Kodak TMax 100 Black and White Film Review | All About Film

Kodak films are a luxury, or more accurately are priced like luxury goods. They are, within the film world, luxury items. The TMax line, especially 100, performs well, consistently, and in myriad difficult settings. Kodak film detractors say they are priced like Patek Philippe and perform like Timex. I disagree and would say they perform as priced and generally better.

For a long time, I was not a TMax 100 fan. I did, still do, much prefer the look from the long-dead Plus-X 125. When Plus-X was discontinued, I would have traded TMax 100 for it. I still would.

That said, TMax 100 is a good successor to my old favorite film. It won’t replace it, much like the first dog you own as an adult will not replace the dog you had as a kid. It’s different. It’s its own thing. TMax 100 performs in a manner which can not for any reason be described in terms which aren’t substantially more positive than not.

Here is, I think, the best and most accurate praise you will here about TMax 100 from me or most anyone else: TMax 100 is amenable to how you shoot. Want blacks and shadows as dark as the void’s sense of humor? It can do that. Want to retain shadow and highlight detail in the same full-sun shot? Yes, metered and developed well it can do that, too. It can even do both of those things on the same roll. The TMax films are, empirically, amazing films developed well and beautifully with consistent performance and predictability. TMax 100 exemplifies all the best qualities of the entire TMax line.

The 100 ISO black and white film space has a lot of competition – Kodak, Ilford, Fuji, Foma, Kentmere, Astrum, Adox, and Rollei all have their offerings and, hot take: all of them are good. Standing atop a crowd that boasts stellar film stocks like Acros II, RPX 100, CHS 100, and Delta 100 takes, I think, a bit more than TMax has to offer.

That said, TMax does everything a medium-speed film should do and does it well, and that’s not something that holds true for all of the competition. TMax 100 is an ideal medium-speed film for multi-format shooters, multi-subject shooters, and also for specialists who focus on truly refining their film work on a specific subject. The list of subjects it handles poorly, such as star trails and indoor action shots, is far, far shorter than most films’ comparable lists and almost unfindable next to the massive list of subjects it handles very well.

So my relationship with TMax 100 remains … conflicted. I have a ton of respect for what it can do and for what it allows photographers to do. I don’t personally like the image aesthetic that it tends to provide.

Ultimately, though, what I can say about TMax 100 is that it will perform well for photographers of basically any skill. It’s an empirically great stock and definitely a worthy favorite 100 ISO black and white film.

Chennel Membership
   / @davidhancock  

David's Amazon Author Page
https://www.amazon.com/David-Hancock/...

Index:
0:00 - Intro
0:13 - Skip Intro
1:10 - Kodak TMax 100 Best Tips, Tricks, and Practices
5:42 - Subjective Characteristics
16:31 - Kodak TMax 100 Spectral Sensitivity
20:42 - Kodak TMax 100 Filter Use
22:36 - Kodak TMax 100 Reciprocity Failure
23:49 - Kodak TMax 100 Development Latitude
24:44 - Kodak TMax 100 Recommended Developers
26:46 - Kodak TMax 100 Worst Developers
27:48 - Kodak TMax 100 Review

Developer Index:
0:24 - RPX-D 1+75 (Stand), 100 ISO
0:43 - RPX-D 1+75 (Stand), 25 ISO
1:14 - Rodinal 1+75, 100 ISO
2:42 - D-76 1+1, 100 ISO
3:22 - Ilfosol 3 1+14, 100 ISO
3:40 - LegacyPro Mic-X (Microdol-X) Stock, 100 ISO
4:02 - Polydol Stock, 100 ISO
5:49 - Tmax Developer 1+4, 100 ISO
7:32 - Tmax Developer 1+7, 100 ISO
9:37 - Tmax Developer 1+9, 100 ISO
10:11 - RPX-D 1+19, 100 ISO
11:07 - D-76 1+3, 100 ISO
19:01 - D-76 1+3, 32 ISO
19:47 - Rodinal 1+25, 64 ISO
22:43 - D-76 Stock, 50 ISO
23:56 - Adotech IV 1+75 (Stand), 100 ISO
26:30 - Rodinal 1+100 (Stand), 50 ISO
26:54 - LegacyPro Mic-X (Microdol-X) 1+3, 100 ISO
27:57 - Rodinal 1+100 (Stand), 100 ISO
29:28 - RPX-D 1+75 (Stand), 200 ISO
30:04 - Rodinal 1+50, 100 ISO
31:46 - Rodinal 1+25, 100 ISO

References:
https://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites...
https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart...
https://adrianbacon.com/simple-photog...
http://motion.kodak.com/motion/upload...
http://motion.kodak.com/motion/upload...

"Lofive" by VHS Hero, "Metallic" by Luftmensch, "Sunset Drive" by Future Joust, "Travelling Lights" by Francis Wells, "Portobello Road" by David Celeste, & "Get to Know You" by Cody Francis used under active license from Epidemic Sound at the time of this video's upload.