New Ilford film being Introduced

[Luckless]

They must have put in a lot of effort to avoid this pesky red sensitivity ... amazing that they got as high as ISO 80!

Seriously, they saved on red sensitizer, and brought nothing which can not be replicated with FP4+ or Delta 100 and a Wratten 44A filter. Yes, it's a specialty film - and for good reason. It will attract lots of "I've got to try this once!" folks, who then move on to the next "big thing".

Putting a Wratten 44A on FP4+ or Delta 100 lets me handle them under safe light and easily develop my inspection? Cool... I never knew how much magic they packed into wratten filters that they can change the properties of film even after you take it out of the camera...

 

[Sirius Glass]

I just bought 500 sheets of the old Ilford paper, so now I will have to spend many long days in the darkroom using it as fast as I can so that I can buy the improved paper. Why is Ilford doing this the me!

 

[Lachlan Young]

They must have put in a lot of effort to avoid this pesky red sensitivity ... amazing that they got as high as ISO 80!

Seriously, they saved on red sensitizer, and brought nothing which can not be replicated with FP4+ or Delta 100 and a Wratten 44A filter. Yes, it's a specialty film - and for good reason. It will attract lots of "I've got to try this once!" folks, who then move on to the next "big thing".

Kodak used to make 4163 Tri-X Ortho which was a couple of stops faster still. As for sensitiser, again this is incorrect, all ortho films have to be dye sensitised to green to be regarded as 'ortho' rather than as blue sensitive. And that's just as a starting point. They are no less complicated to make than panchromatic films & potentially even moreso, especially if they are to work under a specific safelight condition while still delivering good camera speed. You will fog O+ under anything other than a 906 dark red safelight - equivalent to a Kodak #2 which is very dark indeed.

 

[Luckless]

Wonder if The Lighthouse might have a nice little impact on sales of that ortho film in the 'more accessible' formats.

Having that in theaters at the same time they're making noise about the expanded film offering sounds like an excellent marketing amplifier.

 

[pentaxuser]

r. Yes, it's a specialty film - and for good reason. It will attract lots of "I've got to try this once!" folks, who then move on to the next "big thing".

I imagine that is Ilford's big fear as well i.e. a lot will try it once only and then move back to cheaper panchromatic film but given its a gamble for Ilford then at least they have taken that gamble and kudos to Ilford for making it.

What we don't know are 2 things: What is the price that Ilford will sell it at to consumers from its site( the price is still £0.00) and the price it actually charges its retailers( we will never know this). In the U.K. only AgPhotographic seems to stock it and we need to see what other retailers will charge.

pentaxuser

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Who knows when we're going to see it here on the wet coast of Canada... My local camera store (Kerrisdale) emailed saying, "ummm... not sure". I would like to take a few rolls of 120 with me to Japan in the Spring...

 

[Pioneer]

Checked BH Photo. Nothing yet. I am certainly interested in trying the film and I will order the paper once I use up my last box of MGIV.

Whether or not I stay with the film will be based on how useful it is for my photography. I use a number of expensive films (ie; Portra 800 and Delta 3200) because they provide me with a benefit for my photography.

It would be nice to have an idea about the distribution timelines. I hope we don't have to wait for Christmas.

 

[wyofilm]

I just bought 500 sheets of the old Ilford paper, so now I will have to spend many long days in the darkroom using it as fast as I can so that I can buy the improved paper. Why is Ilford doing this the me!

No kidding! I also just bought a bunch of paper. Oh, well.

I will have to promise myself not to buy more paper until all the IV is used up. I have to tell myself not buy 'just a little bit' for ... you know ... testing purposes.

 

[Helge]

No, all ortho films use sensitising dyes - and even purely blue sensitive films often use acutance dyes.
It's a specialty variant on FP4+ coated perhaps once a year. It's not a cheap litho/ high contrast duplicating film repackaged, but a normal contrast camera film that just happens to not be red sensitive. It does not need special development or other painful procedures to make easy to print negatives. If you want the ortho look without wasting time on playing around with developers, it does it.

Yes of course it has couplers with that speed. I wasn't thinking.
Is it really "just" FP4 with red sensitivity taken out?
Seems strangely compelling to me.
What are the advantages of development by inspection again?

 

[Sirius Glass]

No kidding! I also just bought a bunch of paper. Oh, well.

I will have to promise myself not to buy more paper until all the IV is used up. I have to tell myself not buy 'just a little bit' for ... you know ... testing purposes.

Good luck with that. You are talking about just eating one potato chip.

