Your favored process for Ilford films?

Hi. I'm new to shooting and developing B&W film, and was wondering what you guys prefer when you shoot Ilford film.

I've got several 120 rolls each of Pan F, FP4+, and HP5+, each shot at box speed. I've already developed one of my rolls of HP5 (in Lauder 76 1:1 for 13 minutes), and it came out wonderfully, though it seemed kind of grainy when printing 8x10.

What do you (personally) favor for each of these films? I've heard that HP5 in Xtol 1:1 is supposed to be excellent; does anyone have any opinion on that? I have easy access to Perceptol, Xtol, D-76, and D-19, if any of those are especially good for this.

And is the grain of HP5 in D76 normal, or will that increase the grain?

Thanks!

I use Ilfotec HC or HC-110 at dilution B or H for almost everything. But I am not of the crowd that generally thinks that shadow detail is the be all and end all of a print. I tend to like darker shadows, crisp midtones, and compressed highlights for a lot of what I shoot, especially in 35mm.

I find HP5 to be a fairly grainy film, but it is certainly sharp grain. I have some examples of 8x12 HP5 prints from 35mm manipulated to be grainy and high in contrast, but they are still sharp and have good detail. I need to shoot the prints before I can post them here. I have a good macro lens on loan and a product shooting area set up right now, so I should get on that. I used Ilfotec HC at dilution H (1:63). There is a little less grain at dilution B (1:31) in 8x prints.

D -76 is probably a bit grainier than HC in big enlargements, and X-Tol a bit less grainy, but I would not expect drastic differences for smaller-sized prints.

I use D-19 too, but it is a special-purpose high-contrast developer.

I have only really used Perceptol for a soft look. IME it sacrifices too much sharpness for what I like to shoot a lot of the time.

I've been reversal processing my Ilford films for almost a year. Turning the lights off and projecting a black and white slide to me is a lot more fulfilling than printing. And I like having this conversation when using the projector at school

Other Photography student: Hey, is that Scala?
Me: No, it's FP4
Other Photography Student: *jawdrops* how?

I now use Prescysol developer for everything but if you are new to developing, I would suggest Ilford DD-X as a good general purpose developer.

"I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down' "

Click to expand...

I love this quote. Where did it come from?

I do like some country music but not the sickly sugar coated crap which country music has evolved into. Western swing is more to my taste.


Steve.

Hi

I shoot 99% ilford, and 50% is HP5+, 45% FP4+ and 5% is PanF and I love the result from all three films.

When it comes to development I use ILFOTEC DD-X for Pan F, accoring to me this gives minimum grain, i over expose 1/2 stop with this developer and my way of development (it depend from person to person)

HP5+ and FP4+ I use regular ID11 which gives a very sharp and crisp image (if I cant find ID11 I go with D76, but here ID11 is much easier to find). D76 should give you a bit of grain (if you enlarge enough) but it should not be "super grainy"....

Also, have a look at Adox film, very different from Ilford but can give some really interesting result, and very very small grains.

cheers

2F/2F said:

I find HP5 to be a fairly grainy film, but it is certainly sharp grain.

Click to expand...

Totally agree with this. HP5+ is actually my favorite film because of it.

I develop pretty much everything in Rodinal, which tends to enhance and sharpen the grain. The above photo was using the 1:25 dilution for 7 minutes at 20º C.

Actually, I use the 1:25 dilution for all Ilford films and get results that I'm happy with.

PanF is not grainy at all with this dilution:

And FP4+ is also very fine grained:

FP4 in reversal proces

@ existing light : FP4 in reversal proces?

Did you explain in another thread or would you care to do so if not?
I'm very interested.

Thanks.

I shoot 99% Ilford as well. I find HP5+ in DD-X 1+4 has very small grain, it is noticeable but not much at all. I just printed some to 11x14" on the weekend, shot in my Mamiya RB67 and it is quite pleasing.

FP4+ and PanF+ also work very well in DD-X 1+4. PanF+ is incredible stuff! No noticeable grain even from 35mm enlarged to 11x14", sharp sharp sharp! FP4+ is great too.

I also use HC-110 when I want more contrast and darker shadows as mentioned above. The grain is not as small as with DD-X so if you want a grainier image, go for HC-110.

