Ilford PAN F Plus – The “Grandpa” of the Ilford Film Family

The PAN F is, so to speak, the senior in the “family” of Ilford B/W films. It is one of the finest-grained films with a classic grain structure and with a low sensitivity. It is particularly suitable for motifs that require a high resolution of details.

Ilford PAN F+ 50 is a film for fairly conservative requirements: it offers particularly high detail resolution with a very nice “creamy” tonality – even in 35mm. However, it is not suitable for those who prefer clearly visible film grain.

For many decades, the British company Ilford has been offering a pleasingly robust portfolio of B&W films for analog photographers, which I like to consider or classify as a “family”: There are (among others) the ‘grandchildren’ (Delta), the ‘parents’ (FP4 or HP5) and: the grandpa – the rather “old-fashioned” PanF.

This article will focus on the latter. I recently had it in my 35mm camera and would like to introduce this B/W film here.

I like to use the lower shell of these camera bags with my analog cameras: the housing is well protected in it, it offers a good grip and the film cardboard snippet can simply be slid into the back as a reminder.

As with many of my other film presentations, I will show a selection of my photographs and then work my way through the article. I’ll also talk about some tricky exposure and shooting situations, so it certainly won’t be boring. Let’s go:

The Ilford PAN F is a rather “old-fashioned” film: in contrast to its direct grandson – the Delta 100 – it has a ‘cubic’ grain structure (and not a delta grain structure). But it is about as high resolution. I had made a 1:1 comparison with the same subject elsewhere. The detail resolution is about the same.

The orange font color makes this film recognizable from a distance. Up close, the photographs taken with it have a particularly fine film grain.

However, the PAN-F requires a good aperture more light than the Delta 100 – it is a low-sensitivity film, of which there are very few left on the market. The film speed is only ISO 50. The “PAN” stands for panchromatic and means that the film converts all colors more or less equally into shades of grey (without a “hole”) – as almost all B/W films do today.

Detail of the photograph from above: Even at a higher magnification, the photographic grain of the “PAN F” – even in 35mm – is still relatively fine (but visible), so that sufficiently large exhibition prints can be realized.

So why is this film still around if Delta can hold its own in this respect (at higher sensitivities)? It must be because of the “look” – the impression that such a classic film brings with it.

But when I hear this term, I quickly drop out, because the Delta 100 also looks analog enough for me (at least in 35mm). That’s for others to decide. What I have noticed, however, is that with the Ilford PAN F the highlights don’t ‘block up’ as quickly as they did with the Delta:

In this shot, for example, I did expose quite generously (about four seconds at f/8 in daylight ^x) that I still got a reasonably sufficient shadow outline in the areas that were not directly illuminated by the backlight. If I had used the Delta here, the highlights (e.g. the trees outside the windows or the reflections on the table tops) would probably have been more “chalky” or drawn with less detail.

^xTo measure the exposure for this difficult subject, I simply held my hand-held light meter on the seat of the chair. In addition, the Reciprocity Failure of the Ilford PAN F Plus should be taken into account with long exposure times (a diagram can be found in the data sheet ). This is somewhat less favorable with this film than with “more modern” films.

That was originally my concern: a low-speed film is usually less forgiving with such high subject contrasts. In this respect, however, there is no need to worry with the Ilford PAN F 50. It still offers a sufficiently wide exposure latitude.

There are many statements in Internet forums that this film cannot cope with high subject contrasts, that it cannot “cover” the highlights sufficiently, that it is a very high-contrast film per se. I cannot confirm this. This is certainly also due to the negative developer used (see below).

The PAN-F naturally has a higher resolution than the FP4 and significantly more than the HP5. Both have other advantages – especially a higher sensitivity.

I had to use a tripod for most of the shots in my film presentation. After all, I chose winter for my photography. The PAN-F is not a film for spontaneous photography – at least not in the dark season when you want to stop down your lens a little.

I use a tripod for interior shots like this.

Outdoors, you can certainly shoot handheld with the Iford PAN F 50 Plus. I later got closer to the smoking chimneys in the distance:

I prefer to use my old ‘shift lens’ for architectural shots like this.

This gives you a bit of a large-format camera feeling – even in 35mm: The camera is aligned vertically (not panned upwards). This prevents tapered lines on the building. To ensure that this (and no disturbing foreground) can be fully imaged, the lens group of such a “shift lens” can be moved upwards by means of a screw (e.g.; see picture).

Even if I had a cable release attached to the camera: I usually just use the self-timer for such subjects that don’t run away. This also has the advantage that with some cameras the mirror flips up before the picture is taken: this “mirror pre-release” reduces any vibrations during the actual exposure.

Detail of the subject above

In combination with a particularly high-resolution film such as the Ilford PanF 50, this technique can achieve a similar result that can otherwise only be achieved with a far more elaborate camera technique. In terms of resolution, this already makes good use of the 35 mm format. If you need more, you have to go for medium format.

I preferred to use this film for architectural shots. Because of the high level of detail, it is very well suited for this, or better than others.

I used my monopod during my walk through the gray November city. This can also be combined well with the “shift lens”: Such architectural shots can then be taken in passing, so to speak.

The film is of course also suitable for other subjects. Even at this small magnification, the individual grains of corn on the cob in this still life are finely drawn and sharply outlined.

There is one thing to note with the Iflord PAN F 50: Apparently, the exposed image on the film fades much sooner than with other makes if you take too much time between shooting and developing. The data sheet of the PAN F states:

Once exposed, process PAN F Plus as soon as practical – ideally within 3 months.

Ilford therefore recommends developing the exposed film after three months ^x at the latest. It should therefore not remain exposed – but undeveloped – in the drawer or camera for too long.

^xThe reference to the three months was only added in a later version of the data sheet – apparently there were several complaints.

In fact, the exposed edge lettering on my 35mm film appears relatively thin. A friend of mine had worked in a photo lab for several years and says that quite a few of the PAN-F films sold there were noticeably “thin”.

I didn’t develop my film for about three months after the first shot. There were still no problems with this so-called “Latency image behavior”. The best-before date of my film roll was still valid for two years. You are welcome to share your own experiences in this regard via the comments function, if open (see below).

For this shot, I simply measured the light outside this old factory building (light meter pointed to an area of medium inherent brightness, e.g. on the floor) but I exposed one f-stop (i.e. one EV value) more so that I could still capture some of the dark details inside the building, but without jeopardizing the desired “silhouette effect” by exposing too long.

Conclusion: For me, the Ilford PAN F 50 Plus is by no means old news. I will use it again. Especially in 35mm it shows its strengths compared to other B/W films. It is particularly suitable for landscape and architectural shots like the ones I am showing here – if you have the necessary time and leisure (tripod). It is certainly also suitable for smooth portraits with fine tonal gradations. In the past, there was the Agfa APX 25 or the Adox CHS 25 (or Efke 25) for these purposes. But unfortunately, such films are no longer produced.

I wouldn’t use it in medium format (PanF is also made up as 120 film for medium format cameras). Here it would be much too fine grained for me in the large film format. I would like to retain some visible film grain in my analog photographs.