It would be good to have Delta 400 in sheet

Let's not forget, one box of 8x10" counts for four boxes of 4x5"

BradS said:

Was delta 400 ever available in sheets? If not, I wonder why not. Perhaps, there is some technical reason similar to that for SFX200?

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Yes, it was my standard sheet film for years until Ilford discontinued it. It still is my standard roll-film for medium format. I'd love to see Ilford bring it back in sheet film. I personally prefer it to Delta 100 which is still available in sheet film. I find the 100's contrast a bit too harsh for my taste.

Larry

Simon R Galley said:

Dead David,

This is definitely a cost to produce / stock holding issue :

We withdrew it a long time ago XP2 Sheet film as well, because any stock we have to destroy*( stock wise ) by going out of date is subject to a detailed product review. *Yes... we do recover the silver.

As I guess you all know now, on very short runs of any product ( and especially film ) we have high wastage : Run up and run down on the coating machine etc etc.

Regardless, the absolute minimum run would generate about 15,500 boxes of 25 sheets ( 5" x 4" ) based on known sales at withdrawl, and add in the known decline in the market, that would mean the product would surely go out of date before all inventory was sold.

So I see very little chance of a return, but as always I will ensure that it is mentioned in the range team meeting of the marketing functiuon at HARMAN

Regards

Simon. ILFORD photo / HARMAN technology Limited

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I had no Idea XP2 was made in Sheets, that would make it unique?
Is it cheaper to recover the silver than to freeze it or sell it cheap?

Dear Ajuk,

Its a quality control measure, when product is finished into sheets it is given a date ( on line ) to use by. As we have to allow time for the product to go through the supply chain and to sell out, we have a 'drop dead' shipping date date ( ex factory ) well ahead of the expiry date, when the product reaches that date it is destroyed and the silver recovered.

The cost to freeze would not be economic, and we would never sell a key film product near its use by date....thats the rules. I think you will find KODAK and FUJI have exactly the same MO

Kind Regards

Simon. ILFORD photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

Simon R Galley said:

Dear Ajuk,

Its a quality control measure, when product is finished into sheets it is given a date ( on line ) to use by. As we have to allow time for the product to go through the supply chain and to sell out, we have a 'drop dead' shipping date date ( ex factory ) well ahead of the expiry date, when the product reaches that date it is destroyed and the silver recovered.

The cost to freeze would not be economic, and we would never sell a key film product near its use by date....thats the rules. I think you will find KODAK and FUJI have exactly the same MO

Kind Regards

Simon. ILFORD photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

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Simon,

I certainly understand the dilemma faced by Ilford and others who have to make large runs of film or paper and then get them off the shelves before "due date."

My question has to do with the way due dates themselves are set. I'm sure I'm not the only photographer who has kept partially full boxes of sheet film lying around in the darkroom for 2-3 years, only to find that it still works just as well as it did when it was fresh.

How are expiration dates established? And given the vast variations in storage conditions, from the time the film or paper leaves your warehouse until it is actually used, are those dates realistic? I know that the manufacturer will always want to err on the conservative side, but I just shot a few remaining sheets of Delta 400 that I bought several years ago, and that had been sitting in my darkroom. I couldn't see any degradation in the images or any fogging. Of course, temperatures remain relatively stable in my darkroom-- roughly 19-23 C. I guess what I'm asking is: is it possible that the expiration dates could be "fudged" a bit from what is theoretically ideal toward the really real lof film life expectancy, and thus make it possible for manufacturers to maintain inventory a bit longer?

Larry

Simon R Galley said:

Dear Ajuk,

Its a quality control measure, when product is finished into sheets it is given a date ( on line ) to use by. As we have to allow time for the product to go through the supply chain and to sell out, we have a 'drop dead' shipping date date ( ex factory ) well ahead of the expiry date, when the product reaches that date it is destroyed and the silver recovered.

The cost to freeze would not be economic, and we would never sell a key film product near its use by date....thats the rules. I think you will find KODAK and FUJI have exactly the same MO

Kind Regards

Simon. ILFORD photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

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Simon, Thank you for this explanation. If I understand correctly then, you're saying that Delta 400 sheet film (and others) were dropped because too much was sitting in the factory's warehouses after the ex-factory date(s) and therefore had to be destroyed.

I assume that this is due to lack of orders from the distribution channel. If so, it seems like we need a new distribution model. Or, perhaps, new technology and methods could be brought to bear on the problem of predicting demand?

As always, thank you for your participation here.