Ilford Ortho Plus 80 .
Ilford Ortho Plus 80 is unique in Ilford’s line of film. It’s orthochromatic, which means it is less sensitive to reds and oranges. This is typically what silent-era films up to the late 1920s were shot on, which is why skies in those films are bright and reds and oranges (think bricks) are much darker than on the panchromatic film that followed.
Ilford’s Ortho started out as a sheet film for large format cameras, designed for high-resolution copy work. It was only released in 35mm and 120 in 2019. That heritage shows: the level of detail is excellent. It’s a film you choose for its look, not one you reach for time and time again. It’s not a beginner film. What it is is a wonderful film for landscape and studio work.
In the studio the contrast is pretty even. Outside, it depends on the colours in front of you. Skies are often brighter than on panchromatic film and can become featureless quite quickly. Anything red or orange becomes dark. So a brick building with a blue sky behind it heads towards extreme contrast, and that’s where the drama is. This is where a yellow filter becomes an important part of the kit. It knocks down the sky and brings back detail that would otherwise be lost. This isn’t one for orange or red filters, though: they block most of the light it can see.
Grain is more visible than you might expect at ISO 80, but it’s controlled, and less so in 120. Landscapes, architecture and people in the studio can look spectacular. And if you develop at home, there’s a bonus: because it doesn’t see red, you can develop it in a tray under a deep red safelight (not an amber one).
- + Landscapes with a yellow filter
- + Portraiture in a studio
- + Architecture for exceptional detail
- − Beginners — choose FP4
- − Scenes with bright skies and no filter — choose Delta 100
- − Default for long exposures — choose Acros II
more from their film.
Grain is fine, though more visible than you might expect at ISO 80. In 120, the larger negative makes it much less noticeable. Rate it at ISO 80 in daylight and ISO 40 under tungsten light; development doesn't change. On 35mm the DX code says 80, so set 40 by hand for tungsten. Up to 1 second needs no reciprocity correction, and beyond that the correction is gentle: a 10-second reading becomes about 18 seconds.
Ortho Plus sees blue and green light but not red, so reds and oranges come out much darker than on panchromatic film, adding contrast wherever they appear. Elsewhere contrast is normal. It can be pushed about two stops in the right developer, though negatives turn contrasty at EI 320. Development is matched to one speed per light source, so it's best exposed at box speed rather than pulled.
Store it cool (10 to 20°C) and dry in its box. Fridge or freezer storage is fine; give it plenty of time to warm up before loading. In 120, the base's strong anti-halation protection keeps halos around highlights in check. For darkroom work, Ilford recommends its 906 dark red safelight at least 1.2 m away, with safelight exposure kept to a minimum. Develop exposed rolls soon, ideally within a month.