Ilford FP

Last updated
FP4 plus
FP4plus-135-box-front.jpeg
Maker Ilford Photo
Speed 125/22° [1]
Type B&W print
Process Gelatin-silver
Format 35mm, 120, sheets
ApplicationGeneral
Introduced1990
FP4
Speed 125 ASA
Type B&W
Introduced1968
Discontinued1990
Replaced byFP4 plus
FP3
Ilford120film1955.jpg
Speed 64 ASA, 125 ASA (1960)
Type B&W
Introduced1942
Discontinued1968
Replaced byFP4
FP2
Speed 40 ASA
Type B&W
Introduced1939
Discontinued1942
Replaced byFP3
FP
Speed 40 ASA
Type B&W
Introduced1935
Discontinued1939
Replaced byFP2

FP is a cubic-grain [2] black-and-white film from Ilford Photo with a long history. [3] It originated as Fine grain Panchromatic roll film in 1935. Like its faster partner product, HP film, it has gone through a number of versions since then, with the latest being FP4 plus (FP4+ for short).

The film is known for being versatile, with usable results even when underexposed two stops or overexposed six stops. [1] This is due to the fact that FP4 features a double layer emulsion. It combines a low sensitive fine grain layer and a highly sensitive layer with larger grains. This kind of film was already known in the 1920s and 1930s (e.g. Agfa Isopan F 17/10° DIN). Being perfect for the amateur's 6x9 roll film cameras these old types lacked sharpness in the 24 x 36 mm format due to the overall thickness of both layers. But the FP4 of 1968 combined an amateur-friendly double layer emulsion with the sharpness of a typical thin layer emulsion. This was possible because both layers together were only 7.5 μm thick. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film stock</span> Medium used for recording motion pictures

Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film. The emulsion will gradually darken if left exposed to light, but the process is too slow and incomplete to be of any practical use. Instead, a very short exposure to the image formed by a camera lens is used to produce only a very slight chemical change, proportional to the amount of light absorbed by each crystal. This creates an invisible latent image in the emulsion, which can be chemically developed into a visible photograph. In addition to visible light, all films are sensitive to X-rays and high-energy particles. Most are at least slightly sensitive to invisible ultraviolet (UV) light. Some special-purpose films are sensitive into the infrared (IR) region of the spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land Camera</span> Model of instant film cameras manufactured by Polaroid from 1948-83

The Land Camera is a model of self-developing film camera manufactured by Polaroid between 1948 and 1983. It is named after the inventor, American scientist Edwin Land, who developed a process for self-developing photography between 1943 and 1947. After Edwin Land's retirement from Polaroid in 1982, the name 'Land' was dropped from the camera name. The first commercially available model was the Model 95, which produced sepia-colored prints in about 1 minute. It was first sold to the public on November 26, 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodachrome</span> Brand name of an Eastman Kodak film

Kodachrome is the brand name for a color reversal film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. It was one of the first successful color materials and was used for both cinematography and still photography. For many years, Kodachrome was widely used for professional color photography, especially for images intended for publication in print media.

Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical means by which photographic film or paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. Photographic processing transforms the latent image into a visible image, makes this permanent and renders it insensitive to light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photographic paper</span> Light-sensitive paper used to make photographic prints

Photographic paper is a paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical formula, like photographic film, used for making photographic prints. When photographic paper is exposed to light, it captures a latent image that is then developed to form a visible image; with most papers the image density from exposure can be sufficient to not require further development, aside from fixing and clearing, though latent exposure is also usually present. The light-sensitive layer of the paper is called the emulsion. The most common chemistry was based on silver halide but other alternatives have also been used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reversal film</span> Type of photographic film that produces a positive image on a transparent base

In photography, reversal film or slide film is a type of photographic film that produces a positive image on a transparent base. Instead of negatives and prints, reversal film is processed to produce transparencies or diapositives. Reversal film is produced in various sizes, from 35 mm to roll film to 8×10 inch sheet film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gelatin silver process</span> Photographic process

The gelatin silver process is the most commonly used chemical process in black-and-white photography, and is the fundamental chemical process for modern analog color photography. As such, films and printing papers available for analog photography rarely rely on any other chemical process to record an image. A suspension of silver salts in gelatin is coated onto a support such as glass, flexible plastic or film, baryta paper, or resin-coated paper. These light-sensitive materials are stable under normal keeping conditions and are able to be exposed and processed even many years after their manufacture. The "dry plate" gelatin process was an improvement on the collodion wet-plate process dominant from the 1850s–1880s, which had to be exposed and developed immediately after coating.

