Ilford FP4 Plus.

smithy17 · May 31, 2010

Is ID-11 a good choice for FP4 Plus (120 medium-format), or would Perceptol work better?
I use diluted Perceptol for developing Pan F Plus to help control the contrast, but I think FP4 Plus probably has less inherent contrast.
Any regular FP4 users here?

Ian Grant · May 31, 2010

ID-11 and FP4 is an excellent combination, but if you can afford the speed loss then Perceptol is excellent as well.

Ian

Jeff Kubach · May 31, 2010

I have used ID-11 with FD4 and gotten great results.

Jeff

smithy17 · May 31, 2010

Ian Grant said:
ID-11 and FP4 is an excellent combination, but if you can afford the speed loss then Perceptol is excellent as well.

Ian

I am using Perceptol 1+2 with Pan F Plus exposed at 25 ISO for 13 minutes with ideal printing contrast.
Would 1+2 be suitable with ID11 as well or only for Perceptol?

Ian Grant · May 31, 2010

Ideal, 1+2 is a great dilution it's always surprised me that Ilford & Kodak don't give figures for it. You'll need to do some bracketing to find the optimum EI, which is probably going to be around 64 - 80.

Ian

smithy17 · May 31, 2010

Ian Grant said:
Ideal, 1+2 is a great dilution it's always surprised me that Ilford & Kodak don't give figures for it. You'll need to do some bracketing to find the optimum EI, which is probably going to be around 64 - 80.

Ian

I will play around with different f-stops from my light meter reading and see what works best.
Can you suggest a guide time for ID11 1+2?

Ian Grant · May 31, 2010

Somewhere around 14-15 mins at 20 C and 80 EI.

Some of the finest 35mm images I've printed where shot on FP4 and processed at the photographers request in ID-11 @ 1+2. Surprisingly they were shot on a Exacta VX100 and Zeiss lenses.

Ian

smithy17 · May 31, 2010

Some one I spoke to locally, suggested 200ml stock + 300ml water for working strength ID11 and to start with 10 minutes for FP4 Plus at around 80 ISO.
Oh well, I guess I will have to suck it and see as they say and decide what works best for me.

Slixtiesix · Jun 2, 2010

Perceptol is also a good developer for FP4+, no problem. I had great results with this combination.

chriscrawfordphoto · Jun 2, 2010

I like Rodinal 1+50 as well, but D-76/ID-11 1+1 is good too.

Rodinal

D-76 1+1

Both shot on 120 size film, the Rodinal example in a Hasselblad, the D-76 example in a Mamiya 645

Athiril · Jun 2, 2010

FP4+ is just the bee's knees.

I like it @ EI 50 in Rodinal 1+100 for 20 minutes, gentle agitation every 5 minutes.

steven_e007 · Jun 2, 2010

FP4+ is now my standard film. Just recently I've been using Rodinal a lot, 1+25 and 1+50, just tried 1+100, too (22 minutes looks good - very little agitation).

But in the last year I've used perceptol, which is excellent. There is a speed loss with stock - but very fine grain. Used 1+3 I expose at near the box speed (EI 100, actually) as this dilution seems to give a little more speed and acutance at the (slight) expense of grain.

Either way - FP4+ in any Ilford developer is great. Don't overlook Ilfosol 3 (I did hundreds of films in Ilfosol S, which was a really developer for this film). FP4+ in almost any other developer is good, too, especially Rodinal. It isn't a fussy film - it will work in mostly anything, it depends what you are after. HC110 is about the only combination I've heard bad things about (mostly that it develops too quick - hence the risk of errors in the timing and flow marks - although I'm sure that is fixable with more dilution).

kevs · Jun 2, 2010

Hi, smithy17, i develop my FP4+ 120 or occasionally 35mm in ID-11 1:3 for 20 minutes at 20 degs C. ID-11 is a fine choice for a standard developer, IMO.

I've never really seen much tonal difference between results from ID-11 and Perceptol. Perceptol is supposed to be a finer grain dev but i take that with a pinch of sodium chloride. Both devs produce good negs with full detail from shadow to highlight when I expose for the shadow values at ASA 125. Both are fine products so use whichever suits your working methods.

All IMO of course.

brian steinberger · Jun 2, 2010

chriscrawfordphoto said:
I like Rodinal 1+50 as well, but D-76/ID-11 1+1 is good too.

Rodinal

D-76 1+1

Both shot on 120 size film, the Rodinal example in a Hasselblad, the D-76 example in a Mamiya 645

Chris, I love these examples! Do you mind disclosing what EI you shot each at? And also your times for Rodinal 1:50? I've been using FP4 with Rodinal 1:25 and am loving it.

Marcus S · Jun 3, 2010

Brian,
Developing in Rodinal 1:25 sounds interesting and I like to try it myself.
Nice examples Chris! I was about to try FP4 again, in Rodinal.

chriscrawfordphoto · Jun 3, 2010

brian steinberger said:
Chris, I love these examples! Do you mind disclosing what EI you shot each at? And also your times for Rodinal 1:50? I've been using FP4 with Rodinal 1:25 and am loving it.

EI 100, 13 minutes, 68 degrees (20C). Check out my Developing charts, which have my times, temps, dilutions, and EI ratings for films and developers that I have tested and used.

http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com/technical/developing.php

hacked - sepiareverb · Jun 3, 2010

I like FP4+ in HC-110b. ISO 125, 9 minutes with gentle agitation.

haziz · Jun 3, 2010

FP4+ in ID-11 (or Kodak D76 - same developer) is a classic combo.

smithy17 · Jun 3, 2010

For a test, I used my incident meter set at ISO 125 and made some bracketed exposures in half stop aperture increments with a constant shutter speed.
I used ID-11 1+1 for 11 minutes at 20 degrees Celsius and the film is drying right now.
I will report back soon when I have made a contact sheet and some enlargements.

smithy17 · Jun 4, 2010

I made a contact sheet using grade 2 filtration and the negative exposed at 125 looks OK, although the ones given half a stop more and one stop more look more pleasing. I think I prefer the one at half a stop extra.
Should I set the ISO to around 80-100 for further rolls?
I might reduce development slightly next time as well to make sunlit whites easier to print.

Ian Grant · Jun 4, 2010

Most professional photographers always shot FP4 at around 80 EI because at that speed it gives better tonality, finer grain etc, so you're results are only duplicating what many thousands of photographers have always done.

Ideally you need to do proper film speed and development time tests but you're close anyway.

Ian

haziz · Jun 4, 2010

Shooting at an EI of 80 or even 64 should give you an exposure safety margin and greater shadow detail. It does depend obviously on your metering technique, equipment, preferred subject matter etc. which is why it is usually better to do your own testing using your usual equipment.

Athiril · Jun 4, 2010

I usually use my digital camera as a light meter, as I find this the most consistent and accurate and a good reference comparison and allows me to preview where the results lie. Then translate exposure to the chosen EI (50 in my case).

It's usually consistent with a incident reading of the light the subject is in, high contrast scenes though are a different case.

macskako · Apr 20, 2015

Strange thing.
I have a film cover of an FP4 Plus, expired in 2004 and an other one, expired in 2009.
First one says 6 minutes developing time at125 20 degrees Celsius in ID11 (1+0). The second one says 8:30 with same conditions.
Could someone explain that?
I have developed a few wery thin FP4Plus because of that, as I usually inform from my collected film covers, instead of the actual one.

K-G · Apr 20, 2015

Use this fact sheet instead. At least it is up to date and oficial. Good luck.

Karl-Gustaf

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/product.asp?n=6&t=Black+&+White+Films

Ilford FP4 Plus.

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