HIE-like film - technical problems, too expensive?

EFKE is making their IR820 which I've got three boxes of in 4x5 sheets, but haven't played with much. Rollei's got some similar film, there's ilford SFX in 120, etc.... all of these are fairly low IR sensitivity emulsions with antihalation coatings.

What I really crave is Kodak HIE in 4x5 (and I have about 8 sheets of expired, damaged stuff left, that I got for free from a member of another forum). What are the prospects of a film like this appearing any time soon in 4x5? Not enough demand? Too difficult to create?

Most serious, high-volume HIE users (government departments, police) have gone over to digital. Films like SFX and Maco were designed for traffic cameras, so we ride on the coat-tails of that; as far as I recall, SFX is 35mm film slit for 120, not coated on 120 base. Demand for 4x5 HIE must be vanishingly small, and shelf life is very short -- probably not enough to sell an entire coating run -- so I'd be surprised if we ever saw its like again. Not impossible, but unlikely.

Cheers,

Roger

SFX is 35mm film slit for 120, not coated on 120 base.

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I'm not sure what you mean by this...
From what I have seen during the Ilford visit, Ilford coats film on a huge roll, then slits it to either 35 mm, 120, or any other size they want. Meaning that all film formats have the same base for Ilford anyway.

Of course: this is for Ilford only, don't know about other brands.

If I am mistaken, somebody else that went on the Ilford tour will correct me, I'm sure!

cheers,
./Niels

niels said:

I'm not sure what you mean by this...
From what I have seen during the Ilford visit, Ilford coats film on a huge roll, then slits it to either 35 mm, 120, or any other size they want. Meaning that all film formats have the same base for Ilford anyway.

Of course: this is for Ilford only, don't know about other brands.

If I am mistaken, somebody else that went on the Ilford tour will correct me, I'm sure!

cheers,
./Niels

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Dear Niels,

You are indeed mistaken. 120 film-base is normally much thinner than 35mm, and clear, not grey. Cut film base is MUCH thicker than either.

It was not financially feasible to coat Delta 3200 or (if I recall correctly) SFX on both bases, but you can just get away with 35mm base in a 120 wrapper (though not 120 base in a 35mm film canister, mostly because of light piping. And if SFX and Delta 3200 could be cut as sheet film from the existing base, you can bet they'd do it!

Incidentally, though I've not been on one of the public tours, I first went 'round the Ilford works some 10-12 years ago. One of the (few) privileges of being a journalist in the business...

Cheers,

Roger

Well, in that case I (humbly) stand corrected, Roger. Thanks for explaining.

I must have missed something in the explanations during the tour
and got the wrong impression.
So much info to digest, so much to see...

cheers,
./Niels