C-41 is a chromogenic color print film developing process introduced by Kodak in 1972, superseding the C-22 process. C-41, also known as CN-16 by Fuji, CNK-4 by Konica, and AP-70 by AGFA, is the most popular film process in use, with most, if not all photofinishing labs devoting at least one machine to this development process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infrared photography</span> Near-infrared imaging

In infrared photography, the photographic film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Film is usually sensitive to visible light too, so an infrared-passing filter is used; this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera, but blocks all or most of the visible light spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ADOX</span>

The ADOX brand for photographic purposes has been used by three different companies since its original conception over one hundred fifty years ago. ADOX was originally a brand name used by the German company, Fotowerke Dr. C. Schleussner GmbH of Frankfurt am Main, the world's first photographic materials manufacturer. In 1962 the Schleussner family sold its photographic holdings to DuPont, an American company. DuPont used the brand for its subsidiary, Sterling Diagnostic Imaging for X-ray films. In 1999, Sterling was bought by the German company Agfa. Agfa did not use the brand and allowed its registration to lapse in 2003. Fotoimpex of Berlin, Germany, a company founded in 1992 to import photographic films and papers from former eastern Europe immediately registered the brand and today ADOX is a brand of black and white films, photographic papers and photochemistry produced by ADOX Fotowerke GmbH based in Bad Saarow near Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilford Photo</span> British photographic materials company

Harman Technology Limited, trading as Ilford Photo, is a UK-based manufacturer of photographic materials known worldwide for its Ilford branded black-and-white film, papers and chemicals and other analog photography supplies. Historically it also published the Ilford Manual of Photography, a comprehensive manual of everything photographic, including the optics, physics and chemistry of photography, along with recipes for many developers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Color motion picture film</span> Photographic film type

Color motion picture film refers both to unexposed color photographic film in a format suitable for use in a motion picture camera, and to finished motion picture film, ready for use in a projector, which bears images in color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Analog photography</span> Non-digital photography that uses film or chemical emulsions

Analog photography, also known as film photography, is a term usually applied to photography that uses chemical processes to capture an image, typically on paper, film or a hard plate. These processes were the only methods available to photographers for more than a century prior to the invention of digital photography, which uses electronic sensors to record images to digital media. Analog electronic photography was sometimes used in the late 20th century but soon died out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fujifilm Superia</span>

Fujicolor Superia is a Fujifilm brand of daylight balanced colour negative film introduced ca.1998 primarily aimed at the consumer market, but was also sold in a professional 'press' variant. A key feature at launch was the '4th' cyan colour layer designed to provide improved colour reproduction under fluorescent lighting. Its Kodak equivalent is the Kodacolor Gold/Ultramax line.

Fujicolor Pro was a line of professional color negative films from Japanese company Fujifilm introduced in 2004 for weddings, portraits, fashion and commercial photography. It originally comprised four emulsions: Pro 160S, Pro 160C, Pro 400H and Pro 800Z. Its main competitor was Kodak Portra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photographic film</span> Film used by film (analog) cameras

Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast, and resolution of the film. Film is typically segmented in frames, that give rise to separate photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neopan</span> Black and white films from Fujifilm

Neopan was originally a family of black-and-white films from Japanese manufacturer Fujifilm for both professional and amateur use. The range now only comprises one film; Neopan ACROS 100 II, a traditional silver halide black and white film re-launched in 2019 and currently sold worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodak High-Speed Infrared</span>

Kodak High-Speed Infrared film, also known as Kodak HIE, was a popular black-and-white infrared photographic film from Kodak. The film was sensitive to the visible light spectrum, infrared radiation up to 900nm in wavelength, and some ultraviolet radiation as well.

References

  1. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2016-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Film stock review: ILFORD FP4 PLUS in 35mm, 120 format and sheet film". Emulsive.org. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  3. "Ilford History and Chronology". Photomemorabilia.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  4. Solf, Kurt Dieter (1975). Fotografie. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer. p. 28.