Ilford Ortho Plus

First, a bit of history. Ilford’s Ortho Plus film is part of an imaging tradition that has its roots in Victorian times. While most monochrome films today are panchromatic, meaning they respond similarly to all colours of visible light, Ortho Plus is orthochromatic, and is not sensitive to red light. This makes it an interesting choice for the photographer who is looking for something a bit different.

The use of orthochromatic films started out as a necessity rather than a choice – it was effectively the only game in town. If you were in a pedantic mood, you might take issue with the term orthochromatic itself, as it comes from the Latin expression meaning ‘correct colour’, which is odd