The Kodak TMax 400 and 100 are some of my favorite films to shoot. I like the smoother grain that the tubular crystals provide. I know that there is a higher red sensitivity to these films, which a lot of people don’t like, compared to Kodak Tri-X. I don’t mind it as much and haven’t seen it interfere with the shots I take.
I think this is the last TMax 400 rolls I had. I bought them on the cheap as they were slightly expired. However, the rolls that I purchased performed very well once I started to meter correctly. A lot of the bright, sunny shots need a little bit more exposure to get the detail on the ground. There’s just too much difference between the ground and the bright, blue sky.
Once you get the handle on that, you can get excellent results from it. Because the film has a higher ISO, it isn’t as smooth as the TMax 100 or other slower films I’ve tried. However, I think these came out very well.
Development Details
- Film: Kodak TMax 400
- Light Meter ISO setting: 400
- Developer: Kodak XTol
- Developer Dilution: Stock
- Development Time: 7.5 Minutes
- Development Agitation: Ilford Style (4x inversions every minute)