Shooting Kodak T-Max 400 (35mm)

Kodak T-Max 400 makes for an ideal film for street photography. 1/60s 50mm F1.8.

As I talked about in last week’s blog about Tri-X 400, Kodak released T-Max 400 in the 80s as a more modern emulsion that likely looked to replace the former. However, it has garnered a controversial reputation leading to many still favouring the older film which remains more popular today. The reason why it’s called T-Max is do with its Tabular grain (T-grain) structure which marked a bit step forward in filmmaking technology. Without getting too technical it allowed films to have a smoother, finer grain structure that allowed a greater rendering of detail (this is also used by other manufacturers, e.g., Ilford’s Delta line of films). If you want a more technical look then you can do so by clicking here.

Fairground rides make for great photography subjects and even more so at night. 1/80s 50mm F2.8.

The film delivers high levels of detail despite being ISO 400. 1/50s 50mm F3.5.

You’d have thought then that there would be little need to still use Tri-X, but it is not quite that simple. For starters, Tri-X has a reputation for a better exposure latitude & tonal range than T-Max, and produces more forgiving results in difficult, harsh light whereas T-Max may struggle by crushing the shadow detail that Tri-X would preserve better. On the artistic side, many people who shoot film today do so to get a certain look. The more visible grain on Tri-X gives a more classical rendition that many are often after, whereas the more uniform nature of T-Max leads some to say it looks too flat. One key advantage of T-Max however is its much greater resistance to reciprocity failure which is not due just to its grain structure but also the fact it’s a much newer emulsion made with other technological advancements. A metered 10s exposure for Tri-X would require a corrected exposure of 50s whereas with T-Max it is only 15s.

Bumper cars made for a great opportunity to shoot a motion shot you would often seen in editorial work during the film era. 1/6s 50mm F8.0.

The bright artificial light of the rides contrasts well against the black night sky. 1/13s 50mm F8.0.

With this is mind I was curious to see if I would be able to notice a big difference between the two film stocks and I decided this time to use the roll mostly on night photography, first at my local fairground and then whilst in London one evening. If you’d read my last blog, you’ll know that at times I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more contrast in some of my images when using Tri-X, but I was unsure whether this was mostly my own wonky expectations. So, it was fascinating to shoot at night and upon receiving my images back from the developer I could see the deep inky blacks I had been wanting my monochrome images to have. I suppose this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that shooting at night would yield greater contrast and deeper blacks, but I’ve found it is one thing to know something and another to understand it through your own work.

The soft tube-lighting worked well with the fine grain of the film to give a smooth and detailed look. 1/40s 50mm F8.0.

I really liked the blurry arms of the Orbiter and the ghostly image is reinforced by the word Haunted from a different ride in the background. 1/6s 50mm F8.0.

Shooting the fairground was a great opportunity as it had lots of well lit interesting (and moving) shapes which also involved interactions with people. The inside areas were also surprisingly softly lit with their tube lights which I feel gives a pleasing look that suits the fine grain of this film. It is also clear how well details are rendered, especially when looking at text. It may also be ISO 400 but it certainly is resolving more than Tri-X did. Though it is safe to say that none of my images can be directly compared between the two as they were shot in completely different environments.

The coin machines are another popular attraction and give a good opportunity to capture people at the fair. 1/30s 50mm F8.0.

My macro shot of an Angle Shades. The fine grain helps the with the rendering of the bokeh in the background which still looks good at F16. 1/15s 105mm F16.

With this detail in mind, I did shoot a couple of macro images of an Angle Shades moth I caught in my moth trap. I am pleased with what it produced on 35mm but without the focus stacking you can do in digital photography you are forced to either step down heavily which eventually impacts sharpness or leave some areas out of focus. I’ve tried my best to balance that in the image shown but I think it would take a lot more practice to get right. You can also see that some of the highlights on its head have burned out which may indicate the limited exposure latitude that some people refer to with T-Max, however this could also have been made worse during the scanning process to digital.

I had always wanted to get a monochrome shot of the tub and finally got an opportunity to do so. This was one of the images that looked closer to Tri-X. 1/50s 50mm F1.8 +1 stop overexposed.

Leicester Square is well known for its big cinemas. 1/50s 50mm F1.8.

The bright interior of House of Candy allowed me to capture the people as silhouettes to preserve their sharpness. 1/50s 50mm F1.8.

London’s Chinatown at night. 1/40s 50mm F1.8.

Finally, I have my set of images from London which I shot as street photography without a tripod. The great thing about shooting ISO 400 film with a nifty fifty is that you can still shoot in dark conditions and capture moving people, so long as there’s just enough artificial light. Moody after hours city shots are what black and white film was made for. Looking at a couple of photos (on the tube and the entrance to the Prince Charles Cinema) I can see an effect more like Tri-X with greater tonal range and a grainier look. Interestingly when I look at my settings, I can see that I noted down that both of those images were overexposed, highlighting as ever that you can vary results with a bit of experimenting with film. Though to understand what exactly is happening here would require further investigation.

A Deliveroo man picks up a delivery from Chinatown. 1/60s 50mm F1.8.

One particular shop has a large tank full of live lobsters and sometimes big spider crabs that act as a draw to tourists. 1/60s 50mm F1.8.

The Prince Charles Cinema, another image with a larger tonal range that was overexposed. 1/60s 50mm F1.8 +2 stops overexposed.

Though as mentioned before I can’t directly compare my photos of Tri-X & T-Max I think I do prefer the contrast and finer grain of the latter. I’m now very keen to see how T-Max will look when shot with my Bronica on a much larger negative, especially when it comes to architecture and macro photography. That’s not to say I wouldn’t use Tri-X again, I think there is something to the more classical look. I’ll just have to pick the right situation for it.

One of London’s iconic phone boxes. However very few are still in use and working and it’s best not to look to closely at the stickers… 1/25s 50mm F1.8.

The geometrically impressive roof of St Pancras Station. 1/20s 50mm F1.8.

What are your thoughts on T-Max vs Tri-X? Do you have a strong preference? Let me know in the comments down below.

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