A little unknown gem by the masters of Black and White film, Ilford Ortho is an orthochromatic, black and white film, which offers fine grain and sharpness. Pre 2019, was only available in four by five large format, however, with the resurrection of medium format and 35 millimetre shooters, Ilford released this in these formats as well. Ilford, you legends! Ilford recommends using it in landscapes, so naturally I started with shooting it in the urban jungle. 

What is orthochromatic film? [I hear you cry!] 

This film is made with silver halide crystals, which are naturally blue sensitive. They first came out back in 1873 and were used in 30 films and movies. This is the reason why skies in the early photographs are almost white being blue, as it overexposed quite easily. The orthochromatic film cannot see red lights as well, so anything red will turn black. This also means that if you process the film at home, it can be handled with deep red safelight. 

As it is a low grain, a high detail film, it needs a lot of light. Ideally suited for landscape photography as Ilford had recommended himself. It's well-worth shooting portraits with this as well I think. If you enjoy developing at home or in your own lab, the blue and green sensitivity of this emulsion enables the film to be handled in deep red, safelight conditions as I mentioned earlier. This will naturally make the processing of this film a lot easier. 

Can you shoot Ilford Ortho 80 at box speed? 

Absolutely, Ilford Ortho 80 is DX coded for ISO 80 for daylight / natural light shooting. I do love working with Black and white film and you will find working this film very satisfying too. It can produce very sharp, detailed images with almost no grain in sight.

You can use this film for portraits or landscapes, take your pick! I was shooting this film in some overcast conditions which gave a wonderful natural soft box. Ideally however I would have preferred a little bit stronger light as I did struggle with the very low light conditions in some images. 

Five reasons you should shoot with this film. 

1. You enjoy shooting sharp images with no grain. 

2. You're creative, and love shooting black and white. In particular, you want your reds and oranges in frame to come out, pitch black. Think of all the oranges and reds that could come out black in your style of photography. 

3. You love working with shadows and contrast, particularly with skies. 

4. You love or travel somewhere, you have wonderful light and colours available to you in your local environment. 

5. You're creative and you just want to keep exploring and deepening your own photographic journey. 

Why you should not shoot with Ilford Ortho 80? 

It is an ISO 80 film, which makes it one of the slowest films available on a very limited film market in the first place. If you live somewhere like the Mediterranean then this should not be a problem for you. But for those of you who live in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, it won't give you the flexibility you may achieve with a ISO 200 or 400 film in your varied climatic and weather conditions. 

You also need to take into account that your oranges or reds are going to come out very black too. As an orthochromatic black and white film, it is less sensitive to red than to green and blue. And as such, you need to be aware that probably this is not going to be ideal for portraits, but it will likely give you some unique looks for landscapes and flowers. 

What can you take away about Ilford Ortho 8O? 

I shot this film in the street down the East End and would be intrigued to see how this would perform in autumnal conditions. To see how the colours of the leaves would be rendered in black and white, as well as shooting it in a studio portrait shoot, to see how it fairs with skin tones.

Shooting very blue walls, in some of these images you've seen the whites came out absolutely electric. It'll be interesting to see whether this could add a new element to work with. Furthermore, how would fair with the bright blue sky? With that in mind I wonder how a sunset would also come out too? The oranges would certainly come out quite black. So theoretically it could create some very dramatic images. Shooting in tungsten light, now that would be something else. 

Overall, this film pushes you as a photographer to think about details, which is excellent. The more you're pushing yourself to create using different techniques and mediums will develop not only your portfolio, but also your understanding of working in different conditions and with different materials. Who knows? You may capture an image which may take you down a new path of creativity. So just get out and explore.

Try Ilford Ortho 80 out on 35mm

Try Ilford Ortho 80 out on Medium Format