IR 120 Film recommendations

PopeBuckfastXVI

Hi all,

Anyone done any IR in MF? Can you recommend a film?

Have seen Rollei IR 400 and Efke IR 820, does anyone have experience with them?

Will I be able to just drop them into the local lab for development?

sineadw

The rollei is, in my experience, a *lot* more forgiving than the efke (assuming you mean their Aura film..) which i've had issues with. But if you want true IR, Efke is the way to go it's beautiful stuff, just requires a bit more care in handling, and i've been unlucky with it i think. That being said, MF is easier to handle - 35mm cartridges are a bugger with IR. I still load Aura in the darkbag though.

Local labs won't be able to handle them. AFAIK none of them do *any* B&W dev any more, and the lab machines use IR light internally that would fog your film anyway. Either dev yourself (it's easy!) Or maybe ask in Gunns or something. They'll have to be hand devd either way though.

sineadw

Forgot to add: with the IR720 filter you lose a *lot* of light (is it 6 stops? It's been too long..) so with the efke you're talking very long exposures, but the rollei's extra speed means it's almost hand holdable. Almost. On a very bright day

thefizz

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Hi all,

Anyone done any IR in MF? Can you recommend a film?

Have seen Rollei IR 400 and Efke IR 820, does anyone have experience with them?

Will I be able to just drop them into the local lab for development?

Hi, I have used tham all.

The Efke is the strongest. In optimum conditions, good infrared effects can be achieved with just a 25 or 29 red filter but you may need to print at a high contrast filter grade to get the best results. Using any of the darker opaque filters produce stunning results.

The Efke IR 820 film is the closet to the now discontinued Kodak HIE in terms of infrared sensitivity and the AURA version of the Efke film also possesses no anti halation layer which allows the light to flare or spread when it hits the film. This feature along with its moderate grain results in prints with a nice dreamy softness to them.

Due to its sensitivity to 820nm, Efke advise loading and unloading their film (35mm) in complete darkness but thats not really neccessary. Just load the film under a coat or in a bag and you'll be fine. However, the 120 version of this film can be loaded and unloaded safely in subdued light providing the film holder of your medium format camera winds the exposed film sufficiently tight.

The only downside to this film (for some) is its slow speed. I use it at ISO 50.


The Rollei Infrared 400 has finer grain, faster speed but less of an Infrared effect. It's still exceptionally good though. An opaque filter such as the R72, 89B, RG695 or RG715 will provide excellent infrared results.


Ilford SFX is also worth trying. While not as strong as the two above, it can still provide good infrared effects. The R72/695nm filter is probably the only one worth using with SFX film as this film does not have the sensitivity range to use with darker filters and lighter filters will result in little infrared effect.

The best characteristic of this film in my opinion is that it has excellent exposure latitude as it is extremely tolerant of under and over exposure. SFX film has a slightly course grain structure which can be lovely for portraits.

Development by hand is same for these IR films as for normal B&W film.

I am running an Infrared Film Photography workshop in May at Trim Castle which covers everything you need to know. You get to use all the films above during the workshop.

Peter

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks Sinead!

That's interesting about the IR lights at the lab. I've had some ilford xp super b&w developed at our local lab in salthill and it came out well, I think they processed it using c41, would that be right? I have some tri-x in the camera at the moment and am nearly finished a roll, am I safe leaving that in to be done in c41 aswell?

I'm new to film so sorry if the questions are stupid!

I think my IR project will have to wait til I have a bit of space to set up a processing environment!

sineadw

Ilford xp is c41 film afaik (some B&W film is..) but triX is true B&W and will need to be devd as such. You can leave it into the lab, but most of them will send it away to be done.

I can't recommend peter's (the Fizz) IR workshop highly enough! All you need for the day is supplied, including dev, and you'll learn loads, in the perfect environment of trim with all its castles and trees for the infrared dreaminess. Go!

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks Peter! That's some great info.

I was looking at the 720nm Cokin P filter, would that be ok? Or should I be looking at a screwmount filter?

I'll have to set aside some space and try processing some b&w film soon, need to learn to walk before I can run I suppose

Can you link me the details of the workshop, if I'm free when it's on it's something I would definitely be interested in!

Thanks again Sinead aswell, interesting to learn about the different processes etc!

thefizz

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Thanks Peter! That's some great info.

I was looking at the 720nm Cokin P filter, would that be ok? Or should I be looking at a screwmount filter?

I'll have to set aside some space and try processing some b&w film soon, need to learn to walk before I can run I suppose

Can you link me the details of the workshop, if I'm free when it's on it's something I would definitely be interested in!

Thanks again Sinead aswell, interesting to learn about the different processes etc!

If the Cokin is 720nm then yes it is fine but I have no experience using their filters. I use Heliopen screw on filters.

Details on my IR workshop can see on the Monochrome Meath link below.