Ilford SFX 200 is a black and white negative film in 120 format with extended sensitivity in the red end of the spectrum: it peaks at 720 nm and, behind a deep red filter, reaches to 740 nm. It is not a true infrared film but an ordinary panchromatic ISO 200 emulsion that does something others cannot — deliver the infrared look without the infrared difficulties.
What the extended red sensitivity does
Unfiltered, SFX behaves like any medium-speed black and white film: normal tonality, moderate contrast, tidy grain. The point of it appears with a deep red filter — skies go almost black while green foliage and grass lighten to nearly white. The "trees made of snow under a storm sky" effect is this film.
The strength of the effect follows the filter: an orange filter gives a mild lift, a red #25 gives the expressive result, and 715–720 nm filters take the picture as close to true infrared as this emulsion goes.
What to shoot on it
The classic subject is summer landscape: deciduous trees, open fields, clouds against a deep sky. Architecture with planting in the frame works well too, the bright foliage separating from dark stone. In portraits the effect is also visible — skin lightens and smooths, freckles and fine detail disappear.
In winter, or in a city with no greenery, there is little reason to load SFX: without foliage and blue sky it behaves like an ordinary ISO 200 film, only dearer.
Exposure and filters
The thing to plan around is the filter factor. A deep red eats roughly three stops, so the working speed drops to about EI 25 and handheld shooting runs into a tripod very quickly. Plan for it: bright day, tripod, shutter speeds in the 1/30–1/4 range.
Unlike true infrared materials, SFX needs no total darkness — it loads in subdued light like any other film. That is the very trait people buy it for instead of real IR stock.
Processing and pushing
It develops in any standard black and white developer — ID-11, Rodinal, HC-110 — with times in Ilford's datasheet. Contrast comes out moderate, so the film scans well and prints well.
SFX pushes comfortably to EI 400 and further if needed, with the expected rise in grain and contrast. Given that the filter already costs three stops, pushing here is a working tool rather than an experiment.
How it compares
True infrared film (Rollei Infrared 400, Efke IR) gives a stronger effect but must be loaded in darkness and handled far more carefully. An ordinary panchromatic film behind a red filter also darkens the sky, but it does not lighten the foliage — that is precisely the difference.
Within Ilford, the nearest neighbours are FP4+ and Delta 100: finer and cleaner in tone, but without the effect. SFX is bought for a specific pictorial device, not for its tonality.
Best before: 02–03/2026 — the film has expired.
