AshigrainBlack-and-white print · Print film
Kodak B&W Print Film 2302
Blue-sensitive black-and-white, built for release prints.
Punchy projection black-and-white: the blue-sensitive release print at a gamma of about 2.2, from bright high-key to deep low-key. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Introduced
- 2000
- In production
- Process
- KODAK Developer D-97 (HQ or AA based), 70 F (21 C), to control gamma 2.4-2.6 (Status A)
- Maximum density
- ≈ 3.2
- Base
- Polyester
About the film
Kodak Black-and-White Print Film 2302 is Kodak’s low-speed, high-resolution, blue-sensitive film for black-and-white release prints, coded 2302 and 3302.
Kodak introduced it in 2000 as SO-302, an Estar-base print film for release prints, archiving and restoration, and had renumbered it 2302 by 2003. Kodak also lists it for positive and negative titles and for RGB separations from electron-beam recorders, and its data sheet covers soundtrack printing, including Dolby Digital and SDDS. It is coated on a thin 120 µm Estar polyester base that resists most solvents, so splices are welded ultrasonically or by heat rather than cemented. Kodak credits polyester with tear strength, dimensional stability and better archival keeping than acetate, and a patented antihalation dye keeps titles free of fringes. Kodak once sold it beside its older acetate release positive, Fine Grain Release Positive 5302, the safety-base successor to nitrate 1302, since discontinued. The film is developed in D-97 to a control gamma of 2.4 to 2.6. Kodak still lists it among its current print films and revised its data sheet in March 2026.
Sources for this history
- KODAK Black-and-White Print Film 2302 / 3302 Technical Data, Eastman Kodak Company
- KODAK Black-and-White Print Film 2302/3302, Eastman Kodak Company
- KODAK: Black & White Print Film 2302 (archived 2006), Eastman Kodak Company
- Chronology of Film, Eastman Kodak Company
- Kodak Offers Improved Black-And-White Print Stock (28 January 2000), Widescreen Review
- KODAK: SO-302 B and W Print Film (archived May 2000), Eastman Kodak Company
- KODAK: Black & White Print Film 2302 (archived April 2003), Eastman Kodak Company
The look
Kodak B&W Print Film 2302 is a blue-sensitive black-and-white release-print film. It is the default print for Double-X 5222 and T-Max P3200. Any colour negative can also print on it, with an orthochromatic look: reds come out dark.
Scan vs 2302 print, side by side: the release print adds contrast and depth.
Hard light on buildings: crisp, contrasty projection black-and-white.
Best for
- High-key and low-key portraits
- Architecture in hard light
- Printing Double-X and T-Max
Among the prints
The same Vision3 500T night frame on each print film: how deep the blacks go, how the highlights roll off and how the colour separates.
The same Vision3 500T night frame on each print film: how deep the blacks go, how the highlights roll off and how the colour separates.
The same Vision3 500T night frame on each print film: how deep the blacks go, how the highlights roll off and how the colour separates.
The same Vision3 500T night frame on each print film: how deep the blacks go, how the highlights roll off and how the colour separates.
The same Vision3 500T night frame on each print film: how deep the blacks go, how the highlights roll off and how the colour separates.
The same Vision3 500T night frame on each print film: how deep the blacks go, how the highlights roll off and how the colour separates.
The same Vision3 500T night frame on each print film: how deep the blacks go, how the highlights roll off and how the colour separates.
The same Kodak Vision3 500T night frame, printed on each film.
Science & sources
A blue-sensitive black-and-white release-print film, shown after Eastman Double-X 5222. The result combines the negative and the print.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with the Ashigrain model on the same axes. This shows the calibration to source curves; comparison with photographed film is a separate question.
Characteristic response
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations, while halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. A real film capture also depends on development and print timing.
- The silver image has no dye chart and is taken as spectrally neutral.
- The film is blue-sensitive (380–495 nm as printed); its sensitivity beyond 500 nm is not charted.
- The characteristic curve is the sheet's 3½ minute D-97 curve (gamma about 2.2 visual), one of five printed development times; the recommended control gamma is 2.4–2.6 (Status A), so contrast at other development is not modelled.
- Granularity is charted only against a relative exposure axis, and no RMS granularity value is printed.
- The source gives printer settings but no lamp or filter spectra. Black-and-white print timing, which places the metered grey at visual density 1.0, is modelled.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Process: KODAK Black-and-White Print Film 2302 / 3302 Technical Data, H-1-2302, Revised 3-26, p. 2
- Characteristic curves: KODAK Black-and-White Print Film 2302 / 3302 Technical Data, H-1-2302, Revised 3-26, p. 3