Kodak P3200 T-MAX R.I.P.
Another film bites the dust and scratches, as of October 1, 2012 Kodak has discontinued P3200 T-max. I have to admit I never really liked this film and when I did use it I got mixed results. This particular roll was severely out of date so I overexposed it by two stops. I set my camera for 800 ISO and let it be processed as if it were 3200. The result was as good as I’ve been able to achieve with this film so maybe I was on to something right before it was too late.
— DISCONTINUATION NOTICE — October 1, 2012
Due to low sales volume, Kodak is ending production of KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX P3200 Film (TMZ). The demand for ultra-high speed B&W film has declined significantly, and it is no longer practical to coat such a small volume of product.
The suggested replacement is KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX 400 Film (TMY-2). The latitude of TMY-2 allows it to handle one stop of underexposure (EI 800) without being pushed. In low light situations, TMY-2 delivers very good results when exposed at EI 1600 with increased development time.
Even though P3200 is approx 2 stops faster than TMY-2 at comparable contrast levels, that extra speed comes with a very significant grain penalty. In fact, for most applications TMY-2 is actually the better film choice. The exception would be extremely low light situations where P3200 might be able to pull out some shadow detail that would otherwise be lost with TMY-2.
The suggested replacement is KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX 400 Film (TMY-2). The latitude of TMY-2 allows it to handle one stop of underexposure (EI 800) without being pushed. In low light situations, TMY-2 delivers very good results when exposed at EI 1600 with increased development time.
Even though P3200 is approx 2 stops faster than TMY-2 at comparable contrast levels, that extra speed comes with a very significant grain penalty. In fact, for most applications TMY-2 is actually the better film choice. The exception would be extremely low light situations where P3200 might be able to pull out some shadow detail that would otherwise be lost with TMY-2.