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Difference between Ilford HP5 plus and Ilford HP5 delta professional??

LincolnMateo

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In my photography class at my high school they recommend we use Ilford HP5 plus from a local vendor called The Camera Company. I stopped in yesterday to pick up a few more rolls, but the man at the counter told me they were all out of the usual kind. He offered me the more expensive Ilford HP5 plus delta professional for the same price and with my student discount, so it was a total steel. I showed it to my teacher today and she was unfamiliar with it. I checked the Ilford website to see the pros of the higher end film but it has relatively the same description as the normal one. So I was just curious and please excuse my ignorance, what makes it better? Will my prints come out better quality?
 
Not better, but different. HP5+ is my choice and uses traditional cubic grain. It is Ilford's equivalent of Tri-X and is highly popular with professionals and amateurs alike. It can make a variety of looks depending on what developer you use and how it is exposed and developed. Delta 400 is made using tabloid Delta grain and has a much smoother look which some liken to digital black and white. It can be beautiful in the right developer, but is more demanding of good technique and has less tolerance of under exposure or under development. I happen to like both very much, but I like HP5+ more. Your teacher gave a good recommendation.
 
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You'll do great with the Delta 400 (no HP5 in the name). It has a bit finer grain than HP5+. I don't think it's that terribly more demanding of accurate exposure, at least not unless you screw up real bad. Avoiding underexposure is a good idea with any negative film, you can set your meter to 320 or even 200 to get some insurance.
@John Bragg, is the tolerance for underexposure in HP5+ something you noticed when scanning or also printing in the darkroom? That is, are you talking about extracting detail form the film toe?
 

That is a bit of a non issue for me as I use ei200 and take advantage of the straight line portion of the curve. (Printing and mostlly scanning these days). On occasion when I have rated it at box speed it seemed to have good enough detail in the low values, more so than Delta. I think Delta has more of an S curve.
 
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Delta 400 is great. I only stock one dev (HC-110) and I prefer the way Delta 400 comes out in it compared to HP5.
 
Welcome to Photrio.
All of the above is correct. The only disadvantage of switching back and forth between HP5+ and Delta 400 is that I generally recommend that those who are new to film stick with one film for a while until they are familiar with it and learn how to take advantage of its characteristics.
What does your teacher suggest you should do when presented with this situation?
 

A photography teacher who has never heard of Delta 400? tsk, tsk... Does your school have a proper darkroom, where you can print your negatives, or are you just scanning them? So, do you have to buy your own film for the course?? I roll bulk film onto reusable rolls for students... film is free for them.
Have fun with the Delta film. Shoot it at EI 250. It's very nice.
 
Andrew O'Neill said:
A photography teacher who has never heard of Delta 400? tsk, tsk...
Click to expand...

I missed the fact that you asked your teacher and she wasn't familiar with Delta 400. Is there any chance that you described it as HP5 Delta Professional. If so, I can understand why she might have been unfamiliar as it is just Delta 400 Professional - no HP5 in the name.
I bet Andrew has had a few students get product names wrong before .
 

Never! My students have never had to go out and buy anything photographically related as I provide them with everything!
 
 
Unless their is a brand new product we have never heard of, HP5+ and Ilford Delta 400 are the two products.

the Delta is a more expensive product and is supposed to have finer grain... It will take longer to fix than HP5+ also in most cases the development time is different.
 
HP5 rules.
 
They are both excellent. The Delta has finer grain, the HP5+ has more tolerance for exposure and development errors. I like the Delta for small negatives - 35 mm - and the HP5+ for larger negatives, 2 ¼ x 2 14 and bigger. For 35 mm, I got some really nice negatives with the Delta and Rodinal, which would be way too grainy with HP5+.
 
I prefer the tonality of Delta 400 to HP5+, myself. I'd use it all the time, if it could be made in sheet sizes.
 
Lincoln, when I attended my first night school film and darkroom course I was keen to try out as many films as possible just to see what they were like so as long as you are now armed with the knowledge of the points that each of us has made about Delta 400 then go for it. Getting D400 at the same price as HP5+ is a bargain

pentaxuser
 
thank you my issue has been solved
 
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