Transitioning to Ilford

[viridari]

I know it's a lot easier to complain than praise online. I thought I'd take some time to offer praise, backed by money spent.

The time that Simon Galley takes to communicate with his customers here has impressed upon me the sort of values that I'd like to see in the companies that I do business with. To that end, I've begun transitioning key consumables in my workflow to Ilford products. This isn't meant to bash any of the products that I am transitioning from, which are all good products, but I don't feel confident that they will be around for long.

I picked up some Ilford Ilfosol 3 developer and Ilford Rapid Fixer today. Still have quite a bit of Tri-X in the freezer but when that is gone, I'll evaluate the Ilford products and very likely end up making a full commitment to one of the products I test from Ilford's lineup.

Your products aren't exactly the most value-priced over here, to be honest, but I don't want to have to change film emulsions every couple of years and you have impressed upon me that you're in it for the long haul, and that any product I standardize on today will probably still be available for the foreseeable future.

[ic-racer]

Seems like every 3 years I transition to Ilford products. I'm no fan of Kodak, but Tmax film and Tmax developer are so good I keep coming back.

[BetterSense]

The great thing about Ilford is their products are available across all formats. I'll have no problem when I have to, for example, shoot HP5 in everything. I love TMY, but it's not available in 8x10 anymore. Tri-X isn't available in sheets at all.

But then again Ilford doesn't make color film...

[Jeff Kubach]

I like Ilford, I use other stuff , but still like Ilford!.

Jeff

[Colin Corneau]

I like the 'values' angle, too. Simon has been terrific here on APUG and that says something about Ilford.

I use some other films here and there but Ilford is the mainstay. Quality is never ever an issue and I do like the idea that they are committed to the long haul.

[olleorama]

Same here. I tried, on recommendation from a shop, fp4+ for the first time in several years, and I had completely forgot how freakin' good it is. It will be my slow speed film from now on.

[michaelbsc]

...I love TMY, but it's not available in 8x10 anymore. Tri-X isn't available in sheets at all...

Canham had a special order for TMY2 8x10 a few months ago, and I have a dozen boxes in the freezer.

He is trying to get an order together for 5x7 as well, but not as many folks are jumping in on that size.

[Jeff Kubach]

Fp4t is a great film but so is Acros Neopan 100.

Jeff

[edp]

Your products aren't exactly the most value-priced over here, to be honest

Ha. Try buying the same stuff in England. Sometimes it would be cheaper to reimport it from the USA.

[Peter Schrager]

yes-kodak makes the best film ever and then goes and shoots themselves in the foot....TMY2 should be available in all sizes...I'm using FP4 for my whole plate camera and like it very much....
Tri-x not available in sheet size?? you had better recheck your info...
have a great day...Peter