Ilford Film Retro Packaging

The Ilford brand has a long history packed with innovations in film, paper, and chemistry. In fact 2024 will be Ilford's 145th anniversary 😱  - Alfred Harman started his business in 1879.

These days the brand is owned by Harman Technology - who also look after Kentmere and Harman. They are responsible for the recent launch of Harman Phoenix, the first colour film constructed from emulsion to cassette in the UK! They have been wonderful custodians of the only UK film manufacturing site, and they have lots of awesome plans for the future

Some of the amazing Ilford ads and branding over the years!

Let's get retro

To celebrate the 145 years of existence, Ilford are introducing retro packaging for four of their best-selling films:

• Ilford HP5 Plus 35mm Film
• Ilford HP5 Plus 120 Film
• Ilford FP4 Plus 35mm Film
• Ilford FP4 Plus 120 Film

They are based on colour schemes and fonts that were used to sell Ilford film in the 1950s and 1960s. Funnily enough this was back when the HP range was still HP3 and FP range was FP3. So there have been two iterations of HP since, and one of FP to make HP5 and FP4! You can read our reviews of HP5 here: HP5+ Film Review.

I hope you agree that the retro packaging looks absolutely EPIC 😍

What's changing?

The retro films are going to be the best of both worlds. Specifically versus the usual films they will have:

• different cartons (outer boxes)
• 35mm films will have different cassettes
• 120 films will have different unexposed/exposed stickers

However there are some things that are not going to change:

• the emulsion inside, the film speed, the chemistry etc
• edge signing
• price*

*There may be some changes or deals that happen across Ilford films while the retro packaging is live, but it will always be in line with the standard packaging i.e. no-one is charging more for the cool packaging 😂

Is retro packaging forever?

Sadly not - that would defeat the point of getting all excited about it!

Ilford are expecting the packaging to last approximately four months: from September 2024 until January 2025. However this is based on estimates on normal sales rates, so different retailers and markets might run out before or after those dates.

There may also be some standard packaging shipped in the same period, which is why we've set it up as a separate option on our product pages. You get to choose which box you receive!

Head here to shop Ilford film and find the retro packaging