Ilford SFX in Pascagoula, MS

A little while ago I was given a roll of Ilford SFX 120 film by an Ilford rep at a conference. I had completely forgotten about that film. With many infrared films becoming extinct since Efke went the way of the dinosaur, I have been meaning to try out the Rollei IR films, but the Ilford is an interesting alternative.

This film is an "extended red sensitivity film." Ilford seems to not want to call it an IR film, perhaps for marketing reasons. I tried shooting this on the coast of Mississippi last weekend and tried both an R25 filter as well as my 700nm filter.

I found that this film should definitely be shot at an ISO of 100 in general, and with a roughly 700nm filter, shot possibly down to 50. The IR effect was not overly presented with the R25 but it did darken the sky and increase contrast in the clouds, which was my main interest.

Here's a couple photos from the coast in Pascagoula and at Point Park, looking towards the shipyard:

To show the difference between the R25 and 700nm filter, here's two images back-to-back with these filters (in that order):

 

They are pretty similar, so I don't see much reason to use the 700nm filter. It might've been how I shot it, or the altitude or other issues, so it's not definitive. I was guessing a lot with my exposures, with regard to the ISO and filter factors.

I definitely want to try this film more. The only bad thing I found, which you might notice, is a lot of spots on the negative. I believe this issue may have arisen from the film being shipped around the country with a rep until I received it, causing damage from humidity or other environmental factors. I will buy a few rolls and try some more to find out.