Ilford HP5+ 400asa 35mm - 36 exp

Product Information

Ilford launch their new 400 ISO HP5 film at Photokina. Initially there was a world shortage of this admirable product. The first batches of HP5 were exclusively in the 35mm format and were only sold in Germany, a country selected because it was (at that time) the most profitable marketplace.

You said, “I tend to like my photos slightly on the overexposed side, so setting my ISO to 800 helps with that”. Surely if you’re rating 400 ISO film at 800 ISO, you’re *underexposing* it. If you’re then pushing it one stop in development, you end up with a correct exposure. So there is no overexposure here. A lot of shots did come out on the flatter side as advertised, but when I found myself in environments with good light and shadow too, the HP5 Plus did give me that contrast. It’s said to have very good dynamic range, which means you can trust it whenever you find yourself in a similar spot. Kentmere offers a more classic look from being less perfect (vs. TMax), having more visible grain and lower contrast. Kodak TMax 400 is very modern and smooth looking from the fine T-grain structure. T-Max 400 is the best 400 speed film, especially in 35mm film format in terms of resolving power and look for my taste. That said TMax is so perfect it can look almost digital especially in 120 film format. I do quite like the classic look of film photography so Kentmere 400 will suit my needs in many instances and especially for low light. More Kentmere sample photos As Ilford state that HP5 Plus gives best results at ISO 400 but that good image quality can be achieved all the way up to 3200 and that it’s compatible with all major processing systems, I don’t think that flexibility claim can be argued too much. For reference, I developed the roll of Kentmere 400 (and Ilford Pan 400) from this film test in my usual soup of Xtol and Rodinal film developers. I’ve used this developing mix for so long it is as much of a safety blanket for me when it comes to film developing. My results may look very similar to when using Xtol developer alone but I feel Rodinal can add increased sharpness. You may find these links of interest –As a baseline, I develop fresh, box speed exposed film in a two-reel tank with 600ml cold water (anything between 15-19 degrees, whatever the cold tap gives me) mixed with 9ml rodinal. I agitate for twenty seconds, tap for any bubbles, and then leave to stand for half an hour. I do a single inversion and a gentle horizontal “rolling” agitation for a few seconds, which prevents bromide drag, and then leave to stand for a further forty minutes. Cold water rinse to stop, and then a two bath fix. I have a longer write up about this semi-stand development method on Emulsive. The HP line welcomed a newcomer in 1965: HP4. Available initially 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. Fully agree with your statements around the tactile experience in using a real camera. Even more so a fully mechanical one. Related: Ilford Delta 3200 at 1600 vs Ilford HP5 at 1600: High Speed B&W Film Comparison Using Ilford HP5 in Plastic Cameras

I used Delta 400, expired in the 1980s, at EI200 to photograph the Autumn Equinox at Primrose Hill in London. The crushed dynamic range made for some contrasty results, and I’m pleased with the results. Grainy and atmospheric, but with enough visible detail for the story to remain clear. These will fit in nicely with a wider project which includes some very grainy night-time work made on in-dated Delta 3200. See part one of my High EI Shootout for examples and thoughts on HP5 PLUS shot at and developed for EI 12800. If you would like to see examples shot and developed for EI 25600, please visit part two of my High EI Shootout. A part three at EI 51200 is coming. CONTRAST CHARACTERISTICS I haven’t gone down that rabbit hole myself, but people do report good results from doing so elsewhere. For a while, my go-to combination was Ilford HP5 Plus and my Holga 120n. As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to shoot with plastic cameras in very well-lit areas (or with a flash).I can’t speak from experience when it comes to developing HP5 Plus, but I can point you in the right direction for the information needed to do so yourself. The processing chart is right here, the massive dev chart entry is right here, and the general data sheet is right here. This film outperforms much of the competition in every scenario. When you need to capture all of the details in a scene, HP5 will not let you down. Even when pushed in low-light scenarios, the shadow details reproduced on this film are second to none. That’s one of the big reasons why I always store a roll of HP5 in my camera bag.

Sometimes I have the same roll of film in my camera for an entire month. This means the scenes and lighting that I’m shooting will change dramatically between photographs, and can often require radically different settings. ISO 400 may have been great for that evening stroll along the beach, but it’s not so usable in the deep dark forest nearby. So it’s always tempting to change the ISO between photographs. To cut a long story short, ILFORD and other film manufacturers no longer needed to hedge their bets with an exposure safety margin and the bottom line was simple, BOOM! Immediate film speed increases across the board. You can now buy 35mm Kentmere film in the UK and Europe too. As mentioned, originally it was only available in the US.That said, they also advise their Delta films display less grain, thanks to their tabular-grain emulsion vs. the traditional grain of the Plus range, so you can’t logically expect your results to be super clean with the HP5.

This sequentially numbered HP range has remained at ISO 400 ever since, through the 1970s and 1980s in the form of HP4 and HP5, and on to today with the introduction of HP5 Plus in 1989. 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. Assuming both APX 400 and Kentmere 400 are the same emulsion I chose to buy Kentmere as it was slightly cheaper online. Kentmere 400 street photographyIlford HP5 is also very forgiving of exposure, so you will get great results in a variety of difficult light and contrast situations. For completeness, there was an Ilford HPS film produced from 1954 to 1998 too, although that was of a different lineage, being a precursor to the high-speed Delta 3200 that Ilford now make. 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.