Certainly I have used a lot of Tri-X film in the 55 years I have been doing
photography. It is a great film with a long tonal range capable of giving
you beautiful negatives. It is also very forgiving of processing and
exposure errors and therefore, one would think it would be great for beginning
students.
I continue to maintain that, when properly processed, T-Max 400 has an
equally long tonal range, the same speed and a lot less grain. The phrase
"when properly processed" is important. Anyone who can read a thermometer
and a timer can process this film correctly. Kodak recommends a temperature
of 24 degrees C. and I believe that the fim responds best at this temperature.
Beginning photography students should learn how to do things correctly. I do
not permit my students to use autoexposure cameras. I do not accept work
from them that exhibits poor craftmanship. I do not agree that it is good
idea to let students use Tri-X because it is easier to use than T-Max 400.
It seems to me that this is encouraging them to slop around in the darkroom.
Once they learn it is OK to pay little attention to time and temperature when
processing film, then why sould they be expected to pay any attention to
getting the exposure correct, or for that matter such things as depth-of-
field and its relationship to aperature, hyperfocal distance, etc. etc.
Sometimes when I call a student's attention to an out-of-focus print, a
print which is too light or too dark, a print made with a dirty or scratched
negative, a print with too much or too little contrast, etc. they say, "Thats
the way I wanted it to look." The implication is that they were in control
and planned to make the print that way. In fact, they were not in control of
the process. What they produced was an accident. My reply in this situation
is, "When you have learned how to make a good print, you may produce all the
blobs and blurrs and spots you want. In the meantime, here is what you must
do to avoid this .........."
My point is that the syntax of this medium is the science and technology
behind it. Every artist must learn to control the medium he chooses.
Let the flames begin.
Bob Schramm