Ortho 80 in 120 Impressions

[takilmaboxer]

I have always wanted to try an old school ortho emulsion, but without having to try to adapt high contrast copy films to pictorial use. So when Ilford released Ortho 80 Plus in 120 I bought a couple rolls to try. Here are my observations.
The film has a nice clear base, and oddly, it curls along its length rather than perpendicular to it. I used the recommended 8 minutes/68 deg./D76. The contrast was higher than expected; users will need to conduct tests to find the ideal time. I exposed it at 100 in an old folder with a shutter that tested 1/2 stop slow.
The difference in color rendition from pan or orthopan films is remarkable. Alas my darkroom is shut down for the winter so I can only report what I see in the negatives. I took shots of my black dog sleeping on blankets that have the full spectrum of bright, high saturation colors. All colors from yellow through orange and red are rendered essentially black. It's one thing to deduce this from the published spectral response curve, but quite another to see it in the negatives. Blues and greens show a full range of values, beautifully rendered. Shadowed areas lit by the blue New Mexico sky, show great detail, much more so than with pan film. Outdoors, skies are rendered white and a yellow filter has no effect. Our pine and cedar trees are rendered quite light and with great shadow detail. Subjects that have low degrees of color saturation are rendered much like they are with pan film.
I compared the negatives to my many Efke 25 negatives, an orthopan film that tended to show reds as dark grey but did well with orange and yellow. Big difference! Much bigger than the difference between Efke 25 and FP4.
In conclusion, I think that this would be a cool film for those who shoot in forests, with their many shades of green and deep shadows. Or shooters who simply want the different color rendition. I tend to shoot New Mexico landscapes with brilliant white clouds and deep blue skies, so for me, an extended red response works better, as yellow or red filters have dramatic effects. But kudos to Ilford for bringing something different to the market. I responded to their online survey last years and suggested.....a true IR film

 

[pentaxuser]

. I took shots of my black dog sleeping on blankets that have the full spectrum of bright, high saturation colors. All colors from yellow through orange and red are rendered essentially black.. Subjects that have low degrees of color saturation are rendered much like they are with pan film.
I compared the negatives to my many Efke 25 negatives, an orthopan film that tended to show reds as dark grey but did well with orange and yellow. Big difference! Much bigger than the difference between Efke 25 and FP4.

Thanks Interesting observations. I had a look at a genuine print from an Ilford Ortho Plus negative on another site and noticed that a lifebuoy(lifesaving cork buoyancy ring to throw to people who are in difficulty in water) which is usually red in the U.K. didn't look much darker than I'd have expected it to in a pan film and commented to this effect . The poster replied that in this instance the lifebuoy was a bright orange. I haven't tried Ortho but clearly your experience of how it renders bright orange is different from how it appears to render it on the print the user showed. The print otherwise looked to have the correct exposure and contrast i.e. it was properly printed

It may be the old problem of what is bright orange to one person's eyes is quite different to another's

Might be useful for those thinking of trying Ilford Ortho 80 Plus if others could add prints from their negatives and comment on the colours as they are

pentaxuser

 

[Agulliver]

I'm interested in shooting a roll occasionally in forests or for landscapes. I wonder how stone and brick are rendered? I'm thinking about castles, ruins and the like.
120 might be the ideal format for me too as I'd more easily shoot 12 exposures than 36 of ortho film.