New Ilford developer!

[visiondr]

Hey, just a heads up. Ilford has reformulated and released an update to Ilfosol S. They're calling it Ilfosol 3.
Here's the press release
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/pressroom/article.asp?n=99

It's nice to hear someone is still working on B&W film products.

 

[ibcrewin]

yeah it's pretty cool they seem pretty gung-ho about it too!

from the press release "Speaking of the latest addition to the ILFORD PHOTO range, HARMAN technology Marketing Director, Howard Hopwood, said: “At a time when many leading manufacturers of photo-imaging products are pulling out of the black and white market, we remain as staunchly committed to it as ever. The introduction of ILFOSOL 3 should serve as proof - and reassurance - of this. Monochrome is in our blood at HARMAN technology and we believe in doing all we can to safeguard its future and to promote its co-existence with digital photography.”

 

[visiondr]

Yup. The enthusiasm of the press release is... well... inspiring. I will continue to purchase Ilford products as a way of "putting my money where my mouth is" and to support a company that supports analogue photography. If they can make money on analogue, more power to them.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I will look into this one. At the moment, I still use D-76 (last batch) and T-Max, but I absolutely like using Ilford's rapid fixer... and, of course, their FP4 film! 🙂 Like you, Ron, I'll switch to Ilford too.

 

[bmattock]

Hey, just a heads up. Ilford has reformulated and released an update to Ilfosol S. They're calling it Ilfosol 3.
Here's the press release
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/pressroom/article.asp?n=99

It's nice to hear someone is still working on B&W film products.

I think it's terrific. What's it made of?

 

[venchka]

Don't forget Kodak.

 

[drewbarb]

Don't forget Kodak.

Why not? Kodak seems to be forgetting us....

OK, they released a new formulation of Tmax 400- what else have they done to advance film photography lately? Not much. They aren't showing much of a commitment to film.

 

[bmattock]

Why not? Kodak seems to be forgetting us....

OK, they released a new formulation of Tmax 400- what else have they done to advance film photography lately? Not much. They aren't showing much of a commitment to film.

I always find those comments amusing. Kodak would say that they are cutting down on production of film products because people aren't buying them. Consumers would say that they aren't buying them because Kodak doesn't support them. Chicken-and-egg.

Whatever. I use what I like that is available. I like Tri-X and D76 a lot and use them. I like Delta 100 a lot and use it. Life goes on.

 

[visiondr]

I think it's terrific. What's it made of?

My understanding is that Ilfosol S (the product Ilfosol 3 is intended to replace) is ascorbic acid based with the addition of hydroquinone. Franky, I have no idea what that means in a developer. Maybe someone can enlighten us

 

[drewbarb]

Don't get me wrong- I buy plenty of Kodak products, and will as long as they are available- but I don't count on Kodak sticking around. It's sad, because Kodak has such a long and storied history in film photography. It's disappointing to see them throw it away.

Anyway, I'm very interested to try the new dev from Ilford. I'll keep using Ilford products as long as I can, too.

 

[mhv]

Why not? Kodak seems to be forgetting us....

OK, they released a new formulation of Tmax 400- what else have they done to advance film photography lately? Not much. They aren't showing much of a commitment to film.

Regularly updating the Portra line of films, every year. They're at version 3 of the 400 speed films now. Version 2 already scanned amazingly better than Version 1.

They introduced a new Ultra Endura HD RA4 paper (whatever that means).

Their film division is now finally profitable, so they're out of the turmoils of the digital transition. They still produce an entire line of B&W and colour products and chemicals.

Vision3, their new movie stock, is coming out soon as well.

Oh, and if you drop into any drugstore in the middle of nowhere you can still find a roll of Gold laying somewhere. As much as I like Ilford, I can only buy them in photo stores.

Maybe they should serve you breakfast as well? Their main contributions to film photography is in the realm of colour.

If I were you, I would be thankful, because whereas B&W can be produced decently on a small scale, colour film requires big, heavy engineering that only Kodak and Fuji can provide right now.

 

[bmattock]

If I were you, I would be thankful, because whereas B&W can be produced decently on a small scale, colour film requires big, heavy engineering that only Kodak and Fuji can provide right now.

And Ferrania and Lucky, last I heard. But Lucky has been spun off from the grip of Kodak and is headed for the dumpster, and well, when's the last time anyone bragged about using a roll of Ferrania (Solaris) film?

 

[rich815]

I've never used Ilfosol. Which films does it seem best for? I shoot a number of different films (Fuji, Kodak and Ilford, and then some) and find D-76, Rodinal and DiXactol Ultra to fill most of my needs nicely, and recently found Tmax to develop very nicely in Ilford's DD-X. Never tried Ilfosol though and the experimenter in me is piqued by this new introduction. One thing I do not like about DD-X is it's cost. Is Ilfosol expensive?

 

[mr_phillip]

Here in the UK Ilfosol S is about the same cost per litre as DD-X, but the standard dilution is 1+9 so it lasts longer.

 

[Trius]

and well, when's the last time anyone bragged about using a roll of Ferrania (Solaris) film?

Well, I didn't BRAG about it, but the results were better than I had hoped. But certainly not in Portra or Reala territory; closer to Vista, but still no cigar. 😀

 

[mhv]

And Ferrania and Lucky, last I heard. But Lucky has been spun off from the grip of Kodak and is headed for the dumpster, and well, when's the last time anyone bragged about using a roll of Ferrania (Solaris) film?

True, I forgot about these, but where would I ever find these, except mail-ordering! Then there's the Rollei C41 Scanfilm that seems to be good only for B&W lith printing...

Bottom line, there are only two professional product lines of colour film, Fuji and Kodak.

 

[NickTrop]

I like Ilford's products but they're overpriced, generally. Thinking of switching to Fuji, personally. Especially their Across stuff.