Ilford: behind the film

etn · Jul 14, 2019

Great video about Ilford film manufacturing process:

GLS · Jul 14, 2019

Yes I saw this the other day. Great video, and well made. I actually live very close to Mobberley. It would be interesting to do a tour of the place.

etn · Jul 14, 2019

Watching the video I was amazed at how big the factory is and how fast the film rolls were manufactured! I wonder if their machines are not over-capacity for the relatively low demand for film in the digital age. Although I am more of a Tri-X and Velvia user, I sure wish Ilford well and financial success! We need companies like this.

Grim Tuesday · Jul 14, 2019

etn said:
Watching the video I was amazed at how big the factory is and how fast the film rolls were manufactured! I wonder if their machines are not over-capacity for the relatively low demand for film in the digital age. Although I am more of a Tri-X and Velvia user, I sure wish Ilford well and financial success! We need companies like this.

I watched an interview with one of the Ilford directors from around 2014, he said that if the factory were to run at full capacity for something like two weeks they could fill the world's demand for a year of film. I hope demand has gone up since then!

Also, watching their 120 packing machine work makes me even more certain the Ilford makes Ultrafine X-treme films.

cmacd123 · Jul 14, 2019

Grim Tuesday said:
Also, watching their 120 packing machine work makes me even more certain the Ilford makes Ultrafine X-treme films.

Some of the markings on the backing paper exist to guide the machine that packs the film, (this is true of any maker, and in fact for many other types of Packaging machinery in many industries) What that Implies is those marks will appear on any packaging that is done using that particular type of machine - the marking are often little squares off on an edge somewhere that are pciked up by a photo detector to locate the packing material for one of the operations.

now if you compare any of the 120 products packed by Ilford, they all use identical backing paper. the stickers at the ends are different. Thus one can have confidence that the Ultrafine exterme film is either packaged at Ilford, or whoever took control of another one of the AGFA machines, which the current generation of 120 packing is produced on.

looking at the central digits associated with the bar code on 35mm ultrafiln extreme also correlate with Kentmere film.

jvo · Jul 16, 2019

i wish them overwhelming successs....

CMoore · Jul 17, 2019

I am not cheap-shorting anybody.
I wholeheartedly wish them success in the very near future.
I am simply making a humorous comment....... did Film Ferrania watch this before they started the ball rolling.?

CMoore · Jul 17, 2019

BTW.......i think ALL decent people are awesome, and it might just be my perspective as a usa citizen, but.......i have always found something uniquely charming about the British sense of humor, their demeanor, the dry delivery, a certain calmness.....like the stories by Americans, from WW2, telling how The Brits (no matter the severity or brutality) would stop during battle, at 4:00 PM for a cup of tea.

At approximately 11:40 in the video, they show the "Actual" darkroom footage of film being wound onto the 35mm cassettes.

drpsilver · Jul 17, 2019

17 July 2019

Cool video!! It reminds me of the time that my wife and me were given a tour of the Mobberley in 2007. We were visiting a friend in London and could not "pass-up" the opportunity to visit Ilford. I coordinated, as it turned out, a personal tour with a colleague of Simon Galley (I believe his name was Martin H.). It was a really cool experience being in the darkroom where photo paper was being slit from 4m rolls to various sizes and boxed. I recognize a couple of the rooms in the video from that 2007 tour. If you get a chance to visit it is worth it. The tour engaged me on two levels, first as a photographer, and second as an engineer that was involved with manufacturing processes.

Regards,
Darwin

CMoore · Jul 17, 2019

I realize it has a lot to with automaton, machines and computers, and that it probably applies to Many Products, but......when you watch this video, it is almost surprising that film does not cost (usa) $40.00 per roll.

foc · Jul 18, 2019

CMoore said:
I am not cheap-shorting anybody.
I wholeheartedly wish them success in the very near future.
I am simply making a humorous comment....... did Film Ferrania watch this before they started the ball rolling.?

I totally agree and while you made a humorous comment, there is some truth in it. I posted a similar comment in the Ferrania Folk expect to be in continuous production in Fall 2018 thread but it didn't go down well.

Have a look at the videos on the Ferrania site and judge for yourself.

BTW this is not an anti Ferrania comment because I wish them the best and hope it will happen for them but it has dragged on for so long and quite honestly I have lost faith in the project.

I hope I am proven wrong.

Ilford: behind the film

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