ILFORD celebrates 145 years of history with retro packaging

To celebrate a journey that started in 1879, ILFORD launches a limited-edition of two of its most popular black and white films, HP5+ and FP4+, available in both 35mm and 120 formats.

In 1879 Britannia Works Company embarked on a journey to pioneer black-and-white film production and 145 years later is still going strong, manufacturing black & white films, papers and chemicals from their site in Cheshire, known by the name the business adopted in 1902: ILFORD Limited. To celebrate the anniversary ILFORD Photo is launching a limited-edition range of 1950s & 60s inspired retro packaging for their popular HP5+ and FP4+ films in both 35mm and 120 formats.

If you’ve been around long enough, you probably used both ILFORD emulsions in your cameras. After a period using cheap Orwo black and white 35mm stock bought in bulk I set for ILFORD HP5 as my film of choice while at photography school and, after, for my own projects and for newspaper work. Due to my line of work, the less grainy FP4+ was not used regularly, but it still found place into my bag, sometimes. But ILFORD HP5 35mm bulk length film, patiently cut to size and placed into 35mm cassettes in the darkroom was my go-to emulsion for many years, freeing us from the dominance of Kodak Tri-X 400.

The original HP5 was introduced in 1976 and discontinued in 1989, when HP5 Plus was introduced. The name derives from Hypersensitive Panchromatic plates used in 1931. The cubic-grain black-and-white film progressed through a variety of versions of which the HP5 Plus (HP5+ for short) is the most recent, still being used.

FP4+, ideal for landscapes and architecture

ILFORD HP5 PLUS is a high speed, fine grain, medium contrast black & white film making it an excellent choice for journalism, documentary, travel, sports, action and indoor available light photography. Nominally rated at ISO 400, HP5 PLUS produces negatives of outstanding sharpness and fine grain under all lighting conditions. It has been formulated to respond well to push-processing and can be rated up to El 3200/36°.

A must for landscape photographers, ILFORD FP4 was introduced in 1968 and discontinued in 1990, when the FP4 Plus version was release by the company. With its origins in the fine grain panchromatic roll film from 1935, the emulsion is ideal for highly detailed subjects in good indoor and outdoor lighting conditions and is therefore, according to ILFORD, “an ideal film for portraits, fashion, street, product photography, landscapes and architecture.”

One interesting note about ILFORD FP4 is its extreme latitude, offering usable results even when underexposed two stops or overexposed six stops. This makes FP4 PLUS a highly capable film for most photographic subjects, scenarios and lighting conditions and allows creative photographers to explore the limits of exposure beyond what other emulsions allow them to.

Grab your old camera and shoot film

ILFORD FP4 is a medium speed – ISO 125 – fine grain, high sharpness emulsion, available in 35mm, 120 roll & sheet film that can be processed in a wide range of different developers using spiral tanks, deep tanks and automatic processors.

To celebrate the anniversary of the company ILFORD Photo is launching a limited-edition of both emulsions in retro packaging based on the colours and style of HP3 and FP3 packaging – the early pre-cursors to the current FP4+ and HP5+ emulsions.

“Film photographers are collectors by nature and have regularly requested we introduce limited edition packaging such as this. This is an exciting year for us as we have recently announced a multi-million investment in our R&D and operational capabilities. As we celebrate 145 years since the original ILFORD company was founded, we are excited to reference our legacy as we look to the future”, says Giles Branthwaite, Sales and Marketing Director.

This limited-edition retro packaging will be available over the coming weeks in all good stockists globally and while stocks last. If you want to celebrate the anniversary, as ILFORD continues manufacturing black & white films, papers and chemicals from their site in Cheshire, get some rolls of HP5 Plus or FP4 Plus (or both), grab your old analogue camera and shoot… film!