Is FP4 plus the "Tri-X" of medium speed B&W films?

GRHazelton · Nov 8, 2019

MattKing said:
I would suggest that Plus-X was the Tri-X of medium speed films, but as Plus-X is no more....

I'd love to see Plus-X returned! It was my go-to film for many years. Beutler's soup gave excellent results, as did D-76.

Martin Rickards · Nov 8, 2019

Back in the 70s a lot of people used FP4 + Promicrol and swore that there were no losses in IQ rating it at 200 ASA

Tom Kershaw · Nov 8, 2019

The "new" Promicrol seems to be available from Firstcall Photographic in the UK, although I've not seen it advertised anywhere else. Not sure I'd be convinced about 200 EI usage without image quality loss.

Martin Rickards · Nov 8, 2019

Tom Kershaw said:
The "new" Promicrol seems to be available from Firstcall Photographic in the UK, although I've not seen it advertised anywhere else. Not sure I'd be convinced about 200 EI usage without image quality loss.

The new Promicrol only shares the name, not the formulation of the old May and Baker product.

albireo · Nov 11, 2019

NB23 said:
I’d definitely say fomapan 100. That thing is flexible!

Agreed. Fomapan 100 is just awesome in medium and large format.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 11, 2019

alanrockwood said:
I've never used FP4 Plus film. However, from reading what people write about it would it be fair to say that it holds an analogous position to Tri-X, but for the medium speed film regime rather than the high speed film regime? By this I mean that it seems to be a very forgiving/versatile traditional-type film that gives high quality results that are appreciated by a large number of people.

What d'ya think?

It's an excellent allrounder not unlike Try-X.

Paul Howell · Nov 12, 2019

My go to medium speed film had been plus X, my current shoot around film is Ultrafine 100, but when shooting a critical shoot and need to tame contrast I use FP4 rather than Tmax or Delta 100. I dont think I would compare FP4 to TriX , different films, different speeds and different slopes.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 12, 2019

Colin Corneau said:
Yes indeed, in fact within the last week or so it celebrated its 'birthday'.

I didn't bake a cake but did buy a half dozen rolls in honour of the occasion. On the main topic, FP4+ is a wonderful film and not a bad choice if you had to have only one the rest of your life. The more I shoot it the more I like it -- but then again, Ilford is just great all-round.

+1

DREW WILEY · Nov 13, 2019

FP4+ is quite versatile. But it's a bit slow for our windy conditions most of the year here at the coast, and it doesn't handle high contrast in the desert, high mtns, and deep forest nearly as well as TMax films, which extend the straight line portion of their characteristic curve about two zones lower into the shadows. I don't want to "tame" contrast, but to reproduce it in all its sparkle and deep shadow gradation, over the whole range, without compromising midtone microtonality either.

Is FP4 plus the "Tri-X" of medium speed B&W films?

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