I’m on holiday this week. I have the week off from work and am having a “stay-cation”. I’ve already squeezed in a couple of good day trips and have a few others planned, it’s giving me the opportunity to actually go out and make some photo’s! I feel another processing session coming on towards the end of the week! I used up the first half of my roll of Ilford SFX making comparison tests, but finished off the roll as if it were just a regular 200asa black and white film. These are the results.
I was quite pleased with the results. The developing was a bit of a fudge. I had a little DDX left, but not quite enough to make enough solution to fill my tank, and cover the film. So I made up a bespoke dilution, worked out what I thought was a sensible time, and carried on. Give or take 20% more dilution and added on 20% more time. seemed to work out fine! I’m only doing this for my own enjoyment, it’s not like I’m testing it for Ilford!
Footnote to Followers!
Just recently I’ve had two or three more people start to follow the blog, and I’d like to thank you! For all of you that do follow, I really appreciate it. I hope that what I write is of interest and you enjoy. It’s my way of sharing the photography that I enjoy doing, and the fact that other people (you) are interested really pleases me and enthuses me to carry on – thank you!
S.H.O.U.T. 
I have used SFX a few times. I got best results using a wratten 29 filter – which is a deep ruby red. It isn’t a true infrared film so the opaque IR filters are pretty useless. Many photographers recommend a 25, which is just the usual red, but I found the results weren’t so very different to HP5plus with the same filter. The 29 did give a hint of infrared- black skies and whitish foliage, but only if there was a lot of IR about (very bright sun and clear skies…). I played with it a bit on portraits, too. It can do nice things to skin tones – but it isn’t a patch on the long extinct Konica IR. I was a bit disappointed when, a few years ago, Harman technology announced they had considered marketing a true IR film, after Kodak and Konica had withdrawn theirs, but they decided it wasn’t viable 😦
For me personally SFX isn’t really IR enough to justify the extra cost.
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Hello! I made one shot with the red filter that I thought showed some IR promise. How different it would have been to HP5 with the same filter I’m not sure. It’s another one of those films that for me, fits into the category of “glad I tried – but probably won’t use again!”. Truth be told for the type of photography that I enjoy, good old FP4 is all I need really! That said I enjoy trying out new films, and it all helps to know what I “could” do – should I wish! All best wishes Andy
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My late father was a much better photographer than me. He gave me some advice, which included ‘stick to FP4’. He was very anti gadgets and equipment, too. Quite a lot of his photography was taken, on FP4, using an old Zenith E with a Tessar lens from a 1930s camera – fixed onto the camera with the lid off a can of aftershave and lots of araldite! He both developed and printed with Johnsons universal developer and printed on Kodak paper. He only ever changed film, paper or developer if the manufacturer changed it or discontinued it (as with the Johnsons). He did change cameras a few times, but always traded in or sold the old one, so only ever one at a time. His philosophy was: “It is what you point the camera at” that matters.
And… of course, I didn’t take his advice as you can tell by the 20 different types of film currently in my fridge and the embarrassingly large number of cameras in my loft 😮
Still, after about 45 years of trying out every film, developer and camera I could get my hands on, I can confirm he was right!
Steve
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Hi Steve!
I do admire people like your father, who can be happy with one camera and get on with photography. Of course sticking with one camera, one film and one developer has all the advantages that we all know. I remember the Johnsons tall grey bottles with the orange paper around the middle, although most of my youth was spent with the 250ml (?) Paterson bottles with the huge caps! Happy memories! The more films I try, the more I feel FP4 will do just fine! That said I’m impressed with the Kentmere 100 I just used, and can see me using more of that for economy if needed. This year I need to “use up film and thin out cameras” and buy NOTHING! (That of course won’t happen!) but I need to reduce “stuff” and get out and do more photography, so this year I hope to spend more on opportunities to make pictures, rather than the materials! We’ll see!!! With all best wishes – Andy
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