Topic: Ilford SFX, tips and tricks?

[Thom Stone]

hey wasters... (that sounded less cruel and more cool in my head)

I have just taken delivery of some ilford sfx (leon will be glad to know not only am i on a black and white kick again I am devoting my entire time to Ilford) I was wondering about filtering. I found a Hoyarex 043 red cokin P filter in a box of stuff my uncle gave me and was wondering if that would do the job.

could also do with any advice on using ND and polarizing filters with this stuff and how it will change the look... would also love to see peoples results with this film if any...

oh yeah and any developing advice... will most likely be using rodinal unless anyone has any other recomendations.

Cheers guys.

[Randy B]

My first recommendation is to make sure the takeup spool has caught it so you dont expose frame one 36 times like I did.  Thats the first and only time I've shot this film.  I have another roll, maybe I'll shoot it for real this week

I was going to try stacking my dark red filter and my red filter and see if thats enough to block most of the light.  I know those special extra dark filters they make are what you should use ideally but I wasnted to see if I could get away without buying more stuff.

Can't wait to hear what others with actual experience have to say on this.

[Abdul Hye]

Did you take delivery of 5 rolls bought from eBay?......

I shot two rolls. One on a Yashica Electro 35 GSN and the other on an Olympus OM10 with an orange filter. The results were very disappointing.  I used rodinal with the times from the Massive dev chart.

Now I’ve got a roll in a Nikon FE2 with a R60 filter and a polarising filter. Using an external light meter and manually compensating 4 stops, 3 for the R60 and 1 for the polarising filter. Still got half a roll to shoot as it has not been very sunny recently.

 I still have a few rolls to play with.

[LT]

I suggest you take a read of this  :

http://leontaylor-photo.co.uk/Resources/sfx76jsep2007.pdf

Developing-wise ... it's just a modified HP5+, so any developer that you like using with HP5+ will be fine with SFX.

Also - be careful with opaque true IR filters - make sure the transmission is not above 740nm as you will end up with nothing on the neg.

[Benjamin J]

most info out there on this film is from people disappointed that it's not a true IR film.  i've seen some good IR stuff done with SFX, but i've hardly been able to duplicate it.  that said, this is one of my favorite stocks!!

my results my be a bit biased since i usually drop the stuff in d19, but with a deep red filter you can pull off some pretty spectacular contrast, and a grain quality you'd expect from something 400 or 800.

here's two sample shots, the first in shaded, very subdued light, the second in pretty blazing sun:

[Alan]

I really like this film, but like moset things really, the conditions have to be right.

You need a deep red filter R72 which takes away 5 to 6 stops of light.

Bright sun also helps for the white foliage effect.

I have about 20 rolls of this in the fridge roll on the spring.

Here are some of my experiments from last year with a mamiya 645
and developed in caffenol-C.







developed in ilfosol 3

[Benjamin J]

great shots! especially the last one

and yes, if you're going for the IR effect, make sure your foliage is over exposed and well lit

out of curiosity, anybody have any shots without a red filter?  i've never tried it that way myself, but wonder how a red-sensitive film handles in a blue-sensitive world

[LT]

Benjamin - look at my article above (on the link) - I compare the film used without filters, with a red and with the ILFORD SFX opaque filter.

[Thom Stone]

wow awesome information guys, thanks a bunch. guna have to hunt down a R72 cokin p equivelant.

how about this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Infra-red-IR-780-1600nm-filter-Cokin-P-holders-Wratten-89B-Hoya-R72-/170794364480?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item27c4232e40

I'm not guna lie, this % transmissive malarky has my brain box all in a knot. After reading your article Leon am I correct in saying the above filter would leave the film blank.

thanks a lot for that link aswel leon, I knew someone on here would know all about it :-)

[Thom Stone]

I would bloody love to shoot some colour IR film if it wasn't "rarer than unicorn tears" to quote someone from another forum. Although I have seen it on the bay and elsewhere its far too rich for my blood.

[LT]

yes - the only light that filter will let through is beyond that which SFX can record I'm afraid. The film worked best with the Ilford SFX gel filter, I don't think they make them any more though ... might be worth contacting ilfordphoto to ask if this is true.

[Thom Stone]

cool video for anyone interested in colour IR.

There is also a really cool link to a Practical Photography article that he scanned in on it. its awesome.

http://vfxhaiku.com/2010/02/how-to-shoot-kodak-eir-color-infrared-film/

[Alan]

I tried shooting a roll of colour ir last year - disaster altogether, mind you I did develop it myself
and possibly used a filter which wasnt good.

I splashed out on 5 rolls @ €20 each - but when they are gone they are gone.

will definitely shoot differently the next roll.