, instead, increased the surface area of the crystals by changing their shape, not necessarily their size.
Rocket Burger Bar
If cubic grains look like river rocks, that is: round-ish and various sizes across the bottom of the river, tabular grains look more like floor tiles, that is: more uniform in size and shape, and 'flat' across the surface of the film.
State Fair
The smoother pattern of t-grain emulsion allows it to appear finer grain as the human eye isn’t picking out the individual silver crystals, but rather, how they are spread across the film.
Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
If resolution is important to you, specifically if you are using high end lenses, TMax is one of the best options. Tmax 100 and 400 both resolve 200 lines/mm, where a film like Tri-x 400 resolves at 50 lines/mm. Tmax is sharp and detailed.
OCC B&W 2019
Kodak T-Max 100 is a continuous-tone panchromatic black-and-white negative film for general outdoor and indoor photography. These generic descriptors come from the brand’s data sheet, which adds that T-Max 100 offers extremely high sharpness, extremely fine grain, and very high resolving power, making it a great choice as a black-and-white film for detailed subjects where maximum image quality is needed.
OCC B&W 2019
Many of the final images in this post use yellow, orange, or deep red colored filters. Alas, my notes are incomplete for which filter was used for each frame.
OCC B&W 2019
Being 'slow' at ISO-100, I use TMax 100 primarily from a tripod, or in very well-lit situations when hand-holding. When using a colored filter and an even longer exposure, a tripod is a must.
Schoenhofen Pyramid Mausoleum
When compared to images from Tri-X 400 posted in an earlier UHH thread, the TMax 100 images have no visual grain, even when viewed at the pixel-level details of the scans. From some photographers, this is desired. For others, this seems 'too digital like' to be acceptable. I've collected and presented these images to help give ideas for everyone, myself included, to consider what might best fit one's desire for film results.
Graceland Cemetery
Eastman Kodak still manufactures their various B&W and color films, but following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012, responsibility for distribution and marketing, as with other products under Kodak Professional brand, was given to Kodak Alaris, a separate company controlled by the Kodak UK pension fund.
Graceland Cemetery
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by Paul Sager, on Flickr
This series of images looks at my own TMax 100 results dating from 2014 through 2020, presented in time-sequence order. The images beginning in late 2015 are processed and scanned to roughly 17MP, then edited in Adobe Lightroom v6. Slightly larger versions can be viewed on the host Flickr pages via the URL lines of each image title.
B&W Water lily
The 1986 release of the TMax line gave the first modern T-Grain film, 'T' for tabular. The Ilford Delta line uses the same Tabular Grain model, but wasn't released until 1992.
Old Car City in B&W
Traditionally, film emulsions are composed of cubic grains, where the general rule “the larger the grain, the faster the film” applied. This meant that in order to make faster films, you had to make those films grainier. Tabular grain emulsions, instead, increased the surface area of the crystals by changing their shape, not necessarily their size.
Rocket Burger Bar
If cubic grains look like river rocks, that is: round-ish and various sizes across the bottom of the river, tabular grains look more like floor tiles, that is: more uniform in size and shape, and 'flat' across the surface of the film.
State Fair
The smoother pattern of t-grain emulsion allows it to appear finer grain as the human eye isn’t picking out the individual silver crystals, but rather, how they are spread across the film.
Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
If resolution is important to you, specifically if you are using high end lenses, TMax is one of the best options. Tmax 100 and 400 both resolve 200 lines/mm, where a film like Tri-x 400 resolves at 50 lines/mm. Tmax is sharp and detailed.
OCC B&W 2019
Kodak T-Max 100 is a continuous-tone panchromatic black-and-white negative film for general outdoor and indoor photography. These generic descriptors come from the brand’s data sheet, which adds that T-Max 100 offers extremely high sharpness, extremely fine grain, and very high resolving power, making it a great choice as a black-and-white film for detailed subjects where maximum image quality is needed.
OCC B&W 2019
Many of the final images in this post use yellow, orange, or deep red colored filters. Alas, my notes are incomplete for which filter was used for each frame.
OCC B&W 2019
Being 'slow' at ISO-100, I use TMax 100 primarily from a tripod, or in very well-lit situations when hand-holding. When using a colored filter and an even longer exposure, a tripod is a must.
Schoenhofen Pyramid Mausoleum
When compared to images from Tri-X 400 posted in an earlier UHH thread, the TMax 100 images have no visual grain, even when viewed at the pixel-level details of the scans. From some photographers, this is desired. For others, this seems 'too digital like' to be acceptable. I've collected and presented these images to help give ideas for everyone, myself included, to consider what might best fit one's desire for film results.
Graceland Cemetery
Eastman Kodak still manufactures their various B&W and color films, but following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012, responsibility for distribution and marketing, as with other products under Kodak Professional brand, was given to Kodak Alaris, a separate company controlled by the Kodak UK pension fund.
Graceland Cemetery
Nov 17, 2023 10:49:45 #
Nov 17, 2023 11:30:40 #
William Royer wrote:
Very informative and interesting.
Thanks for posting.
Thanks for posting.
Thank you William! I'm trying to work through the various color and B&W film types I shoot on a regular basis, really driving toward a presentation of the relative film grains for comparison. I'm just not there yet, but working on it ....
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