comparison
Kodak Tri-X 400 vs Ilford HP5 Plus 400
The oldest argument in black and white.
The same photograph, same exposure, both looks at full strength. See the untouched original.
The difference
Both are ISO 400 traditional-grain films and both have been in production for over half a century. Tri-X runs contrastier with sharper-edged grain and genuinely black shadows — it gives you a picture you have to tame. HP5 is flatter with a longer, gentler tonal scale and rounder grain — it gives you a negative you have to build. Photographers who love one usually find the other slightly wrong, and both are correct.
Which to use
Tri-X 400
Street and reportage. Contrast, grit, and the look of twentieth-century photojournalism.
HP5 Plus
Portraits and high-contrast light. More shadow detail and a kinder highlight shoulder.
Side by side
| Kodak Tri-X 400 | Ilford HP5 Plus 400 | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | black & white | black & white |
| Maker | Kodak | Ilford |
| Speed | ISO 400 | ISO 400 |
| Produced | 1954–present | 1989–present |
| Renderings here | 6 | 5 |
| Download | .cube | .cube |
Try Kodak Tri-X 400 on your photo → Try Ilford HP5 Plus 400
A comparison on somebody else's reference photograph only tells you so much. Both of these render on your image in the tool, alongside the other 294.