Down the Road

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Since 2007

Kodak Tri-X info sheet from 1981

Jim Grey
15 comments on Kodak Tri-X info sheet from 1981
1 minute

This week I shot a roll of Kodak Tri-X in 120 that expired in 1981.

Back then, Kodak packed a useful sheet of information in the box. It was loaded with helpful tips for shooting and developing this film to get good results. I scanned it in so I could share it with you. Click either image to see it larger.

In 1981, when you bought a roll of Tri-X you could spool it into any camera, even one you didn’t know well, and use these instructions to get usable results. It’s too bad Kodak doesn’t pack these info sheets today.

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Comments

15 responses to “Kodak Tri-X info sheet from 1981”

  1. analogphotobug Avatar
    analogphotobug

    And they don’t have quite the same information on-line either.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      They do not. It’s a crying shame. How many of us want to try out some new-to-us old camera but don’t yet have the experience to know what to do? This info sheet would answer so many questions.

      Reply
  2. Marc Beebe Avatar
    Marc Beebe

    Ah, nostalgia!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I always shot Verichrome Pan and Kodacolor II in those days, so this is the first time I’ve held one of these info sheets in my hands!

      Reply
  3. Jerome Avatar
    Jerome

    Wow! I’ve been shooting with a 6×6 camera and Minolta SRs that do not have meters. As a result, I’ve been trying to learn the basics from scratch. This scan is succinct and helpful. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Yes! This is why they these sheets were valuable. Use *this* film in *these* ways and you’ll get usable results. I love how they crammed so much useful info into such a small space!

      Reply
  4. retrocrank Avatar
    retrocrank

    What a flashback!!! As a youngster I had that Daylight Exposure guide and Flash Exposure guides -carefully clipped from the 35mm version of that sheet – tucked between the case and the back of my Signet 35 (which I still have), arranged so the Daylight guide showed through the opening. (the exposure calculator on the back of the Signet only covers up to PlusX speeds). I’ll bet I haven’t seen that sheet since I got my first metered camera in ’74!
    Thanks for posting, fond memories indeed.
    p

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      When I was a teenager in the 80s shooting old cameras I used Verichrome Pan and Kodacolor II, which lacked these sheets. Those were the films I could get at the drug store. It’s too bad, because these sheets would have helped me immeasurably then. I didn’t know an f stop from a shortstop.

      Reply
  5. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    Great info. Thank you.
    Could you make this PDF so we could grab and keep?
    The jpg is quite good though

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I don’t have time to make a PDF, but you can save the JPEGs to your hard drive. Click each one to view it at maximum size, right click and choose Save Image as File.

      Reply
  6. bodegabayf2 Avatar
    bodegabayf2

    I learned about photography from reading these little instruction sheets.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I wish I could’ve!

      Reply
  7. Roger Meade Avatar
    Roger Meade

    I bought my first good camera, a Kodak Signet 30 in 1959. It had a little pocket on the back, similar to the card holder on a file cabinet drawer. The camera came with, I think, 6 plastic cards which fit that holder and gave basic exposure info on Kodachrome, Kodacolor, Ektachrome, Plus-X, Tri-X, and Panatomic-X. Load the film of your choice in the camera and slip the correct card in the holder- you were good to go. The camera also had interlinked shutter and aperture rings, the EV system I learned to love. Set your exposure for a given scene and you could prioritize shutter or aperture at will. So Plus-X was EV 13 for sunny IIRC. Quick and easy with a little practice. In those days it was Kodachrome (ASA 10), Kodacolor (ASA 32), and Ektachrome, the fast slide film at ASA 32. Plus-X was my standard at ASA 125.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Those Signet cameras had decent lenses! I owned a Signet 40 for a while and it always delivered good results. Those info cards for the various films would’ve been incredibly helpful.

      Reply
  8. Roger Meade Avatar
    Roger Meade

    I forgot to mention that flash info was shown on the back of those cards.

    Reply

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