Kodak introduced T-Max 100 and T-Max 400 in 1986, and T-Max P3200 two years later. It was touted as a fine-grained, sharp and detail-rich black-and-white negative film. Interestingly, ever since T-Max was released, there has been a divide in the photographic community around this emulsion: people either loved it or hated it. Those who loved it tended to not like Tri-X, and those who hated it tended to love Tri-X; you were likely in one camp or the other. Tri-X was more gritty, dramatic and versatile, while T-Max was softer, cleaner, and more finicky. All-in-all, you are not likely to spot huge differences between the two as a casual observer, but those who regularly shot with these films could easily distinguish the nuances.

This particular Film Simulation Recipe, called Kodak T-Max 100 Hard Tone, was created by Dan Allen after shooting some rolls of Kodak T-Max 100 film side-by-side with his Fujifilm X-T5. He did his best to match the X-T5 photos to the T-Max frames. This was not an easy task, and took a lot of adjustments and refinements. Dan spent a lot of time and effort on this. He discovered that it would take a handful of versions of the Recipe to replicate all of the variances that can be found even within the same roll, and ultimately determined that one Recipe cannot mimic them all. His solution was to create two versions—one with a higher contrast and one with a lower contrast—that are “close enough” to be acceptable facsimiles for most of the variabilities.

Above photos by Dan Allen. Left: Kodak T-Max 100 Film / Right: Fujifilm X-T5 & Kodak T-Max 100 Hard Tone Recipe

Even though this Recipe does a pretty darn good job of replicating Kodak T-Max 100, it is always ok to “season to taste” the settings. Don’t be afraid to increase or decrease Highlight and Shadow, for example. There are a lot of factors that can determine the exact aesthetic of the film, so some small tweaks might be necessary to get it precisely as you want it. Or, just leave them as Dan created, and enjoy the lovely results.

This Film Simulation Recipe is fully compatible (as of this writing) with the Fujifilm X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II, X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, and X-T50 cameras. Presumably it will also be compatible with the camera that Fujifilm is about to announce (rumored to be the X-M5). You can also use this Recipe on the latest GFX models, although it will likely render slightly differently (try it anyway).

Dan Allen is no stranger to Fuji X Weekly. You might recall that he invented the Kentmere Pan 400 Film Simulation Recipe, and had a helping hand in the Vintage Bronze, Ilford FP4 Plus 125, and Ektachrome E100 Recipes. He also wrote the fascinating article Shooting Fujifilm Instax with a 108-year-old Kodak camera. Part two of this Recipe series will be coming soon, so be on the lookout for that.

Film Simulation: Monochrome+G
Monochromatic Color (Toning): WC 0 & MG 0 (Off)
Grain Effect: Weak, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Off
Color Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Daylight, -6 Red & -3 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +0.5
Shadow: +2.5
Sharpness: -1
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -1
ISO: up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: -2/3 to +2/3 (typically)

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Kodak T-Max 100 Hard Tone Film Simulation Recipe using a Fujifilm X-T5 and X100VI:

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Part 2 — Kodak T-Max 100 Soft Tone

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Fujifilm X-T5 in black:
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Fujifilm X-T5 in silver:
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Fujifilm X100VI in black:
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Fujifilm X100VI in silver:
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