When I have used both my RB67 and my Hasselblad 500CM the film's imprinted writing has been very clear with Fuji Acros film but Ilford film the label isn't so clear. Anyone who has seen this before? Developed using a the plastic white reels with a Paterson tank. This film in particular has been Ilford FP4 125 and it happens with my RB67 and 500CM.
Being the rebate imprinting is done at the factory during production I would suspect an exposure defect during production. Likely limited to a batch or two of the film.
IIRC, Harman had a problem with their rebate exposure unit several years ago - for a while the image wandered and was inconsistent.
How old is the film?
Not sure what's going on in New Zealand and Australia, but the US Harman people are very accessible. You could send them a sample and see what they have to say?
Not too sure but at a hunch I think the film here are not as fresh as overseas. These I bought them off a camera club chap who due to family haven't shot film for some time so he was also offloading his chemistry and film cameras as well. I myself tend to purchase the film overseas in the USA and ship them over at $9US per batch of 15 rolls or something. The films from the USA tend to be long expiry dates. The films here also do cost 2x to the USA.
Film isn't that readily available everywhere. They may have some films but not all the selections and could be in limited quantities.