It's midday on a sunny summer's day. The lighting is bright but flat. What are you going to do? Shoot SFX 200 with IR filter, of course. Great results but budget carefully as bracketing is pretty much essential.

Some people don't like this film or think it's a strictly infrared film, but it is actually great general purpose negative with very rich halftones. Try it during the golden hour, shoot some portraits - it's truly fantastic

Infrared photography is so much fun as you really can't see what the film can see until you've developed, the glowing trees and black skies make landscapes so interesting. Plus if you don't use the filter this is just a nice B&W film.

I went to Scotland armed with SFX and an IR filter, in search of dramatic skies. 2 weeks of 100% cloud cover later I gave up and shot it on a drizzly afternoon. Pleasing grain (to my eyes) and a nice range of tones. I develop in caffenol, and it works OK but this one seems to have a darker base than usual. The scanner dealt with that OK though.

Before using this film I checked the advice from the Ilford website. You absolutely need a tripod and a IR filter - I used a Hoya R72.
Choice of camera helps. With an SLR you won't be able to see anything with the filter in place - A TLR or Rangefinder will be easier to use. I used my Mamiya C220 TLR.
Pick a bright sunny day to get the best results. Overcast conditions will give dull, grey results.
For exposure your exposure meter will not be accurate, and it is best to use a modified version of the "Sunny 16" rule. For sunny conditions it's best to start with 1 second at F8 (using the R72 filter) and bracket 1-2 stops either side.
Follow that and you'll get great results. Skies are dark, foliage is almost luminescent, and stone buildings shine !

I bought this film and some IR filters to have a play with the idea of shooting "near" infrared. This isn't a true IR film -- it's a perfectly good B&W film at 200 ISO -- but it is sensitive to infrared light, so if you put a 760nm filter on and add about 6-8 stops to your exposure, you get a mysterious whitening of foliage that changes the entire mood of a landscape.

I put this roll in a Fuji GW690ii "Texas Leica" rangefinder 6x9 on a trip to Dunkeld and the Hermitage Forest in Scotland. In autumn, there's not so much chlorophyll, which I think would render foliage brighter white, but I'm quite pleased with the results and will come back for more.

Another 3.5 star film for me, and this time because of the price. I'll tend to wait for it to go short date before picking up and here's why. (current price £13)

It's not really any better than Rollei 400 IR in my opinion, and certainly not worth twice the price. If this ever drops to within shouting distance of the Rollei film I may try another roll. It's also ISO 200 which means longer exposure times with a red filter (ISO 25 is pushing it for hand-held use with this) or an IR720nm filter. The reciprocity is less flexible too, and when you couple this with (for example) an IR filter, it can make for some silly (6 minute+) exposure times.

I shot this side by side with the Rollei film when I was looking for my "IR go to" film, and there's not much in it quality wise between the two - certainly to my old eyes. Sharpness is very good, and the grain is pleasing (to my old eyes anyway). It's a great film, but hard to buy at the price point when there's others just as good for less money.

I use this for landscapes with a dark red or orange filter to get some dramatic skies and a lot of detail in the distance even if it's a bit hazy.

The film is quite sensitive to light leaks etc so good to load /unload in subdued light and wouldn't use if the lights seals/bellows on the camera aren't super tight.

This is like opposite-practical -joke kind of deal - some people like to joke about 'poor man's cameras' so this one can be included in quite opposite joke - it's a rich man's Rollei Infrared. Of course, much better quality film as it came from Ilford, but is it really worth the price? Will try to find some sample images from my archives, tried it ages ago, but wasn't super impressed.

The main point of using SFX200 is to utilise it's near IR sensitivity. It doesn't give that IR until a 720nm IR filter is used. Red or dark red filters will darken skies but only lighten foliage a little.

Grain can be a bit of issue but this can be tamed by developing in an ultra fine grain developer such as Perceptol. It has more controlled contrast compared to the extremes seen with the Rollei films. Retro 80s can for example yield blown highlights and limited shadow details on the same negative. Even more importantly is that the Ilford film is produced to a much higher standard than the Rollei films judging by the number of times I've experienced emulsion artefacts with the latter. The big BUT of course is the price. It's double the price of the Rollei films. Its a shame as it's a great emulsion which would no doubt be used more if it wasn't so expensive.

I foun)d this film OK. I shoot digital infrared a lot (subtle mono tones, not fake colour stuff. I was hoping that combining this film with an ordinary red filter would give a gentle IR feel to conventional B&W images. The result was poor. Found the yellow filter more useful. I know a deep red filter might suit better but I wasn't after the full IR effect. It's expensive film, so I won't buy any more.