Getting It Right

When Ilford made there last improvement to their films they added a 'Plus' to the name. People seem to have had no problem and started using the new names. No so when Kodak made a major change to their flagship film. Yes, I know that Kodak itself uses both names. BUT here on APUG it sometimes causes confusion. A recent post questioning the grain of an 'old' roll of film found in a freezer uses the name Tri-X. But since the film is old is it Tri-X or 400TX. Just how people interpret the question is a stake. I know that this may be hard for old timers as habits are hard to change but lets start being accurate. JEEZ some people still have a problem with Verichrome and Verichrome Pan.

I didn't know this... So new Tri-X is what edge code?

Since I don't have a readily available sample of each I don't know about the edge code but the design of the packaging changed and plainly says 400TX. The RMS granularity of the new film also improved which was the reason for my post. The professional version also changed to 400TXP. The new Plus-X, may it rest in peace, became 125PX.

Isn't Tri-X just what old timers (like me) call 400TX? The formula changed years and years ago. Kind of like saying ASA rather than ISO?

faberryman said:

Isn't Tri-X just what old timers (like me) call 400TX? The formula changed years and years ago. Kind of like saying ASA rather than ISO?

Click to expand...

No when Kodak moved all its film coating to a new facility the films (Plus-X and Tri-X) underwent major changes to incorporate new technologies. This happened about a decade ago. Since Tri-X has been around for 70+ years a decade does make a difference. While both films did not become T-grain ones SOME of the technology used for the Tmax films was incorporated. So a very important change.

As an aside, linguists can determine your age from how you say things. For example, watch or wristwatch, icebox or refrigerator, phone or telephone, ... Something that people might want to remember when they don't want to reveal their age, say for a telephone job interview. HR people know these things!

If you look at the Kodak datasheets for Tri-X (in its various flavours), the datasheets issued after each change set out the changes to the name, and frequently the developing times for both old and new versions. There were often even graphics showing changes in the labelling.
Part of the problem is that Kodak didn't usually change the datasheet number - F4017 has been the datasheet for Tri-X for quite some time - but instead just indicated the version date.
Historically you could access the older versions of the datasheets from the Eastman Kodak website, but that is no longer the case. Kodak Alaris only maintains the current version on their website. Tim Gray's excellent 125px site has copies of a lot of the older datasheets. Here is a link to the 2005 version of F4017 from there: http://125px.com/docs/film/kodak/f4017-400TX-2005.pdf
Gerald is right. It is important to set out with some exactitude which version of the film (what the exact name of the film is) is involved.

tri-x "by any other name would be as sweet."

i see the point here on apug, it will always be tri-x in my heart and on my tongue! now where's my buggy whip?