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Photographic Paper FAQ's
Which paper product is best/suitable for photograms.
All of our ILFORD photographic papers will easily produce photograms, so the choice will depend on which surface finish you prefer and whether or not you want fibre or resin coated. Resin coated paper is lower cost, easy to process and dry flat and would be a good choice for starting out.
Does reciprocity affect paper?
Paper products are designed for much longer exposure times than film and are less sensitive to reciprocity...
ILFORD PHOTO offer an extensive range of black & white photographic paper. A photographer's choice of paper is a subjective decision based on personal tastes and preferences. It can also be impacted by the type of images you shoot and the final look you want to achieve.
Papers all have different characteristics and purposes and so this guide will walk you through the terminology and choices available to help you pick the perfect paper for your darkroom printing.
Base: Resin coated versus Fibre base...
The 1800's
Alfred Harman
1879 founded by Alfred Harman making Dry Plates
1891 became the Britannia Works Company making 4 kinds of plates and 6 kinds of paper
1897 record profits
1897 sold by Alfred Harman who retired due to ill health
1898 became known as The Britannia Works (1898) Limited
1899 first Ilford Manual of Photography
1900 to 1940
1902 changed name to Ilford Limited
1912 Ilford started to produce roll films
1920 Selo Limited formed incorporating Ilford, Imperial, Gem and Amalgam...
Whether you are new to film photography or picking it up again after a number of years, it is very easy to get started and a rewarding activity regardless of your level of expertise.
Introduction to film photography
To get you started we've created a series of animations that will introduce you to the world of film photography. These short 60 second animated videos cover a range of topics and terminologies to quickly get you up to speed. From f-stop to film types, these videos are the perfect entry point...
18th February 2015
2015 will see HARMAN technology Limited complete 10 years of successful trading as ILFORD PHOTO.
The company wishes to express a sincere thank you for all the support we have received in the last 10 years from around the world. Continued support from Distributors, Retailers and Stockists has ensured our loyal photographers, printers and labs have enjoyed continued access to ILFORD black and white products.
Schools, Colleges and Universities who have maintained their darkrooms, an...
Starting Photography
What should I choose as my first film?
Please see our guide to choosing your first film.
What should I choose as my first Paper?
Please read our guide to picking your perfect paper
What chemicals should I use for starting out with film processing?
There is a lot of useful information in our learning zone
What advice can you give for setting up a new darkroom?
There is a great short animation about this, along with other information in our learning zone
Pinho...
Why print?
When you can get excellent prints from your black & white negatives by sending them off to commercial processing laboratories, why make your own?
For many photographers, making a photographic print is as much a part of the process as shooting the image itself. For a start, it is a creative process that is both enjoyable and fulfilling and, much like the role of a post processing tools such as Photoshop or Lightroom in any digital workflow, (although much more fun) a darkroom provides film...
Contact sheets are a great way to review and record your images. They allow you to view all the negatives on a roll of film before deciding which ones you want to print and how you may want to crop them. They also provide a permanent record of those negatives for filing purposes.
How to make a contact sheet
To make a contact sheet we recommend using ILFORD MULTIGRADE RC DELUXE
Set the enlarger head to a height that gives a 40cm (16in) wide rectangle of light on the baseboard
Put a MULTIGRADE fil...
ILFORD PHOTO technical downloads
On this page we have collated all of our technical information in one place. Whether you are looking for technical data sheets, our film processing chart or information relating to contrast control for our MULTIGRADE Papers this is where you will find it.
All relevant technical information can also be found at the bottom of each specific product page.
Technical Data Sheets
Here you will find links to all technical data sheets for our film, paper and chemical products. ...
I always loved celluloid pictures. Maybe I was drawn in as a baby, while the 8mm camera whirred (and the handheld light blinded). Maybe it was being so thankful to my big brother for lending me a 35mm rangefinder and showing me how to use it at age 10. Might have been the Minolta-16 he gave me (as a graduation present?). What a sweet little 16 that is, and I’ve still got it. Can you get those cartridges now? I envied his Pentax Spotmatic as I shot 8mm motion pictures on the point and shoot family camera,...