Ilford XP2 SUPER 400 is a highly sensitive black and white panchromatic sensitized negative 35mm film designed for machine processing with the C-41 process.
Instead of conventional silver halide emulsion film, this film uses colour negative film technology and thus combines the advantages of both systems - i.e. mainly extreme exposure flexibility, an extremely rich range of halftones and a fine grain ensuring high edge sharpness.
The Ilford XP2 SUPER 400 is ideal for professional work as well as for novice photographers who do not yet dare to use classic black-and-white material.
It is the ideal film for those looking for maximum versatility and reliability. A great advantage is the ability to make large enlargements with excellent image quality.
The nominal sensitivity of the film is ISO 400/27°, but its wide exposure flexibility gives very good results even with moderate overexposure (50 ISO/18°) and underexposure (800 ISO/30°). Panchromatic films react to reality in a similar way to the human eye, which perceives light rays with wavelengths from approximately 380 nm to 740 nm (visible light), but in some cases can also be sensitive to the UV and IR component of light.
It is therefore advisable to have a UV filter on the lens to suppress the effect of radiation on the film material. In order to achieve the correct sensitivity to the entire spectrum of visible light, this film is sensitized, which guarantees the correct conversion of the colour reality to the grey scale.
If the film were not sensitized, it would not be able to respond to light rays of a certain wavelength, and so the resulting photographs would lack some parts of the tonal range. For example, the film would not respond to green, yellow, orange and red, i.e. it would not detect them and on a black and white positive these shades would be black or otherwise dark.
Such material finds application mostly only in the field of scientific and industrial photography, where these "deficiencies" are dealt with deliberately.
Practical application:
This versatile high-sensitivity black and white film has a wide range of applications, from family celebrations to sports and journalistic photography. It is also suitable for low-light compact camera lenses, as well as for low-light photography, where its sensitivity allows for sharp photographs.
The film is processed by the C-41 machine process
