Good aftrnoon,

Someone suggested that I try Plus X film. Could you please give me few points of comparison between this fil amd Trix X - Thanks

Arie

-- Arie (nhaziza@northrock.bm), May 14, 2002

Answers

The main difference is speed. Plus-X is 125, while Tri-X is 400. These are Kodak's stated speeds, of course, which are not always exactly true.

With the reduced speed, you'll also get finer grain.

Like Tri-X, Plus-X is a classic, old-school film. No T-Grain technology like the newer T-Max films. Some people, myself included, prefer the look of Tri-X and Plux-X to the newer films. You'll also get more processing latitude.

I shoot Tri-x nearly exclusively, but I find Plus-X useful outside in bright sun, especially with the low top shutter speed of the M6.

-- Noah (naddis@mindspring.com), May 14, 2002.

Having recently tried Plus-X again after 20 years:

It has very rich tonal rendition, but slightly soft-edged grain and reduced sharpness compared to the Delta/Tmax films. (Ilford DD-X developer)

The grain is somewhat less noticeable than Tri-X, and the tones are richer - more contrast in the mid-tones while retaining similar detail in the highlights/shadows. Also compared to Tri-X it has a little less blue sensitivity, so it darkens the sky and separates clouds better if you're not using a yellow or red filter.

I prefer Ilford Pan F, which has about the same tonal scale, even less grain, and more sharpness, in good light - in low light I jump up to the 400 films.

But Plus-X is much nicer than I'd remembered.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), May 14, 2002.

I've always thought that Plus-X was an excellent portrait film, offering outstanding highlight seperation, and overall smoothness with the more common developers.

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), May 14, 2002.

My son's beginning photography teacher at Laguna Beach High School sells his students 12 exposure 35mm cassettes of Plus X for 50 cents. He must load the cassettes from bulk stock. The students develop in some soup that he provides and print 5 X 7s for the teacher's critical comment and grades. The course is quite rigorous. Grades above C are hard to earn. The prints that my son has produced are quite good. He uses a Nikkormat FT with a Nikkor 50mm f/2.0 and a Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 that I have supplied for a start. My bottom line point is that the Plus X yields very fine results.

-- Doug Landrum (dflandrum@earthlink.net), May 14, 2002.

Plus-X is a beautiful old formula film. The grain is tight, but not as small as TMAX100. Frankly I think Plus-X has a more beautiful look to it than TMAX. Don't be turned off by the term 'old style film'. Plus-X has great midtone and highlight range, really rich! I process mine in Rodinal or D76. Plus-X, with a somewhat older lens like a Summitar or Summicon-DR, will positively "glow".

feli

feli

-- feli (feli2@earthlink.net), May 15, 2002.