Unknown 120 Film

DangerDan · Sep 17, 2020

Hey everyone! I was given a very old roll of 120 that does not have any markings either before or after I shot it. The spool is unlike any I have every seen. The band is similar to one Ilford used to use. It's the same typeface but at a different weight. I found a similar film on this ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-ROLLS-125-ASA-120-FILM-POSSIBLY-ILFORD-/233483784902. It's for 125, not 400, but all of the markings are exactly the same. Do any of you have any ideas?

AgX · Sep 17, 2020

The letter-type gives a hint at its age.

Donald Qualls · Sep 17, 2020

I'd say you probably have HP3 or HP4 there, dating from the 1970s to early 1980s -- just a guess, as Ilford products aren't ones I use a lot. Listing just ASA speed, rather than the dual-number ISO (which combined ASA and DIN), suggest it's older than about 1980.

reddesert · Sep 17, 2020

That is a roll of Ilford HP5+ 120, sold as Arista. It was rebadged by Freestyle as Arista Pro 400 in roughly the late 1990s. They also rebadged FP4 as Arista Pro 125. I still have some of each that I bought from Freestyle around then. I can post a picture if someone wants, but everything from the outside wrapper to the backing paper to the spool is exactly the same as what I have.

I've shot and developed some of mine recently - you can treat it just like HP5+ or FP4. (Your call on whether to compensate the speed given the age. Mine seems to do ok at roughly box speed, but it's been in the fridge most of its life.)

AgX · Sep 17, 2020

reddesert said:
in roughly the late 1990s.

Interesting. Here in Europe that lettertype then already was no longer en vogue.

Agulliver · Sep 17, 2020

The spool looks like 80s Ilford spool. The typeface looks 70s or early 80s to me from a British/European perspective but it could be later if the design was done "on a budget".

reddesert · Sep 17, 2020

AgX said:
Interesting. Here in Europe that lettertype then already was no longer en vogue.

Yes, it was not in vogue in the US either (of course the film was made in the UK), but I don't know if it was deliberately retro or Ilford used an older design of backing paper to differentiate it from the name-brand product. I don't remember what Ilford-branded backing paper looked like in 1996, but I think the Ilford film boxes were similar to today. The rebadged Arista Pro film didn't come in boxes IIRC.

For the curious, here is the unexposed end of the backing paper. The paper is labeled ISO 400/27 even though the foil wrapper says ASA.

DangerDan · Sep 17, 2020

Yeah, that's it exactly! The age matches the rest of the film I was given. I'll use HP5 as my development guide. Thanks a lot everyone!

MattKing · Sep 17, 2020

HP5, or HP5+?

pentaxuser · Sep 18, 2020

It is said that HP5 with or without the plus is so tough and able to endure hardship that there is a small sign at the Alamo with three signatures on it of nameless men that says: "If only we had had some HP5"

Let us know how the negs turn out

pentaxuser

Unknown 120 Film

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