HP5+; pattern; reticulation; in praise of Ilford

Thought I'd just share a quick anecdote with the group as my first post:

I was getting a weird honeycomb-like pattern appear across some of my HP5+ negs, but not others. I was rating at 1600, dev was Xtol 1:1, 18'@20*C, pretty much standard.

I had no idea what it was, and couldn't figure it out from searching for various things. I didn't think it was reticulation because I remembered reading Hicks and Schultz writing something like it was nigh-on impossible to get a modern film to reticulate without using very hot water followed by very cold water.

Well, it turns out I was wrong.

I called Ilford, and chatted for a bit with Sue Evans, who was knowledgeable, bubbly and keen to solve my problem. I sent her the offending negs.

After a day checking it out, she sent me a long, detailed email answer with tips on avoiding the problem in the future. I was pre-soaking at what felt like lukewarm water to my bare fingers, but it was too hot. Turns out that the pre-soak is not necessary, and a batch I did last night proves it. There was no difference at all, and no reticulation.

I got my negs back the later with a sample print showing me what it would look like printed (good from a distance, but awful, like digital banding, at close range). I also got a whole heap of Ilford freebies!

I'm sure I'll find many people in agreement here, but we really need to support this company. I don't know what it's like trying to get hold of someone to talk about black and white film at Kodak or Fuji, but I doubt the customer service could get better than this. I love Tri-X and Neopan, but am going to stick with Ilford from now onwards. Not just because I'm British, but because black and white photographers really need them.

Does anyone have any other Ilford stories, or anecdotes on the service they've got off Fuji or Kodak? I'm curious to know whether these companies are easier to get responses from if the user lives in Japan or the US respectively, or whether US-based users have got agile responses from the US Fuji offices etc.

You will get a boatload on Ilford. Simon is here all the time. He helped me find some pictures that were lost at Ilford for over a year. Good angle to take, commit to the folks committed to you.

fixitqwik said:

Does anyone have any other Ilford stories, or anecdotes on the service they've got off Fuji or Kodak? I'm curious to know whether these companies are easier to get responses from if the user lives in Japan or the US respectively, or whether US-based users have got agile responses from the US Fuji offices etc.

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I have no particular stories, but I've been shooting FP4 since 1975 and love it even more today.

Just to honor your story, I'll order some more film today!

I've a lifetime of reasons for expressing appreciation for Kodak (lifetime loyal customer, and son of a Kodak employee).

Admittedly, I've worked in the industry (although not for a while) and have in the past probably had somewhat of an inside track when assistance was required, but in general, I have had nothing but excellent assistance from Kodak. In addition, their product quality is almost invariably first rate. Their distribution system (which until recently was without peer) is suffering from huge changes, but I expect that eventually it will again be easy to obtain product.

With all that said, I'll add my kudos to Ilford as well.

Despite clear evidence of overwhelming bias , in response to a post here Simon Galley offered out of the blue to send me the Ilford publication on their papers. Shortly thereafter, it arrived in the mail. All the way from the UK. No charge!

I've recommended (and sold) Ilford in the past. I intend to recommend Ilford in the future (along with Kodak.

Matt

Dear Fixitqwik,

Thanks for taking the time to post, Sue is indeed a star and a major asset to our business, indeed we are very lucky in all the people who work for us at HARMAN...( you can meet some on our HARMAN website ) we do believe that excellent customer service is the right of the customer who buys and uses our products..so we do try hard, sometimes we could do better, but we always try as hard as we can... I have to say as well, KODAK and FUJI are excellent as well, very helpful, we have to speak to them on occasions and they are really good as well, we are somewhat smaller so perhaps our customer care maybe a bit easier to access.

Thanks again...

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

I emailed an inquiry the other day to Kodak's Contact Center, USA. I was seeking an answer about the production/availability of Ektanol and Ektaflo Type 2 warm-tone print developers. I was surprised to get a return email the next day. Although the news wasn't what I wanted to hear even while expecting it, a Peter V. was very cordial and apologetic and even made suggestions I might try; Selectol-Soft is the only warm tone developer Kodak offers and that if I experiment with split times in both Selectol-Soft and Dektol, I might find results similar to what I might have achieved with Ektonal or Ektaflo Type 2.
That said, I have come close using Ilford WT FB in home brew Selectol and also Agfa Neutal WA. I'm curious about Ilford's WT developer also. Sorry -- haven't had occasion to contact Ilford yet but comforting to know that Simon is on this site.

Testing temp with a finger can be fraught with danger. I remember seeing a "blindfold" experiment in school where the pupil on dipping his finger in blood heat water( 98.7 F so a lot hotter than normal dev temp of 68-70) swore that the glass was empty as his finger detected no temp change. He had previously dipped his finger into cold and hot water. So if it feels even lukewarm it is well above 100F.

I can confirm that in my experience Ilford film will withstand even extremely hot water for a few seconds and can be brought down in temp by gradually reducing temp without damage. How do I know? Well on a photography course I was developing film and as the processing room was full, went to the dimly lit darkroom and inadvertently turned on the hot tap to fill the tank with water for the wash stage post fixing. The tank was full and the film fully immersed before I realised it was very hot. I simply filled to overflowing with the cold tap to bring the temp down.

Not to be recommended but the film was undamaged. It was HP5+. A tough old emulsion is HP5+.

pentaxuser