 

[pentaxuser]

And here’s the tech sheet: https://www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/1952/product/745/

Thanks for the link. I note that the new MG speed at grades 4-5 drop by only 10%(240-220) whereas the old MGIV dropped by 100% ( 200 -100) This was a drop of one stop so Ilford's suggestion to double exposure followed logically. Does the new 10% drop equate to a 10% increase in exposure for grades 4-5 or as near 10% as to make no difference?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[wyofilm]

Yeah, sure, I can eat just one potato chip ... ok, I'm screwed.

 

[kevs]

<snipped>
You will fog O+ under anything other than a 906 dark red safelight - equivalent to a Kodak #2 which is very dark indeed.

According to the tech sheet, the cutoff is around 570 nm, so all red safelights should be fine. I've used it in sheet form for making enlarged negatives with my regular 15w red safelight with no fogging problems.

https://www.ilfordphoto.com/ortho-copy-plus-product

kevs

 

[wyofilm]

As anyone seen whether or not the 135 ortho will be offered in bulk?

 

[Luckless]

No kidding! I also just bought a bunch of paper. Oh, well.

I will have to promise myself not to buy more paper until all the IV is used up. I have to tell myself not buy 'just a little bit' for ... you know ... testing purposes.

The obvious answer is that you now have to plan a massive printing project to dive into as soon as possible.

 

[kevs]

Ilford Ortho in 120 and 35mm? It's a current emulsion in sheet formats, would only need coating in smaller formats and could be made in small batches like SFX. Or maybe an addition to the Kentmere line of films? Kentmere in 120?

kevs

So do I get a prize for a correct guess? j/k

 

[Sirius Glass]

As anyone seen whether or not the 135 ortho will be offered in bulk?

Whoa big fella, I am still getting my head around how I could use a twelve exposure roll!

 

[Lachlan Young]

Is it really "just" FP4 with red sensitivity taken out?

All accounts from people with good Ilford connections have essentially said as much & having used quite a bit of it, I'd agree with their characterisation.

 

[wyofilm]

Whoa big fella, I am still getting my head around how I could use a twelve exposure roll!

View attachment 233529​

Go big or go home! No, scratch that.

I'm trying to pencil out what I might use this film for. One idea might be using one of the Leice 35mm duplicators I see on Ebay to make inter-postitives. Mind you, I've never exactly seen one in real life.

If I didn't use the ortho for something like this, I'm not sure that I would ever use it. I would just use FP4+, a film I use all the time. Or skip Ortho altogether and pick up a cheap pair of IR goggles so that I can see what I'm doing in the darkroom with FP4+.

Really, I'm trying to meet Ilford 1/2 way on this film offering.

 

[warden]

Two employees from Ilford visited the Sunny 16 podcast today to talk about these new products for those interested.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

All accounts from people with good Ilford connections have essentially said as much & having used quite a bit of it, I'd agree with their characterisation.

I doubt it as their curves are very different.

 

[pentaxuser]

Two employees from Ilford visited the Sunny 16 podcast today to talk about these new products for those interested.

I got to the Sunny 16 site and the Ilford communications but how do I listen to the podcast. I just went round in circles.

pentaxuser

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I got to the Sunny 16 site and the Ilford communications but how do I listen to the podcast. I just went round in circles.

pentaxuser

Me too. I'm dizzy...

 

[awty]

Well, you've clearly never used any. Unlike a re-purposed litho/ duplicating film on thin poly base, Ortho plus is on exactly the same base as its siblings in the Ilford range. Depending on how you process & print it can look remarkably panchromatic - no problems with weird sky tones (that is as much a function of exposure and process as it is with any panchromatic film).

Actually have used it to see if my stash had lost any film speed being out of date, seems to be fine. You are correct that its the same thickness as fp4, have been using a lot of other ortho film. Should of checked before commenting. Most of the sky pictures Ive seen with this film used an orange filter.
The film has very fine grain, bit like acros, in that I cant see any with the grain finder.

 

[John51]

Maybe I am a strange person in terms of what is value for money to me but while I might buy Ortho once or even once in a while at this price as I have never tried it before then unless it gives me something that I then believe I cannot live without in terms of prints from negs then at over £3 more expensive per film than FP4 I am very unlikely to use it often. On a regular use basis is it £3+ better than FP4 would be the question I ask myself.

If this is what Ilford needs to sell it at then that's the end of the matter but if its only a little better than the equivalent panchromatic film but a lot more expensive than it will affect my purchase decisions

Of course we do not know what Ilford is charging its retailers and more importantly we only appear to have one stockist at the moment. Retail competition over the next few weeks/months will help determine the "true" competitive price

pentaxuser

imo, younger people aren't that price sensitive wrt film. For the same price, if given the choice between one roll of exactly the look they want or two rolls of almost but not quite, most will go for the former.