Kodak’s Tri-X B&W Film Is Now Much Cheaper to Buy
News | By Stephan Jukic | February 1, 2024
For those of you who are aficionados of black-and-white analog photography, Kodak’s new pricing for its Tri-X film is good news.
The iconic film and photo company has cut the price of its still-popular TriX black and white film by as much as 30%.
Kodak Alaris released information about the price cut on its Kodak Professional Instagram page last week that explains how the company is applying a catalog price reduction for its 135 format Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 Black and White negative film.
Specifically, the 135 format films under catalog numbers 1590652 and 8667073 have had their prices slashed by 30% depending on purchasing region.
As Kodak states, “Our expectation is that this lower price will be passed on by retailers to photographers worldwide as inventories turn,” In other words, the price drop isn’t guaranteed at the retail level and it will depend on who you buy from.
In practical terms, this price cut means that a 36-shot roll of the Tri-X B&W film that would have normally cost $10 should now go for $7 in the U.S.
In some overseas markets where film prices are quite a bit steeper, the savings could be even more notable. For example, in the United Kingdom, the discount should mean a price drop from £14 to £10.
As anyone who enjoys film photography can attest, it’s not a particularly affordable hobby if you try shooting as prolifically as you might with digital. However, with careful control of when you capture, it can be enjoyable specifically because of the need for selectiveness.
This new pricing from Kodak is a particularly helpful little bonus for anyone who buys their film in bulk.
Some websites have already noted that retailers have indeed lowered their prices for the discounted black-and-white film. Kosmo Foto has mentioned how several British retailers are already selling it for as little as £9.
Tri-X film has a long and storied history of use too. It was first introduced by Eastman Kodak way back in the 1940s in ASA daylight 200 and 160 tungsten sheet formats and was one of the brand’s first high-speed B&W stocks.
In the decades since, this film stock has been redesigned multiple times, with the most recent case having happened fairly recently in 2007 when Kodak gave it a finer grain and lowered its silver content.
Among niche photographers, Tri-X is still extremely popular and often used for documentary, hobby and fine art photography.
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Stephan Jukic is a technology and photography journalist and experimental photographer who spends his time living in both Canada and Mexico. He loves cross-cultural street photo exploration and creating fine art photo compositions.
