Kodak Tri-X 400

Original (research-derived). See the notes, the B&W README, and the Knowledge base.

The film

Kodak Tri-X 400 is the most iconic B&W film in history, the stock of classic photojournalism and street photography. Its signature is dark, rich contrast, deep blacks, a wide tonal range, and a heavy, distinctive (love-it-or-hate-it) grain, with huge exposure latitude and legendary push tolerance.

The look in one line

Gritty, high-contrast, deep-black reportage B&W with heavy characterful grain and mid-tone bite.

How it's built

• Acros+Ye base: Acros gives the richest tonality. The yellow filter adds Tri-X's slight contrast and darker skies.
• DR200 + Highlight +1 + Shadow +2: punchy contrast with deep rich blacks (Tri-X renders greys darker and blacks deeper than HP5).
• Grain Strong, Large: the heavy, clumpy Tri-X grain.
• Clarity +3: the important move: Tri-X's tactile, gritty mid-tone bite. This overrides the Clarity-0 default because faithfulness demands it (Tri-X without grit isn't Tri-X).
• High ISO: pushes the grain and grit. Tri-X lives at 400-1600+.

Datasheet confirmation & a honest nuance (Kodak F-4017, fetched & extracted)

The F-4017 datasheet confirms: fine grain for its speed, wide exposure latitude, "rich tonality", and a development aim of contrast index 0.56 (i.e. Box-speed Tri-X, normally developed, is actually moderate contrast). The sheet also documents that pushing raises contrast and graininess and sinks shadow detail, which is exactly the point: the iconic "Tri-X look" (deep blacks, heavy grit) is substantially a product of push-processing and printing choices, not the base curve.

Design decision (documented honestly): this recipe targets the iconic pushed/reportage rendering, the Tri-X people mean when they say "Tri-X", not box-speed-normal-dev. Hence Shadow +2 / Highlight +1 / Clarity +3 / Strong-Large grain / high ISO. A faithful box-speed variant would be: Highlight 0, Shadow +1, Clarity +1, Grain Strong/Small, ISO ≤ 1600.

Validation tier

Datasheet (extracted) + characteristic. Scan-fetch pending: open sources (Wikimedia) lacked accessible Tri-X pictorials this pass. Drop a Tri-X reference PDF into _reference-sources/ or references/ to reach the full scan tier (the Gold 200 workflow).

vs the other B&W originals

• Acros 100: the clean/fine opposite. Smooth, fine grain, Clarity 0.
• HP5 Plus 400: the middle ground, even grain, balanced contrast, deep-but-natural shadows, Clarity 0. Tri-X is grittier and more contrasty than HP5.

The iconic photojournalism B&W: gritty, punchy, deep rich blacks with heavy, distinctive grain and a wide tonal range. Supersedes the earlier reference recipe at X-T5/reference-recipes/kodak-tri-x-400/ as a research-derived original. Grade rationale in the notes.

Notes

• Clarity +3 is a deliberate exception to the Clarity-0 default: Tri-X's gritty, tactile mid-tone "bite" is a defining, faithful characteristic that only Clarity reproduces. Faithfulness overrides the default here (see Validation Methodology — Proof of Faithfulness validation-methodology).
• Grain Strong, Large = Tri-X's heavy, clumpy grain (vs Acros's fine, HP5's even).
• High ISO by design: Tri-X is often shot/pushed at 800-1600+. Higher ISO deepens the gritty look. Let ISO climb.
• Filter: +Ye (natural contrast, slightly darker skies) is the default. +R for a punchier, dark-sky Tri-X.
• Video: grain and Clarity are unavailable in movie mode, so video loses most of Tri-X's grit. Add grain in post. Consider Sharpness +2 and Shadow +2 to partly compensate contrast.

Pro tip (2026-07-20, from Fujifilm's official ACROS design notes): the grain engine concentrates grain in shadows and scales it with ISO, so for maximum Tri-X grit, raise ISO and expose ~1/3 stop down rather than only cranking ISO. Bright high-key frames will always render cleaner because highlight grain stays fine by design. Corollary: this recipe is not HEIF-safe (Clarity +3 is disabled in HEIF, shoot JPEG) and the +3 slows burst saving.

First scan validation (2026-07-21): this Tier-S recipe previously had no pixel evidence at all. Two real Tri-X frames analysed (Wikimedia Commons, analysis-only), both Leica rangefinder with prime glass and both squarely in Tri-X's home territory of reportage: a racecourse in bright backlit overcast (M2 + Summaron 35/2.8) and a chapel interior shot toward a brilliantly lit doorway (M6 + Summarit 35/2.5). Every headline setting in this recipe is confirmed:

• Grain Strong, Large. Grain is plainly visible as coarse, distinct texture in open sky and flat wall tones. Not subtle, exactly as specified.
• High contrast with deep rich blacks. Dark coats and shadowed walls go genuinely black while keeping shape.
• Clarity +3, the frames have a tactile, almost-etched "bite" on wrought iron, tweed, textile and tile. This is the specific quality the Clarity deviation exists to reproduce, and it is unmistakable.
• Wide tonal range, the chapel frame runs from a near-black wall to a sunlit corridor and holds both ends, arch detail intact. This latitude is what made Tri-X the photojournalist's film.
• B&W skin renders with good modelling. Faces sit in mid-grey with clear tonal separation, never chalky. First skin-tone evidence obtained for any B&W recipe here. One meaningful refinement. The recipe has been documented as targeting the pushed reportage look. These frames are not heavily pushed: they read as well-exposed Tri-X with strong development, yet they already show the coarse grain, deep blacks and high contrast the recipe reproduces. So the grit is faithful to normally-processed Tri-X, and pushing is not a precondition for it. The recipe is therefore more broadly faithful than its own notes claimed. Pushing intensifies the look rather than being required for it. Confounder check passed (Leica primes, natural light, no toy optics). Status: Scan (2 frames, 2 extreme conditions). Missing: high-ISO/night and a deliberately pushed frame for comparison.

Sample Images