Request an Acros-like film from Ilford?

[sanking]

Ken - ACROS is not ortho, it's orthopan, meaning it does see some red, but is more sensitive to green than ordinary films. For me, it gives a more natural look to
the light in the mtns and desert in particular. ... more buoyant, luminous, and less heavy. You can take a light yellow-green filter like a Hoya XO and get a similar
look, but besides lowering your speed a stop and perhaps slightly affecting sharpness due to the presence of a filter, the look is not identical. Like I already stated,
ACROS seems to do it with a little extra finesse. It also has excellent edge acutance for a fine-grained film, along with a reasonably long straight line, and of course, freedom from recip failure. Delta has a longer toe; TMax100 has a steeper toe and longer straight-line at the bottom end, but relatively poor edge acutance despite fine grain. There are of course both darkroom and digital means to sharpen edges or or make modest curve adjustments, but it is just easier and inherently better if the film does this itself in the first place. In other words, if ACROS ever disappeared from the market, it wouldn't stop me from taking analogous
shots; but being available, I'd prefer to do with it ACROS.

You would not want to use ACROS if you are making three-color separation negatives. But for a normal look in B&W ACROS is simply superb. I admit to experimenting with other films when I should have stuck with ACROS. For my work ACROS is simply the best film I have used, and for sure I have tried a bunch of them.

And on top of that, you have the very low reciprocity failure of ACROS, best of any film I have used, by far.

So why fret about a replacement from another source when you can still buy the real deal?

Sandy

[Roger Cole]

I like Acros in 120, but in 4x5 the price is just silly considering the price of FP4+ or even TMX. I would pay that if there were no less expensive alternatives. There are, so I don't.

[Brian Legge]

...however I am not sure Ilford will be around after Fuji has left the film business. I am not sure how large or small a business Harman is but I question whether the film side of photography has even stabilized its sales or if they just continue to drop...

I'm not following here. What else does Harman do outside of the film/paper/etc business? As I understand it, they are a reasonably profitable company with the ability to scale production to lower batch sizes than Kodak, etc. They seem well positioned to deal with shifting markets. I love Acros and Trix but see Ilford as having the greatest chance to be around for a long time.

[StoneNYC]

I agree with the poster who said he wanted PanF+ in sheet film, I asked Simon if he would consider that for the ULF special request run, he wouldn't consider any sheet nor 70mm in PanF+ because the base was just too thin and they (ilford/board) refuse to release a film that doesn't meet their standards even if people would buy it (which I understand, all you need is one person who doesn't know it's a special run who complains about how bad the base is and you have PR issues.

Second, I think LOOK wise, FP4+ looks more like acros than Delta100 does even if its not a T grain film like acros or Delta. That said NOTHING looks like acros100 and the reciprocity failure rate is way beyond the others.

I doubt ilford could match that 2 minute rate without serious investment in research and its not worth it for the small amount of difference it would make.

I love ilford films and with the exception of film trades and Acros, all my B&W film is ilford now. I mostly buy acros for the reciprocity, especially in 4x5 that's my only reason for buying it at those prices.

I don't know if this is true but I read somewhere that Ilford is the only film company to turn a profit (be in black instead of red) since 2001 when film sales dropped off the cliff. So no one can doubt they are poised for the long haul. They also communicate with their customers (Simon is always posting on APUG), and have openly stated they plan to support B&W film indefinitely. They also have the ULF run where try cut specialty sheet sizes with what appears to be almost no profit to them based on the numbers I've seen, just enough to cover costs.

That said, I think it's a great idea if we all sent messages to the R&D department to encourage them to research this Acros "phenomenon" with the amazing reciprocity characteristics and see what they can do to add that feature to some or all of their films. Heck they could make a new film (going with the theme) "Ilford KP2 200" or "Recip200" since giving it a but more speed could also make it more appealing as a more all around film

We can only dream.

OP what's the R&D contact info?

[Oren Grad]

I don't know if this is true but I read somewhere that Ilford is the only film company to turn a profit (be in black instead of red) since 2001 when film sales dropped off the cliff.

That's not quite right - that period includes the Ilford bankruptcy of 2004-2005, out of which Harman Technology emerged. But Harman's financial reports for the years from 2009-2011 show annual revenues in the range 22-23 million pounds and that the company was profitable.

OP what's the R&D contact info?

The Ilford website has a dedicated contact form for new product requests:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/...uctrequest.asp

[StoneNYC]

That's not quite right - that period includes the Ilford bankruptcy of 2004-2005, out of which Harman Technology emerged. But Harman's financial reports for the years from 2009-2011 show annual revenues in the range 22-23 million pounds and that the company was profitable.



The Ilford website has a dedicated contact form for new product requests:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/...uctrequest.asp

Ahh I was t clear... I said the only company to turn apricot SINCE 2001 I didn't mean EVERY YEAR I just meant at some point at least one year they did, unlike the other big film companies, this doesn't of course account for loopholes like Fuji probably "takes a loss" but still makes out even though technically in the red in their film area through creative finances, but you know what I mean. Sorry for not being clear.

[Oren Grad]

Sorry for not being clear.

No sweat. The important thing is that contact form, and the communication channel through Simon at APUG.

[Moopheus]

I like Acros in 120, but in 4x5 the price is just silly considering the price of FP4+ or even TMX. I would pay that if there were no less expensive alternatives. There are, so I don't.

The same here--I use Acros in 120, and have a stash of 100' rolls in the freezer in 35mm that I bought up when they stopped offering them. But in 4x5 it's just too much. You'd think with the recent drop in the Yen we could get a bit of a break there, but I guess not.

[LuisR]

I like Acros in 120, but in 4x5 the price is just silly considering the price of FP4+ or even TMX. I would pay that if there were no less expensive alternatives. There are, so I don't.

Could not have said it better myself.

[Drew Wiley]

I have a simple cure for those who find the cost of 4x5 ACROS prohibitive. Shoot 8x10 for awhile.