Ilford brings back SFX200

ThomThomsk

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The marketing director of Ilford posts regularly on another forum, and yesterday he announced that coating of new supplies of SFX200 will start on January 16. They won't release it for sale unless it gets through Ilford's strict quality control, but if it's OK then it could be available by March or April, in 35mm and 120. They are also producing the SFX filter to go with it.

Here's what the Ilford website says about it:

SFX 200 is a medium speed black and white camera film for creative photography. It has extended red sensitivity and is especially suited for use with a filter to create special effects. By using the ILFORD SFX filter skies can be rendered almost black and most green vegetation almost white. Its unusual tonal rendition ensures interesting results for a range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, townscapes and architecture

Thom
 
But... but film is dead, there won't be any in a year! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Good news this, another nail pops back out of the coffin.

By the way, isn't the 120 version new? I don't remember seeing it before.
 
ZaphodB said:
By the way, isn't the 120 version new? I don't remember seeing it before.
It is excellent news and the decision to cut it in both 35mm and 120 was influenced entirely by comments on the other forum (Ilford's original plan was for 35mm only).

They made a £5 million profit for their first year of post-receivership trading, and it is good to see that some of that is going into "new" products. Delta 25 is said to be a possibility as well, and of course there are the new warm and cool tone paper developers, and a selenium toner on its way. Warms the cockles of me 'eart, it does!

I'll definitely be buying some SFX. Probably a lot of SFX - I can see it becoming my "other" film, complementing FP4.

Thom
 
The thing that gets me about all the prophets of doom is not so much when they talk about the quality of film vs digital, but when they talk about the inevitability of film either disappearing or becoming prohibitively expensive as some kind of accepted wisdom of market forces. Only Canon will survive, everyone else will collapse, Fuji and Ilford will be no more, there will be a noise of thunder and a white horse, etc etc.

What interests me is that not only are the doomed companies surviving, they're also paying especially close attention to what their customers (even if they are a minority) are asking for, probably more so than the big digital companies who can better afford to be complacent. Ilford cutting film in 120 because of talk on internet forums is one case, Cosina making their Voigtlanders and gear for obsolete SLR systems is another. Sure these companies may not be having an easy time, but the upshot of that is they're listening to us and where possible giving us what we want.
 
Sure. That's what's even more interesting about photography for me these days, watching and seeing how the big players respond to their customers. And don't forget J&C Photo. They are in the midst of moving to a new facility and will begin production - that's production - on several new films in 2007.

Film is hardly dead. People say it is because they hear other people say it, and it's easy to parrot popular opinion than it is to study something that has no interest to you if you're shooting digital. ;) Seems the people that are saying it the loudest are the ones pushing the digicams and selling advertising to digi mags; but we're not supposed to be aware of that tidbit.

I think shortly after Ilford announced the demise of SFX 200, there was such an outcry they decided to do these annual or semi-annual batch releases. They'll make it as long as it sells, so it's up to us to make sure it sells like hotcakes, to ensure it will come 'round again.

I have some of my favorite negatives from using the stuff. It's a lot of fun to use the film, you can use it without filters as a regular B&W; or add the red filter to enhance its extended red sensitivity, and get pretty good IR effects. You can process it at home and it's not near as finicky as the real thing, like Kodak HIE.

I'll buy several rolls, in both formats. It's going to be a blast to use it! :cheer:
 
^^ Agreed. I ignore the 'film is dead' trolls, but there are plenty of people who just don't know any better, for whom this kind of thread might be food for thought.

And in that vein, here's another Ilford story, from the other forum. Apparently they have developed a new manufacturing process for their fibre based paper that keeps it flat all the way through, and it stays much flatter than the normal stuff in use, with great resistance to curling even when drying. They should be moving all their FB papers over to this new process early in 2007.
 
so this stuff is kinda like Kodak HIE but not as hard to work with? That sounds pretty cool. I'll deffinatly pick some up when i see it.

on another note, i worked at circuit city for a while selling digital cameras,
you wouldnt believe how many people told me film was dead and digital is far superior when i mentioned i still shot film.
 
so this stuff is kinda like Kodak HIE but not as hard to work with? That sounds pretty cool. I'll deffinatly pick some up when i see it.

on another note, i worked at circuit city for a while selling digital cameras,
you wouldnt believe how many people told me film was dead and digital is far superior when i mentioned i still shot film.
Yeah, yeah. :chatty: Retail has got to be annoying to be around these days; at arts festivals, people are much more in tune. The smart people are the ones who snap up all these amazing deals on MF cams and darkroom equipment, so they'll be well outfitted when the pendulum swings the other way and "everything old is cool again". ;)
 
Oh, and nothing can beat the look of HIE since it's a true IR film - BUT, yes, it does call for extra care & handling, and can be very frustrating the first roll or two. If you're intrigued by IR, Ilford is certainly a great way to obtain similar results with a simple #25 or #29 red filter. Once you're comfortable with it and want to explore further, it's time to pop in a roll of HIE. Still the king IMHO. :D
 
I've Used HIE before and it came out ok, but to be honest i didnt know what i was doing with the film and it shows. I have more time and money now to experiment with it though

on another note, being in the bay area i go to lots of outside art shows and stuff (being drawn to photographers) and im supprised by how many people even there trash film. Obvously much much lower, but i have met 2-3 people who have told me film is useless and i should be shooting digital...
but i've also met people who develope their own color and sympathisize with me because we cant find a place to get optical prints of slides :)
 
I don't think there's anywhere in the UK that provides any kind of non-digital printing service. That may be an exaggeration but I've not found anywhere, which is why I'm scanning my negatives while waiting for the day when I have enough space to unpack my enlarger :grumpy: grumble grumble... :grumpy:
 

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