Ilfocolor Film: mask color?

[Michael Talbert]

Does anyone have a picture of a 120/620 roll film size negative of an Ilfocolor negative film? In this I mean the colour film Ilford introduced in 1960 which was replaced by Ilford Colour Print about 1965. It's the older roll film I am interested in , not the later 35mm film. The film started off by being called "Ilfacolor" in 1960 and the name was changed to Ilfocolor about 1962. I want to know what colour the mask was. Can anyone help?

 

[foc]

Have a look here, it may be of help.

https://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Ilford_Colour_Films.html#anchorCC

And also here.

https://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Chronology.html

I noticed this:

Following further joint research with ICI, Ilford introduced

Ilfacolor (120/620 roll film only, 32 ASA = ISO) colour negative film, based upon an ICI patent. Film cost 10/6d (52.5p). Processing (only by Ilford) was 6/6d (32.5p). Enprints at 2/9d each (14p). It was a masked colour material incorporating colour couplers immobilised by long-chain hydrocarbon residues - Agfa type.


This would suggest that the film was similar to Agfa CN17, which had no orange mask. In 1963 it became CN17M which had the orange mask but it didn't last long on the market.

Here is a sample (not good quality) of the maskless CN17.

In 1968 Agfa CNS became available and it had the orange mask. I'm not sure if Ilford continued with the Agfa type film at this time.

Here is a sample of the Agfa CNS orange masked film.

 

[Michael Talbert]

Have a look here, it may be of help.

https://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Ilford_Colour_Films.html#anchorCC

And also here.

https://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Chronology.html

I noticed this:

Following further joint research with ICI, Ilford introduced

​

Ilfacolor (120/620 roll film only, 32 ASA = ISO) colour negative film, based upon an ICI patent. Film cost 10/6d (52.5p). Processing (only by Ilford) was 6/6d (32.5p). Enprints at 2/9d each (14p). It was a masked colour material incorporating colour couplers immobilised by long-chain hydrocarbon residues - Agfa type.


This would suggest that the film was similar to Agfa CN17, which had no orange mask. In 1963 it became CN17M which had the orange mask but it didn't last long on the market.

Here is a sample (not good quality) of the maskless CN17.

View attachment 351992


In 1968 Agfa CNS became available and it had the orange mask. I'm not sure if Ilford continued with the Agfa type film at this time.

Here is a sample of the Agfa CNS orange masked film.

View attachment 351993

Thanks for your help. I write the Agfa Gevaert and Kodak sections for Photomemorabilia. I remember printing Agfa CN17 unmasked negatives in the late 60s/early 70s. They were not easy to print!
CN17M was followed by CN17S, and then Agfa doubled the speed of their negative film to 80 ASA/ISO for Agfa CNS film. This would have been about 1967, then CNS-2 followed in 1976. It's all on Photomemorabilia somewhere, I wrote about these films some time ago!
I think the Ilfocolor roll film negatives looked like Kodacolor X but Ilfocolor had a weaker, more yellow mask. I've never seen any Ilfocolor 120 negatives but have been told the mask was "yellow". I wondered if anyone on Photrio had any Ilfocolor roll negatives I could see to compare to Kodacolor X film. As Ilfocolor roll film was only on the market for 5 years or so it's a slim chance that I will get to see any. Thanks for your interest and help.

 

[foc]

Thanks for your help. I write the Agfa Gevaert and Kodak sections for Photomemorabilia. I remember printing Agfa CN17 unmasked negatives in the late 60s/early 70s. They were not easy to print!
CN17M was followed by CN17S, and then Agfa doubled the speed of their negative film to 80 ASA/ISO for Agfa CNS film. This would have been about 1967, then CNS-2 followed in 1976. It's all on Photomemorabilia somewhere, I wrote about these films some time ago!
I think the Ilfocolor roll film negatives looked like Kodacolor X but Ilfocolor had a weaker, more yellow mask. I've never seen any Ilfocolor 120 negatives but have been told the mask was "yellow". I wondered if anyone on Photrio had any Ilfocolor roll negatives I could see to compare to Kodacolor X film. As Ilfocolor roll film was only on the market for 5 years or so it's a slim chance that I will get to see any. Thanks for your interest and help.

It is a pleasure to talk to the author of those sections of Photomemorabilia. Thank you for all your information and wealth of knowledge.

Just out of interest, would Ilford have purchased master rolls from Agfa or Kodak and spooled and packed the film themselves?

To my knowledge, Ilford didn't have the facility to create and coat their own colour film (please correct e if I am wrong).

 

[Michael Talbert]

Ilford started making their own films in 1948, a colour transparency film, Ilfochrome. If you look on Photomemorabilia, go to "Ilford Chronology", scroll down to 1948 and click on "click here", first rectangle, "Your colour films and how they are processed". In 1965 Ilford introduced "Ilford Colorprint" in 35mm only. I may be wrong but this film may have been made for them by Ferrania, the largest photographic film manufacturing company in Italy. The processing sequences for Ferrania colour films were similar to Agfa. I don't think Agfa or Kodak ever made films for Ilford. A processing sequence for the Ilfocolor paper dating back to about 1960 is given in the 1960 slot in the Ilford Chronology. In the second rectangle in the 1960 slot, at bottom there is a link to the processing sequence for Ilfocolor paper.
Later on, in 1983, Ilford introduced Ilfocolor colour negative film which was made for them by Konica. Ilfocolor film looked very similar to Konicacolor film. I used it myself, it was a good film, I thought it gave a better colour balance than Fujicolor. I don't know when Ilford ceased selling "Ilford Colorprint" film, maybe at the end of the 1960s, or mid 70s as by that time they were concentrating their efforts on Cibachrome.
Thank you. I try to find unusual photographic colour films and colour printing papers to research and write about for Photomemorabilia.
It is good to know that the web site is appreciated and is a source of knowledge to many.