Ilford MG filters... are there 2 different sets?

[SilverPr]

Hi,
I've just bought the second hand under the lens Kit of Ilford MG filters (small plastic round version). I also have the gelatin version 8,9mm x 8,9mm. I'm quite surprised that the colors of the same grades are different, higher grades are quite different - more purple! The small KIT is marked with an additional letter "l" (picture attached). Does Ilford make 2 different standards? (pic attached)

[Ulophot]

The older filters had the darker magenta filters for teh highest contrast grades. Ilford announced a new set with the lighter high-grade filters at some point, I'm guessing it was in the mid-80s. At that time they had reformulated their paper emulsions and added the 00 filter to the filter pack.

[NER]

To complicate matters, Ilford filters change color over time, and not in a uniform way (I have several sets of these filters acquired from different sources at different times ... no two sets are identical). It may therefore be necessary for you to determine what filter(s) produce(s) the best result taking the usual variables into account, e.g., the contrast of the negative you're printing, your light source, paper, chemistry, printing procedure, and, of course, your objective. You may find that you need to combine filters from 2 or more sets to arrive at a set that gives you satisfactory results, or resort to split-filter printing in some cases. The filter you identify as "i" is likely either a 00 filter (pale yellow) or safelight filter (red). The information at https://www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Contrast-control-for-Ilford-Multigrade.pdf is dated but still useful.

N. Riley
http://normanrileyphotography.com

[Cor]

To complicate matters, Ilford filters change color over time, and not in a uniform way (I have several sets of these filters acquired from different sources at different times ... no two sets are identical). It may therefore be necessary for you to determine what filter(s) produce(s) the best result taking the usual variables into account, e.g., the contrast of the negative you're printing, your light source, paper, chemistry, printing procedure, and, of course, your objective. You may find that you need to combine filters from 2 or more sets to arrive at a set that gives you satisfactory results, or resort to split-filter printing in some cases. The filter you identify as "i" is likely either a 00 filter (pale yellow) or safelight filter (red). The information at https://www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Contrast-control-for-Ilford-Multigrade.pdf is dated but still useful.

N. Riley
http://normanrileyphotography.com

To add: I had a set of about 20 years old, and the higher contrast filters starting to loose well, contrast, while the filters below 2 1/2 worked as expected, the "new" set I obtained had indeed very different colours in the high grades, but worked as expected when printing a Stouffer step wedge as control.

Best,

Cor

[Martin Aislabie]

To add: I had a set of about 20 years old, and the higher contrast filters starting to loose well, contrast, while the filters below 2 1/2 worked as expected, the "new" set I obtained had indeed very different colours in the high grades, but worked as expected when printing a Stouffer step wedge as control.

Best,

Cor

I have had the same experience

My Grade 4, 4.5 and 5 were giving me lower contrast than Grade 3.5

Confused the heck out of me for a while and I too resorted to printing my Stouffer step wedge to understand what was going on.

Martin

[MartinP]

The "L" on the second-hand filter kit was hand-written by a previous owner, perhaps to show ownership or to identify the set in a multi-filter-set darkroom. It is not from Ilford. However, this is only based on three under-lens sets I have used and not on information from Ilford, so maybe employees now autograph their filters?! (Not actually a serious idea...).

The changes of colour are due to either the manufacture of the filter being before the change in filter design (was it MGIII? something like that) or because of aging of the filter due to environmental factors, also including lots of use. To be sure of what is going on one needs to make a couple of prints and look for differences.

[Bob Salomon]

They will also fade over time from heat and light.

[Greg]

They will also fade over time from heat and light.

Have a set of the small plastic round versions which I've used a lot, I mean daily, in the late 1970s through about 1990. Since then have used them on and off. Have a second set that I had never used, they have always been boxed unsealed since new. After reading Bob's post, took both out and compared them to each other. Very little change in the 1/2 if at all. Compare the the higher numbered filters and you could easily conclude that I had 2 different sets of filters. Q.E.D. Bob