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Frederik Trovatten

Photography by Frederik Trovatten

Kodak Tri-X 400: Best Film Roll for Black & White Portraits

Kodak Tri-X 400 is known for its contrasty look and it’s one of the most popular rolls in film photography.

Among film photographers, Kodak Tri-X is your go-to roll when doing black and white portraits.

By the way, Kodak released a statement saying they will raise their prices, across the board, for all of their film stocks, due to high demand.

So if I were you, I’d pick up some Kodak Tri-X on Amazon or BH photo, before the price increase.

Get some Portra 400 while you’re at it as well.

  • Kodak Tri-x Portrait
  • Kodak Tri-x 400 Portrait
  • Kodak Tri-x 400 Portrait

Watch street photographer shoot Kodak Tri-X 400 in LA.

Video: Shooting Kodak Tri-X

Is Kodak Tri-X 400 better than Ilford HP5?
I myself, do a ton of street portraits, and while I do love the tones of the Ilford HP5 Plus 400, I do think the Tri-X is a better roll for portraits. In terms of the best all-around black and white film roll, for 35mm and medium format film photography, I think it’s a toss-up between Ilford HP5 and Tri-X – you can’t really go wrong with either.

Kodak Tri-X 400 Portrait (ISO 800)

Push & Pull
Kodak Tri-x is rated at 400 ISO. But because of the versatility and high speed of this black and white film, you see many people pulling this roll to 100 ISO and pushing it to 800 ISO – even 1600 ISO for low light situations.

Image Quality:
If you know the basics of metering in film photography and focusing, most shots will come out great, shooting Kodak Tri-x 400.

Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 Black and White Negative Film

This film stock is a bit darker and has more contrast than Ilford HP5 and Fujifilm Acros, but I love that about this film; Mostly because I do a lot of black and white photography and street portraits.

Of all black and white films for medium format and 35mm photography, the Kodak Tri-X is the most popular. 

On my Street Photography Channel on Youtube, I test different kinds of film rolls.