American cinematographer. (1954)

FIG. 1 — The development time for Eastman Tri-X Panchromatic Negative film (Types 5233 and 7233) is about the same as that for Plus-X film. Type 5231, resulting in a gamma of 0.65 to 0.70. The film is not intended for processing at high temperatures. Tri-X— New Eastman High-speed Negative Motion Picture Film A remarkable fast negative, ideal for dark days or n ight exteriors, it can be used for shooting at night with existing light. By EMERY HUSE, A. S.C. The Eastman kodak company has re¬ cently placed on the market a new high speed negative motion picture film under the name Eastman Tri-X Pan¬ chromatic Negative Film, Type 5233 (35mm) and Type 7233 (16mm ). This is a new material incorporating the most advanced techniques in film manu¬ facture. In the past, higher emulsion speed has always been a desirable goal for the film manufacturer, but high speed has inevitably been accompanied by an increase in the granularity of the developed negative image. A print made therefrom consequently showed greater graininess in the projected screen image. While notable advances have been made over the years in im¬ proving the so-called “speed graininess” ratio of various Eastman motion picture films, this new product represents a most remarkable achievement in this respect. For example, while it is fully twice the speed of Eastman Super-XX Negative Film. Type 5232, its granular¬ ity is actually less, even approaching that of Eastman Plus-X Negative Film, Type 5231. As is true with other negative films, however, granularity increases with density of the negative and it is there¬ fore important to avoid overexposure. This precaution is even more important with this film because of its extremely high speed and the greater danger of overexposure. As indicated by the exposure index and the illumination values given in Table I. the speed of the film is ex¬ ceptionally high for use under either daylight or tungsten illumination con¬ ditions. This high speed is mainly the result of higher inherent emulsion sen¬ sitivity, but another characteristic is worthy of note and one which has led many people to consider this film as actually faster than the exposure index values alone would indicate. Because of the fact that the negative contrast or gradient is maintained at extremely low densities, it is possible to obtain satisfactory tonal relationships in the print even when the negative is very thin — actually thinner than what one is accustomed to regard as satisfactory for obtaining acceptable quality prints. This high effective speed is an impor¬ tant consideration when pictures must be made under extremely poor lighting conditions, such as are frequently en¬ countered in newsreel photography. The film should find extensive use in photo¬ graphing scenes on dark days or night exteriors. It should also find wide appli¬ cation in photographing factory inter¬ iors, hotel lobbies and the like, under existing lighting conditions, where it might be difficult or impossible to set up auxiliary lighting units. Like other Eastman picture negative films, Tri-X Film is intended for pro¬ cessing by the user. It is developed in a normal motion picture negative de¬ veloper such as Kodak D-76 or some modification thereof. The development time is about the same as that for Plus-X Film, Type 5231, resulting in a gamma of 0.65 to 0.70. Fixing, wash¬ ing, and drying operations are also similar to those used for other picture negative films. The film is not intended for processing at high temperatures. The same precautions regarding keep¬ ing of raw stock and exposed film should be observed as have been recom¬ mended for other black and white pic¬ ture films. ( Continued on Page 364) FIG. 2 — Type 5233, sunlight exposure. FIG. 3— Type 5233, Tungsten exposure. American Cinematographer July, 1954 335