Ilford

The film maker Ilford held over 50% of the UK's 35mm market with Sportsman cameras in its heyday (the 1960s). Nowadays it's mainly known as maker of b&w film. In earlier decades it offered cameras, many made by other camera makers like Dacora, AGI or Kershaw-Soho.

History

Ilford Sprite 35

Previously known as Britannia Works, the company was founded in Ilford, UK during 1879 by Alfred Hugh Harman. Britannia Works initially began making photographic plates and in 1902 it took the name of the town to become Ilford Limited, despite the objections of the local council. In the 1960s the company was owned by Ciba, and the owner merged it with its other film makers, the French Lumière and the Swiss Tellko. Together they were the Ilford Group. In 1983, Ilford headquarters was moved to Mobberley, Cheshire.

In 1989, Ilford was acquired by the USA-based International Paper company and the two companies were merged in 1990 to become Ilford Anitec. In 1996, the sales and admin offices were also moved from London to Mobberley.

2004 witnessed Ilford Anitec driven to receivership. The UK site was subject to a management buyout, which resulted in the formation of Harman Technology Ltd in February 2005. The company, now traded as Ilford Photo, produces high quality monochrome photographic products. The Swiss part of the company was bought by the Oji Paper Company of Japan in July 2005 and produces inkjet products under the name Ilford Imaging Switzerland GmbH.

Film

Ilford Photo is a maker of photographic films, paper, and chemicals. Ilford is known worldwide for its black-and-white films and papers, as well as its range of Ilfochrome and Ilfocolor colour printing materials. Ilfochrome was formerly called Cibachrome, developed in partnership with Swiss company CIBA-Geigy. Formerly, it published the Ilford Manual Of Photography, a comprehensive manual of everything photographic, including the optics, physics and chemistry of photography, along with recipes for many developers.

Cameras

35mm

Sportsman Auto

• Ilford Advocate
• Ilford Electric CR
• Ilford Electric L
• Ilford Electric SR
• Ilford Sportsman
• Ilford Sportsman 300
• Ilford Sportsman Auto
• Ilford Sportsman Auto RangeFinder
• Ilford Sportsman F
• Ilford Sportsman Manumatic
• Ilford Sportsman Prontor 125
• Ilford Sportsmaster
• Ilford Sprite 35
• Ilford Sprite Rapid Flash
• Ilford Witness, an advanced 35mm rangefinder camera, today very rare

Other formats

Ilford Sprite 127

• Ilford Craftsman
• Ilford Envoy
• Ilford Ilfoflex
• Ilford Ilfomatic 50
• Ilford Ilfomatic Universal 50C
• Ilford Ilfomatic Universal Flash
• Ilford Imp
• Ilford Monarch
• Ilford Monorail
• Ilford Pixie
• Ilford Prentice
• Ilford Sporti series
• Ilford Sportina Rapid
• Ilford Sportsman 126
• Ilford Sportsman C Instant
• Ilford Sprite 127

Further reading

• Holliman, Andrew J. Faces, People and Places: The Cameras of Ilford Ltd., 1899 to 2005. ISBN 0-9545342-1-2 (Details.)

Links

• Ilford Sportsman Cameras on Maurice Fisher's Photomemorabilia
• Other Ilford Cameras on Maurice Fisher's Photomemorabilia
• Sportsman camera and Sprite camera at Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.com
• German article about Ilford at German Ilford page [1]