Harman (Ilford Photo) aquired by Pemberstone

 

Or Don't Panic and buy HP5+

The news form the Press Room over at Ilfordphoto.com is that they have been bought out.

 

"HARMAN technology, manufacturers of the famous ILFORD Photo range of Monochrome Photographic products, have been purchased by Pemberstone Ventures Ltd for an undisclosed amount".

 

Of course in these days of reduced film choice such announcements are bound to induce a certain amount of anxiety among film users and this news will certainly do that in some circles.
 Since the management buyout that saved Ilford the company have gone from strength to strength, they are communicative and friendly and have introduced new products whilst keeping their existing product portfolio alive.

They have been quoted as saying they will be the last man standing, in other words when everyone else gives up they will still be making film and paper.

 

For that they get my respect and I hope that determination continues with the new owners; I noted that in the press release the new owners reiterate their support for film:

 

“We are very excited by the potential of the analogue photography movement and believe that HARMAN is uniquely placed to drive the resurgent film market into the future”.

 

Sounds positive enough, and I hope as I write this developing two rolls of HP5+ that I can use their films way into the future.

 

Here is a link to their press release:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/pressroom/article.asp?n=211

 

 



One Roll of Film –The Rosary Cemetery, Norwich, England



The Rosary

The Rosary Cemetery was the first non denominational burial ground in the UK. It was established in 1819 by Thomas Drummond a non-conformist minister; the first burial being that of his wife in 1821.

Norwich, a city in the east of England was like most places in the UK rapidly expanding during the 19th Century and a growing population also needed larger areas for burials.

The city also had a large congregation of non conformist worshipers including Quakers, Presbyterian and Congregationalists and these people had no burial ground as the law stated they needed to be buried in their local churchyards under the authority of the Church of England.

The meeting houses and Chapels rarely had land attached to them hence the reason for Mr Drummond purchasing the land.

The Rosary is situated near Thorpe Road not for from the Railway station and covers an area of 13.5 acres. The oldest part is where most of these pictures were taken, it has a wonderful faded grandeur the Victorians had a certain way of celebrating the lives and achievements of their citizens these memorials are really quite ostentatious to the modern eye; but reflect the status of those interred.  

If you wish to see then larger just click on the images.



The last resting place of 'Love and Riches'



This is the tomb of John Barker, a steam Fairground proprietor who was killed in a tragic accident by his own machine

These images were taken on a Rolleiflex T with Ilford FP4 film developed in Rodinal 1:50 for 12 mins. It was part of a project that I has researched and planned and placed in a book of future projects last year.
They were taken on a dull afternoon just before the gates were closed, I chose this time and lighting to give weight to the sense of decay and faded splendour.

Ilford Delta 3200

Ilfords Delta 3200 is one of the fastest films available, along with Kodak T-Max 3200 and is a modern tabular (T-grain) emulsion, from Ilfords website:

"Ilford Delta films use a new crystal structure called Core Shell. These new technology crystals capture light more efficiently, offer a smoother tonal range, finer grain and greater sharpness than conventional technology films. The ultra high quality generated by the DELTA PROFESSIONAL films however, requires a bit more care in exposure and processing".

According to Ilford, Delta 3200 has an ISO speed rating of 1000 for daylight exposure when developed in their standard ID 11 developer.
Why call it Delta 3200 if it has an ISO speed of 1000?
Here's a quote from Ilford:

It should be noted that the exposure index (EI)
range recommended for DELTA 3200 Professional
is based on a practical evaluation of film speed
and is not based on foot speed, as is the ISO
standard.
So basically its a 1000ISO film that can be pushed and give good results at EI 3200.

Good image quality can be obtained between EI 400- 6400 and can be pushed to EI 25 000.
One of the huge benefits of Ilfords emulsion over the Kodak T-Max 3200 is that the emulsion is available in 120 size making hand held low light medium format photography a possiblity.
For more info Ilford have a PDF that lists developers and processing times.

So armed with a few rolls I set about taking some low light images at a local night club.

I rated the films at EI3200 which in the conditions I found myself shooting at 1/15- 1/60 at F3,5-4 so it was pretty dark here are some photos.

From memory the above shot was 1/15 wide open at F3,5

This shot was 1/60 at F4
Here is a 100% crop to show grain character.

My first thoughts were Wow look at the tonal range, grain is a little pronounced in the mid tones but pretty good for a film rated at this speed.

Of course these were shot on 120, so tonally they are going to be better than 35mm, ditto grain.

My experiences with the 35mm version are that its is best rated at 800- 1600 EI and developed in Microphen or DD-X where tonally it seems to be ahead of the competition with just slightly more apparent grain, rated at 3200 and processed in Rodinal gives a very gritty look.

I really like this film, especially in 120 where low light hand held portraits are certainly a possibility and as it's the only game in town (please note Kodak and Fuji) at this speed. I can't recommend it more, so if you shoot low light in 120 try this film you won't regret it!

Text and images © Mark Antony Smith

Ilford FP4 Plus



This film was the first B&W film I ever used, although now called FP4 'plus' it has very similar characteristics to the original.
One thing that has changed is the packaging which is a white box rather than the old black, something that has made me confuse it with Ilfords other 100ISO film Delta 100.
FP4 is a 'medium' speed (125ISO) film with quite fine grain and good tonal range. I feel (as do some other photographers I know) that it is best when slightly down rated to 80-100ISO and this is how I have used it for many years, as it gives better shadow detail.



Whenever I come back to FP4 using it feels like I'm with an old friend; I know its basic character so well. It does most things very well which makes it a good all round film but personally I feel it can lack depth in certain situations, but most of the time it suits the job very well.
Grain and sharpness I rate as good, in fact if you look below I was surprised how good the 100% crop looks.



Below is the 100% crop.


The Black bag has gold writing on it, and this can clearly be seen, definition is a little low but this could be the 1950's lens. Tonality is very good as this image was taken in bright sunlight, although I'm sure Rodinal helped preserve the scale.
FP4+ is a very capable film, and one that most photographers could use with confidence if they need a medium speed film.

All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007