A Review Of Kodak T-Max 400 Film

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My writing on film photography tends to be retrospective in nature, and lately I've started to ask myself why that is. If you've been following along my analog journey for any length of time, you may have also noticed this as a recurring theme. After doing some contemplative digging into the dusty archives of my subconscious, I've come to realize that there's actually a good reason for it.

Some children want to be an astronaut when they grow up, and I think most people can agree that it's a wonderful dream to work towards. I on the other hand, had aspirations of becoming a professional skateboard photographer.

I was an avid reader of Transworld Skateboarding magazine (in print I might add) during my teenage years, and there was once an article written in 2005 by legendary skate photographer Scott Pommier titled How To Steal My Job. You can still read an excerpt of it here, but in the original full-length article he recommended Kodak T-Max 400 as his go-to black and white film stock for his available light professional work.

As someone who deeply admired his outstanding photographs, the first roll of film I ever shot later that year was of course going to be T-Max 400 in 35mm format. It was on this very film stock that I first learned about aperture, shutter speed, how to achieve a shallow depth of field, and all the other exciting fundamentals through the costly process of trial and error. Even back then, professional film development and processing at a reputable lab wasn't exactly cheap.

A funny side note about all of this. In 2007 when I was 19 years old, I actually met Scott Pommier by chance at the Vancouver Skate Plaza. I was so star-struck when he introduced himself that I was instantly reduced to the skater equivalent of a young teenage girl having an impromptu meet-and-greet with Taylor Swift.

So Scott if you’re reading this, I’m sorry. I simply didn’t know how to play it cool back then, and I still cringe when I think about that encounter to this very day.

But enough about the past, let's get into my recent reintroduction to Kodak T-Max 400. Equipped with my beloved Canon EOS-1N camera body, I shot two rolls over the fall - winter of 2025 and sent them off to Flic Film Lab to be developed and scanned on their Noritsu scanner. In terms of lenses, I shot most of these images with a a Zeiss Milvus 50mm 1.4 ZE, but also used a Canon EF 35mm F1.4 ii L and Canon EF 70-200 F4 ii L for a couple of the nautical images.

I think Flic Film did a wonderful job on these scans, and if you're based in Canada I highly recommend sending your film to them. Aside from cropping one of the portraits in this article to improve its composition, I've made no edits to these photos whatsoever. Everything is straight from the lab's scanner so that you can get a true sense of the film's rendering and how it behaves under a variety of lighting conditions.

Be it color or black & white, I almost always shoot negative film one stop overexposed for better shadow detail and because it tends to retain information in the highlights remarkably well. This case was no exception, so I chose to shoot these images rated at a speed of ISO 200 without giving it much thought. What I found however, is that I actually seem to prefer the slightly darker exposures in this series. Perhaps more testing on my part is needed, but this is one negative film that I’d potentially choose to shoot at box speed going forward.

Regarding the technical aspects of Kodak T-Max 400, I'd like to start by honing in a bit more on its highlight retention characteristics. While the scanner may have a played a small role here, I did observe that this film's dynamic range appears to be noticeably more narrow than something like Ilford HP5 Plus 400 which which seemingly has no end to the level of highlight detail it can capture. If you take a look at some of the backlit boating images above, in some frames it's apparent that the highlights are completely lost to the unbridled power of the late morning sun.

If that's the case, then wouldn't it be an astute observation to simply use HP5 as our default choice for black and white film? This is where things get interesting, because what differentiates Kodak T-MAx 400 from classic film stocks such as Kodak Tri-X 400 or the aforementioned HP5 is in its tabular grain (T-grain) film structure. In contrast to the more traditional cubic grain structure of a film like Tri-X, tabular grained films impart a more modern, sharper, and overall less grainy look to the images.

I'm in danger of getting into the minutia of film stocks here, but the point is that doesn't necessarily make sense to use those classic cubic grain films interchangeably with Kodak T-Max 400. For example, if I were to shoot a commercial job on film (as rare as that might be these days), I would choose T-Max 400 almost every time because it offers a distinctly cleaner aesthetic while still maintaining the highly sought after film look. On the other hand, if you're working on a documentary series of images where a raw and unpolished feeling is critical to telling an authentic narrative, then something like Kodak Tri-X 400 is likely going to suit the project much better.

Pros

• Fine T-grain emulsion results in one of the sharpest film stocks available
• Provides a cleaner look than other classic B&W films while still retaining the desirable film aesthetic
• An excellent choice for professional commercial work
• Available in every format from 35mm all the way up to 8 x 10 sheet film
• Also available in 35mm 100' bulk rolls for cost savings

Cons

• Like most films these days, the price is simply too high
• Overall dynamic range is noticeably less than that of Ilford HP5 Plus 400 or Kodak Tri-X 400

Verdict

After well over a decade of shooting some wonderful cubic grain films including Hp5 and Tri-X, using Kodak T-Max 400 again feels a bit like coming home or reuniting with an old friend and finding that the relationship remains positively unchanged. It does indeed have some minor dynamic range shortcomings, but the unique, more modern but still undeniable film look that it delivers more than makes up for this. Maybe it isn't the type of film that excels in all scenarios, but when used thoughtfully and within the right use case, I'd argue that you won't find a better black and white film for the job.