SFX 200 Anyone?

[Rob MacKillop]

I ordered three reels of Ilford XP2 from ebay, but the company sent me five reels of Ilford SFX 200. They only charged me for three XP2s, but these SFX 200s are twice as expensive - so I'm tempted to keep them! £50 worth instead of £18.

But - what's it like? The Ilford website says:

"ILFORD SFX 200 EXTENDED RED SENSITIVITY FILM . SFX 200 is a medium speed black and white camera film for creative photography. It has extended red sensitivity and is especially suited for use with a filter to create special effects. By using a deep red filter skies can be rendered almost black and most green vegetation almost white. Its unusual tonal rendition ensures interesting results for a range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, townscapes and architecture."

Sounds strange...I don't have a red filter, just yellow. I suppose I'd better find a red filter to fit one of my cameras. Or is it just too weird, and should I send them back and get XP2 instead?

- - - Updated - - -

Hmm...just looked up images on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=ILFORD+SFX+200

Quite interesting!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Looking online, seems it is used for infra red photography. But would I need an R72 filter? That would restrict which camera I could use it on...

 

[Pete Askew]

Near infrared anyway. I haven't used any for years. It gives an effect similar to what you get from many digital cameras when files are processed to simulate IR. You can use less filtration Rob but you get less IR effect as it were. And you don't have to correct for any focus shift.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

OK. Thanks for that. As you know, I used up the first roll at the wrong setting on my light meter. I hope I'm not so sleepy next time!