Ilford SFX and red windows

trendland · Nov 4, 2017

E. von Hoegh said:
Rubbish. I have several old folders on which the red window is the only way to advance film.

Yes of cause - sorry for this - you are totaly right.
The main funktion of 120 backing paper is to adjust the advance with old cameras.And this is also the main funktion of red windows.Instead of 220 films where this does not work.
But I came from a position - I thought this is quite clear.
Coming back to the 20th and 30th : The speed of films was much more low in comparison to today.
I would definitivly guess backing paper from today is much better.
So it is also no need to the "red" in the window.Thats the case from my statement.

with regards

PS : One of my Agfas from 1956 has a clear window and absolute no cover.
May be it was a special "cheap" edition from that time.But it works just great without any problems.
Everything clear ? Sure I also need the window to advance.
So sorry for misunderstanding....

TheFlyingCamera · Nov 4, 2017

paulbarden said:
I have used Ilford SFX quite a bit. I find that it handles differently than the Agfa IR film, in that it doesn't fog nearly as easily as the Agfa IR does. I've used both in my wood Vermeer 6X17 curved-plane panoramic camera and the agfa film fogs easily in that camera, and the SFX doesn't. Mind you, the fogging problem is not due to the red counter window - its because the wood itself is semi-permeable to IR radiation. I've had to wrap that camera in aluminum foil when taking it out loaded with the Agfa film.

Thank you for the feedback! Someone who has used the exact same combination of camera and film that I have/want to use. So I'll be good to go with the SFX in the Vermeer.

removedacct1 · Nov 4, 2017

TheFlyingCamera said:
Thank you for the feedback! Someone who has used the exact same combination of camera and film that I have/want to use. So I'll be good to go with the SFX in the Vermeer.

I think so, yes. But you'll need to see if it works for you, under your conditions. If its used where IR radiation is intense, you may find the camera body is not sufficiently impervious to IR for SFX either. A test roll will determine suitability pretty quick. If you still have doubts, wrap the camera body in foil, as I did when shooting Rollei IR. (Which I mistakenly referred to as Agfa IR, my apologies) In any case, I opened the frame counter window only as long as absolutely necessary to wind the film to the next frame and no more. I also made an effort to shade the camera when I did so.

This is a shot made in the Vermeer (foil wrapped) using Rollei IR:

MattKing · Nov 4, 2017

Paul,
How did you deal with filtration for the Rollei IR and the pinhole camera?

railwayman3 · Feb 7, 2018

Can anyone point me to up-to-date technical data sheets for currently available IR films ? The ones I can find online for Rollei IR and Maco IR are some 12 years old (and I think that Maco was the old Efke film at that time ? ). Thanks.

Fritzthecat · Feb 7, 2018

Okay, I admit I didn't read all the responses to the OP, but I'll chime in anyway. Try loading a dummy roll in the camera, then put index marks on the body and wind knob. Then see where the numbers locate when winding and mark again. You should now be able to run a roll through without opening the red window.

MattKing · Feb 7, 2018

Fritzthecat said:
Okay, I admit I didn't read all the responses to the OP, but I'll chime in anyway. Try loading a dummy roll in the camera, then put index marks on the body and wind knob. Then see where the numbers locate when winding and mark again. You should now be able to run a roll through without opening the red window.

If your camera uses a wind knob, in order to advance the film one frame at a time it will require more turns at the beginning of the roll than it will at the end, because the radius of the film plus backing paper on the takeup spool increases as you move through the roll.
If you are going to try something like this, you need something more complex, like between frame 1 and 2 it takes three turns of the winding knob, between frames 2 and 3 it takes two and three-quarter turns of the winding knob, between frames 3 and 4 it takes two and one-third turns of the winding knob ......
You need to calibrate this with your own camera, although as the spools are a standard size, one camera's numbers should be close to another's.

Sirius Glass · Feb 7, 2018

MattKing said:
Fritzthecat said:

Okay, I admit I didn't read all the responses to the OP, but I'll chime in anyway. Try loading a dummy roll in the camera, then put index marks on the body and wind knob. Then see where the numbers locate when winding and mark again. You should now be able to run a roll through without opening the red window.

Click to expand...

If your camera uses a wind knob, in order to advance the film one frame at a time it will require more turns at the beginning of the roll than it will at the end, because the radius of the film plus backing paper on the takeup spool increases as you move through the roll.
If you are going to try something like this, you need something more complex, like between frame 1 and 2 it takes three turns of the winding knob, between frames 2 and 3 it takes two and three-quarter turns of the winding knob, between frames 3 and 4 it takes two and one-third turns of the winding knob ......
You need to calibrate this with your own camera, although as the spools are a standard size, one camera's numbers should be close to another's.

Matt, you nailed it. That is why the earlier method will not work without either losing negatives or overlapping negatives.

pbromaghin · Feb 7, 2018

I've used it in 2 different Zeiss folders and all of the many problems were operator error and none caused by the red window.

Sirius Glass · Feb 7, 2018

pbromaghin said:
I've used it in 2 different Zeiss folders and all of the many problems were operator error and none caused by the red window.

I would believe that Ilford is more than smart enough to have addressed this problem before bring SFX to market. Can you show otherwise? No.

pbromaghin · Feb 8, 2018

Sirius Glass said:
I would believe that Ilford is more than smart enough to have addressed this problem before bring SFX to market. Can you show otherwise? No.

Did you even read my post? Where do I say any of the problems I had were caused by Ilford, or by anything other than my own error?

Sirius Glass · Feb 8, 2018

Put gaffers tape over the window.

Ilford SFX and red windows

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