Ilford HP5+ 400asa 35mm - 36 exp

Product Information

Sharpness is always important on film, which has a few extra requirements than digital. I made a post recently on t he ingenious ways photographers made their images sharp before photoshop was invented. My own collection of Film Developing chemicals currently on the shelf. The box on the left is for colour, and the rest are B&W chems. Which developers are recommended for pulling HP5? If we talk about this in terms of the Zone System for a moment, you’ll be able to capture grey tones across 6-8 concurrent zones with ease depending on where you place those shadows. Of course, there are plenty of other solid options for pushing HP5+. The developers above are both fine-grain developers, which means they have a solvent in them that reduces the size of the grain, and potentially some of the sharpness of the film. If you’re personally a big fan of grains, then you’ll want a High-Acutance developer like Rodinal or diluted HC-110. Finally, as you’ll see from several images above, the film exhibits very good behavior at EI400 in low light. Film grain can appear smooth or sharp. Smooth grain will fade from view while taking some detail away also. Sharp grain may help reveal some fine elements in your images. Grain sharpness can change depending on the developer though the film itself plays a significant role in its appearance.

ILFORD film - Ilford Photo% Choosing your first ILFORD film - Ilford Photo%

We’ve already mentioned that HP5 Plus 400 is purported to give you fine grain and medium contrast. These are not my words but those of Ilford themselves.

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Curiously, many of the improvements HP5+ gained over its plus-less predecessor were apparently tailored for press photographers (Photo Pro issue 4, 1989). Pushability up to ISO 3200 was one of them. So was the slightly finer grain and a bit more shadow detail than its fierce competitor for the press market, Kodak Tri-X . In 1939, this was replaced by HP2, an ISO 200 offering. This only lasted for two years until being superseded by the imaginatively titled HP3 in 1941, which was rated at different speeds depending on when in its life cycle you bought it. HP5 Plus did live up to its billing as far as contrast goes too. I definitely got more dramatic results out of the JCH Street Pan 400 and the Rollei Retro 400 too. Not that this is categorically a bad thing or a good thing. Some people might not want too much contrast. I mentioned at the top of this article that HP5 PLUS (well, ILFORD HP), is seen by some as a response to Kodak’s Tri-X 400, so let’s clean that up first. I’m not sure what’s to be done about this “problem”, or even if it’s a product of my own imagination. At the very least, trying to dispel a few myths is a good place to start.

HP5 Looks its Best — Pushed, Pulled, and at Box Speed How to Make HP5 Looks its Best — Pushed, Pulled, and at Box Speed

If you embrace that grain, you might consider shooting on the street at 1600/3200 all the time: both a great look and wide depth of field are yours, in almost any conditions. The best developers for pulling HP5+ are Perceptol, and Ilfosol 3. Perceptol is a renowned fine-grain developer for pulling film. Ilfosol 3 is the perfect choice for maintaining image contrast and tonality across a pulled negative. I’ve used Ilford HP5 with the Voigtlander Bessa R, 50mm f1.5, and the Olympus XA2 camera. Tech Specs The Olympus XA2 has lens coatings that make it more contrasty than the Voigtlander. So with that said, you’ll get more contrast in the image. The photos here show off a nice looking film that appears classic in its appearance. Still though, I’m positive some photographers won’t like it for this type of work as much as they’d prefer Kodak Tri-X 400.

What type of film do you have?

You need not worry about anything, simply properly expose your scene and you’re sure to have what you saw in the viewfinder…or what you found in your heart. Speaking of push processing, there are a few examples above and later in this article, which show HP5 PLUS pushed to EI 800, 1000 but I have previously written about shooting and processing HP5 PLUS much further.

HP5 PLUS 35mm - Ilford Photo

The characteristics of Kodak Tri-X are iconic, regardless if you are shooting in 35mm or 120. Photographers get to experience a prominent grain that has a distinct light-to-dark contrast ratio. This level of contrast has made it a popular staple amongst photojournalists, documentary, and street shooters. The HP line welcomed a newcomer in 1965: HP4. Initially available in 120 and 127 formats, HP4 was joined by 400 ASA 35mm rolls a year later. Both HP3 and HP4 were available concurrently until late December 1969 when a staged discontinuation of HP3 began. Continuing from the examples above, another option for better exposures in low light would be to overexpose and push process one half to one full stop over the speed you shot at (overexposure plus over development) but that’s my preference and yours may differ. Ilford HP5 is a film that is simple to use overall. Load it into your camera and what you’re going to get are fairly low contrast images when you rate the film at ISO 400 and use vintage glass. If you’re more inclined to use newer glass with the more advanced coatings, you’re going to get more contrasty images of course because the lenses were designed to do this. Underexpose the film and it’s also going to be contrasty. Overexpose it and you’ll get lower contrast. Of course, all of this is relative to your development of Ilford HP5 at ISO 400. In my usage, I’ve found that I probably wouldn’t want to use it for everyday things. I appreciate it’s look and many other photographers may swear by it, but I think Ilford Delta 400, Kodak Tri-X 400, Lomography Earl Grey 100 pushed to ISO 400, and Japan Camera Hunter Street Pan 400 are better suited to street photography. Ilford HP5 is a film that, if you are shooting in a low contrast situation, it’s simply just going to become washed out unless you underexpose it a bit. If you’re shooting in contrasty light, then it’s going to neutralize the situation when shooting outdoors in the real world. In the studio, where you’ve got the most control of lighting, is where I recommend that Ilford HP5 will really be used to its highest proficiency. Voigtlander Bessa RHP5+ and ILFORD developers are products I would recommend for a novice – you can’t go wrong with this stuff!