Readily available contemporary developer for pushing HP5+

After many years of not being able to shoot film (due to labs closing in Toronto, and moving where I lost my darkroom), I am finally in a position to start shooting again. New residence has ample space to set up at least a room to start developing film again, if not a darkroom in the very near future.

With the price of paper now, the days of spending hours in the darkroom making lots and lots of test prints are pretty much over.. I also appreciate the digital workflow now, and have been actively archiving my digital negatives for years, sending output to an Epson R2880 wide printer. For film, I intend on scanning negatives using a Coolscan, cataloging, and using the Epson printer for test prints and giveaways. For truly quality prints (i.e. those that are going on the wall) I intend to print on at least Pearl RC, if not Glossy Fibre. This also lets me print "digital contact sheets", reducing overall darkroom paper costs.

It's been 10+ years since I did any serious shooting, and I'm quite happy that the major films I used in the past (FP4+, HP5+, the Deltas) are all still available. I am shocked however, at the prices here in Toronto, Canada. A roll of HP5+ is C$10.00, but only U$5.50 (or about C$7.50 after conversion). For any serious shooting, this will certainly add up! With that in mind, I'm dusting off my bulk loader and will roll my own spools; luckily a 100' roll is still a decent price.

However, this effectively locks me down in my choice of film. Going over my old negatives, I've decided on HP5+ as my film of choice; the negative I seem to like the most (w.r.t. I'd like to hear folks' recommendations on what (readily available) developer to use. I intend to shot the HP5+ at 400, 800, and 1600. Moreover, once I get my zone system re-worked out, I'll carry over the HP5+ to medium format as well (I am really trying to simplify my workflow...I found that in the past I focused too much on film choice than shooting).

Perusing Toronto's Downtown Camera, the major developers available and recognizable:

• Ilford DD-X
• Kodak X-TOL
• Kodak D76
• Ilford HC
• Rodinol (a reproduction; the name of the new brand escapes me, but after speaking with the folks there they explained it is indeed the original formula)
• Microphen
• Ilfosol 3

Historically I used X-TOL, but that was when they had 1L packages; they now only carry 5L. Another favorite was Edwal FG-7, which sadly seems to have vanished. In the past, I shot HP5+ at 400 ASA, but I would like to settle on one film for "everything", which means I would also be pushing the HP5+ to 800 or even 1600 as the situation warrants.

Any recommendations? I am open to grain, and more concerned with contrast and tonal range.. DD-X? X-TOL (and bite the bullet if I can't make it through 5L in one go)?

Thanks everyone, for any feedback.

Both DDX or Xtol should be good choices for pushing. I have not done my own testing with HP5, but I suspect you may get a marginally higher speed with DDX. Either developer however should do the trick fine.

Toronto became overpriced for film some years ago. I'm buying in bulks from BH. Two 30m bulks of HP5+ from BH are free delivery and it will take three days. HC-110 is the best for HP5+ @1600, but it become problematic to get. X-TOL would be my second choice.
http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=HP5&Developer=Xtol&mdc=Search

I recently started to use Spur SLD along with Push Master. I like it a lot.

http://spur-photo.com/some-information-in-english/

You can buy it from Fotoimpex in Germany.

https://www.fotoimpex.de/shopen/

You can also buy lots of different film, paper, chemicals and darkroom supplies there. HP5+ is 4.03 euros per roll of 36 exposure, when you buy at least 10. You may find it's worthwhile to buy from them even if you have to pay for shipping.

DD-X is amazing. Don't make it any more complicated than that. It works like a charm to 1600 and even 3200 in a real pinch.

Ilfotec HC is Ilford's equivalent of HC-110 from Kodak and would be a fine choice.

A low pH high sulfite developer like Microphen will give you a true increase in box speed without pushing. This is usually 1/2 to 1 stop. Another possibility would be Diafine. Pushing will make the a grain of a film like HP5 Plus even more conspicuous.

DD-X is the perfect partner for HP5+. It will handle pushing and is also perfect for box speed. As a liquid developer it's also more convenient than the powder developers and requires you to have fewer spare bottles lying around.

Microphen is a good alternative but it's best to use it stock for 400, 809 And 1600 so you'll need to keep track of how many times you've used it as you add 10% to your times each roll. DD-X is one shot only and easier and more convenient.

On many occasions I've had really great result pushing HP5 with Ilfotec HC which is/was my standard developer, and before that with Microphen.
DD-X and HP5 is too grainy for my taste even at EI 400, thus I have never used it as a push developer.

Here's a link to the data sheet.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20106281054152313.pdf

Ilford recommend different developers based on your requirements.

For finest grain they recommend DD-X :-/

Anyone try Diafine w/ HP-5? It works very well with Tri-X.

I push a lot of HP5+ and I really like it in DD-X and Microphen. I've done up to 3200 in DD-X with great results. I'm new to Microphen but it looks great at 1600, I haven't tried 3200 yet.

I just got back into developing B&W and for my second roll I shot HP5 pushed 2 stops to 1600. Developed it in DD-X and was quite happy with the results. Now if can only nail the focus with my K1000, (no split screen) I'll be good to go. I may just stick with my Nikons

Not available locally but readily by mail, you might want to look at Acufine.

It's pros and cons are discussed in this old thread:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I've used both Ilford ID-11 (= Kodak D76) and Ilford Microphen to push HP5+ to 1600. Both work well, the Microphen resulted in slightly nicer grain to my eyes. Contrast was excellent in both cases.

tendim said:

Any recommendations? I am open to grain, and more concerned with contrast and tonal range.. DD-X? X-TOL (and bite the bullet if I can't make it through 5L in one go)?

Click to expand...

You will be able to get the best tonal range with the Spur chemistry proposed by howardpan. If you are importing anyway, the Rollei RPX 400 film (only medium format) and the RPX-D Developer are an outstanding combination. I have pushed the RPX-400 to ISO 1600 and did not notice any significant deterioration in the tonal range. (yet I will harden the emulsion before drying the film next time, but that is a different story).

I have developed HP5+ only in Microphen with excellent results, but I have not tried to push it.

I can only recommend Microphen, it's an excellent developer specifically designed for pushing. I've tried it at 800 and 1600 and the negatives look beautiful, better than anything with Rodinal or D76, and with much less fuss and experimenting. Ilford's published documentation is all you need.
Xtol is also a great developer for pushing, only reason I gave it up is because it came in bags of a gallon which is way more than I need per session.

I tried to find Diafine a few years ago but couldn't find it easily in Canada, I know a guy who swears by it and develops everything in it

When I was a sport photographer in the 90's I always use HP5 rated at 6400 ISO in Microphen for indoor shots (Nikon F4 Nikkor f/2.8 300 and 400mm).
I dont remember the time in developer between 20 and 25'.
The results were perfects for newspaper and magazine. I used to enlarge pictures on 8x10 paper and the grain were present but very pleasant.

I had great results with Microphen at 1600.
People on the forum also report DD-X working great for this task.