Ilford XP2 400
Shot on 35mm at box speed with Pentax-M SMC 50/2.0
About Ilford XP2 400+
Ilford XP2 is an unconventional film. Even though it is a black and white film, the film is developed with the C41 process for color negative films. C41 can have some advantages in availability and cost. As color negative film is the most popular type of film in the consumer space and C41 is a standardized process, many drug stores only offer C41 processing and film labs can process them with less manual labor, and therefore at a lower price. XP2 is therefore a film that is sometimes found in drug stores.
The images are characterized by a medium to low contrast and small grain that is on the same level, if not smaller, than Delta 400. With these characterics, some images have an almost digital sensor quality. However, the film is a negative film, and therefore shadows still have less detail while highlights are preserved.
About Ilford
Ilford is a traditional manufacturer that was founded in the early years of photography and experienced a number bankruptcies and acquisitions during the decline of analog photography in the 2000s. The company was founded in 1879 by Alfred Hugh Harman in the English town of Ilford in the East of London [1]. In 1928, the company acquired a factory in Mobberley near Manchester airport where manufacturing resides until today [2]. During the 1960s, the Swiss Ciba company acquired stocks in Ilford until they became the sole owner in 1969. Ciba also set up a second manufacturing site in Marly near Bern [3].
Once being part of a multi-national corporation, multiple acquisitions followed over the next decades. In 2004, both the British and Swiss parts of Ilford had to file for bankrupcy and were divided in the process. After finding a Japanese investor, the Swiss Ilford branch had to file for a second bankrupcy in 2013 during which parts of the site in Marly were acquired by the German manufacturer Adox [4]. The British branch was bought out by a group of former managers who formed Harman technology in remembrance of the company founder [5]. Manufacturing remaines in Mobberley, but now also produces film for other brands.
Links
- [1]
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilford_(Unternehmen), retrieved June 14th 2020
- [2]
- https://www.ilfordphoto.com/about-us/history/, retrieved June 14th 2020
- [3]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilford_Photo, retrieved June 14th 2020
- [4]
- https://www.fotoimpex.de/website/cool_timeline/adox-uebernimmt-die-giessmaschine-e-von-ilford-in-marly/, retrieved June 14th 2020
- [5]
- https://www.harmantechnology.com/about-us/history/, retrieved June 14th 2020
Packaging
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