HP5 and FP4 in LC29

[Bob King]

Hi guys

I'm new to B&W film, using DSLRs mostly. I haven't shot B&W film since my early teens in the 60s... till now. I've acquired some film 35mm SLR bodies to use with my existing lenses that I use on my DSLR plus a 6x7 MF system (currently being CLA'd)

I want to do all my own processing and I developed my first roll of 35mm HP5+ 2 weeks ago under the kind and watchful eye of my mentor, who lives 2+ hours drive away... He only shoots B&W both 35mm and MF 6x6. He loves grain and uses Rodinal as his developer. 2 weeks ago I knew nothing about developers.

Since I've been back home with my 24 negatives I've been researching on the net re suitable films and developers. It would seem that there are as many film/developer combinations as there are people. It would also seem that the Rodinal/HP5+ combination is not considered a perfect match...

So rather than following my mentor's choice of chemicals I've decided I need to establish my own. At this stage I'm limiting myself to Ilford HP5+ and FP4+, initially at their rated speeds of 400 and 125, but I DO want to push-pull these later.

As far as developer is concerned I would much rather stick to one for both films - for use at their rated speed but also able to handle say FP4 at 80 and HP5 say at 800 or 1600.

Initially I'm looking for good detail, sharpness and low grain - I realise that all these qualities may not be possible together. (I may well be looking to actually get grain later on.)

I'm after a long lasting liquid concentrate, especially after opening - it would appear Rodinal is good here, but because of the HP5/Rodinal issue I've been looking at Ilford LC29 as an alternative. I would probably develop one film per month at this stage, hence the need for a long lasting developer.

My question is: Would LC29 serve well as a long lasting developer for both FP4 and HP5 as well as allowing push-pull processing as I've described? And secondly, is the HP5+/Rodinal combination as bad as people say?

Cheers, Bob

 

[Mick Fagan]

Bob, welcome to APUG.

If you are only going to process about 1 roll per month, then you may have oxidisation problems with many liquid developers, except Rodinal.

That said, Ilford are coming out with a new version of LC29 which is longer lasting after it is opened. I'm not sure whether it has hit Australia yet, but depending where you are it may come sooner or later.

Another possibility is Kodak HC110, which is almost a honey consistency developer. I have used this developer in the past and used a syringe to accurately add the straight syrup to water, so that I could make exactly what I was requiring, no more, no less.

Check out both Ilford and Kodak sites for instructions, both are available in Australia.

Mick.

 

[lawrenceimpey]

That said, Ilford are coming out with a new version of LC29 which is longer lasting after it is opened.
Mick.

I think they are coming out with a new version of Ilfosol rather than LC29, which is already quite long-lasting.

 

[lawrenceimpey]

is the HP5+/Rodinal combination as bad as people say?

Depends what you mean by 'bad' -- if you like large, crisp grain it's not bad at all

 

[Steve Smith]

Ilfosol 3 is due very soon (apparently). It is supposed to be a 'more robust' (Ilford's words) version of Ilfosol S meaning that it will have better keeping properties.

I used to use Ilfosol S but changed to LC-29 when I had problems with a half used bottle which I had kept too long. I now use Ilford DD-X.

In my opinion all three are good developers.


Steve.

 

[RobC]

DD-X was designed for tabular grain films. HP5 and FP4 are not tabular grain films. That doesn't mean it won't work well them, but it was not designed for them.
I would suggest you use either HC110 which is highly economical when you buy 1 litre size, or Ilfotec HC which is comparable but perhaps not quite as economical. HC110 is thick concentrate and if you mix working strength straight from the concentrate (tricky measuring accurately since so little is needed and it sticks to measuring graduate), then it will last a very long time.
The concentrate doesn't go off, especially if you decant it into two or three smaller bottles and store in dark. So only the currently open bottle has any air in it. So on the sharp and long lasting attributes it will give you what you want. The grain will be finer than rodinal. But for finest grain on 35mm, then Perceptol diluted 1:2 or 1:3 wil give very fine grain but at the cost of speed which may be half of ISO. 35mm HP5 in perceptol gives really nice results if handled properly.
If you want more grain, then ID11 or Rodinal will do it for you.

 

[Trevor Crone]

I had reason to revisit an old negative I took in 1998 recently. The film was Delta 100 120 format and it was developed in LC-29 diluted 1:39 for 5.5 minutes and I was delighted on how well the negative printed. It had the fineness of grain and smoothness of tone that I usually require for my work and was as sharp as one could wish for (if that's your thing).

Although I continued to use this developer for a number of years I eventually found a new love......pyro. I simply found development times rather on the short side which didn't allow me much room to allow for reduced development to compensate for high contrast subject matter. I did experiment with dilutions up to 1:49 but even this was not compensating enough.

All said and done a fine developer.

I'm looking forward to experiment with the new Ilfosol 3.

 

[Mark Antony]

If you are shooting HP5+ on 6x7 the grain shouldn't really be an issue (unless your average print size is huge)
This was shot on a Fuji 6x7 RF on HP5 in Rodinal.

very late in the afternoon, in shadow, sharp, nice tones grain seems fine (to me)
I don't know if there are many bad combinations with Rodinal, I even like T grain films in it!
Mark

 

[Mick Fagan]

Lawrence, yes you are correct I believe, I got that information wrong.

Good pickup!

Mick.

 

[Mike Wilde]

lc29 vs hc110

I thought that lc-29 was the Ilford equivalent of HC-110. I have a 1L bottle of unopenned LC-29 at home, from a closing sale about 2 years ago. I computed at 'B' dilution it was good for something like 60 plus litres of developer, and the times and dilutions as I researched them at the time made me think that this stuff was the same as hc110, but by Ilford, just like id-11 is ilfords d-76.

Can someone correct me if I have this all wrong, please? .

 

[Nige]

I used Ilfosol for years but swapped to LC29 due to how quick Ilfosol went off once opened. I found LC29 to keep really well. I have been using Xtol mostly but don't use enough at the moment to churn through it, so will go back to LC29 most likely. I alway Unfortunatelty, DD-X is completely inappropiately (that means "way to dear") priced here in Oz.

 

[Marcus K]

Ilford states that Ilfotec HC and Ilfortec LC29 (dilluted version of Ilfotec HC) is the equivilant of Kodak's HC-110. See http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2007361413322224.pdf If you have the Lc29 on hand, I would just go ahead and give it a try. I personally use HC-110 because it is cheap and readily available here in the states. I seached several online places and they didn't carry the LC29.

Based on my experience HC-110 is a very good match for HP5+. I use use dillution H (1:63) and process 10 min when shot at 400 ISO. For HP5+ at 800 ISO I develope for 12-13 minutes. I don't care for HC-110 paired with FP4+ though. I prefer Rodinal for better accutance and midtone seperation.