Adventures with Eastman 5222 Double-X

I’ve had a few rolls of Kodak’s 5222 Double-X screaming at me from the refrigerator for a while now. Every time I go grab a roll of black and white film, I skip over the Double-X and go for Tri-X or HP4. I’m not sure why because every time I shoot this fine film, I love the results I get.

If you’re not familiar with Double-X, it was introduced by Kodak in 1959 as a motion picture film. It’s a 250 ISO film with reasonably fine grain that delivers what I consider a vintage black and white look. Over the years, it’s been used on some great films like Schindler’s List, Raging Bull, Casino Royale and Psycho. 250 ISO makes Double-X a pretty capable general purpose black and white film but there’s one caveat; Double-X does not have the same exposure latitude of other black and white films…maybe a stop over or under and that’s about it. Nail your exposure though and this film delivers.

I loaded up my Pentax K2 with some Double-X on a sunny Sunday late afternoon. My lens was the SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7. I was grilling some chicken and playing with the dogs.

It’s alway nice to sip a nice glass of Cab while grilling.

I really like the tonal range of this film with nice inky blacks and bright whites. All of the in-betweens look very pleasing as well. It’s easy to blow out the whites if you’re not careful. The grain is definitely there, but it does have a cinematic look to it.

I had also forgotten how much I enjoy taking pictures with my Pentax K2. I need to use it more often and also need to stop reaching over the Double-X in favor of other films. There’s a reason Hollywood has been using this film for over 60 years.