The Delta range is also quite good though I find Delta 100 can show grain in the shadows more than I would have expected so if I truly want grainless I go with PanF+.

I've standardized with HC-110 on both FP4 and HP5. Not saying its the best way, I just wanted to standardize on something and explore it fully instead of bouncing around trying this and that in a completely haphazard fashion. Since I'm shooting large format and either contact printing or doing 8x10 prints from 4x5, grain is not an issue. Anywho, I'm happy with it. Though I do have a couple cases of Rodinal sitting around that I hoarded before the fall...someday I'll have to try that.

Universal developer, D76. Except for Delta 400 where it looks horrid. Use DDx or Xtol and it beautiful.

ID11 works the same, except I compound my own D76 in small quantities.

Liquid developers have short life and the expiration dates are coded so you can not read it. Can you imagine milk like that?

Xtol packs are dated and then you get a year after mixing. But I do not trust any developer that does not turn color when it goes bad. DDX and Xtol fall into that space.

HC-110 and Rodinal last for decades. And they can turn color and still be good. They are not milk though-do not drink them!

It's a matter of taste what you pick, and technique matters more than the actual developer does.

Pick a developer and start working with it. Change exposure by bracketing. Change development by agitating every minute, every two minutes, every three minutes. See what happens. Change development time, developer dilution... There are many ways to alter your technique to have a larger influence on the results than changing developers. Once you know how to control the outcome of exposure and development, you can try another developer - because then you will truly know how to appreciate the differences between them.

I used Rodinal for five years to start out. Then I used Pyrocat for everything (almost). Then I used Edwal 12 for about a year, and finally settled on Kodak Xtol for the last couple of years. I'll probably stay with Xtol for as long as it's made, because I can get any result I want from it. Almost. Final adjustments done at the printing stage.

- Thomas

I love FP4 and I develop it in ID-11 1:1 for N and N+1. It works great, and also with HP5 though I prefer Tri-x. With Pan-F I'd go with Rodinal. Rodinal is an amazing developer and works wonders with Pan-F and FP4 as well. But don't use Rodinal with HP5 unless you want grainy, and I don't like the tonality either. I'd stick with ID-11 for that. Whatever you use pick one developer and go with it. One thing I've learned after all these years is there isn't huge differences between film developers, unless you start splitting hairs. I recommend ID-11 (D-76).

atomicthumbs said:

I've heard that HP5 in Xtol 1:1 is supposed to be excellent; does anyone have any opinion on that?

Click to expand...

I like that combination very much, and it also seems to give me good N+1 and N-1 when needed. I usually use 4x5, with 120 the rest of the time, and I find the grain very pleasing in both formats. For my prints, I prefer the look of the grain of this combo to the look of TMAX grain, which I find a little artificial looking, but this is an extremely personal preference.

As others said, choosing the film and developer combination is a matter of your artistic preference and the look you strive for, as really all films and all developers tend to work well enough together.

Steve Smith said:

I now use Prescysol developer for everything but if you are new to developing, I would suggest Ilford DD-X as a good general purpose developer.



I love this quote. Where did it come from?

I do like some country music but not the sickly sugar coated crap which country music has evolved into. Western swing is more to my taste.


Steve.

Click to expand...

I found that quote while surfing the web a while back. There was no name with it and I was too lazy to find out. It could have been a famous person or it could just as easily been a quote from the book Shit My Dad Says

rhmimac said:

@ existing light : FP4 in reversal proces?

Did you explain in another thread or would you care to do so if not?
I'm very interested.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

here's a pretty good discussion on the topic if you're interested.It really isnt complicated, but there are a few more steps to deal with. I'm perfectly happy with fp4+ slides so far

Rafal Lukawiecki said:

I like that combination very much, and it also seems to give me good N+1 and N-1 when needed. I usually use 4x5, with 120 the rest of the time, and I find the grain very pleasing in both formats. For my prints, I prefer the look of the grain of this combo to the look of TMAX grain, which I find a little artificial looking, but this is an extremely personal preference.

As others said, choosing the film and developer combination is a matter of your artistic preference and the look you strive for, as really all films and all developers tend to work well enough together.

Click to expand...

+1 for XTol 1+1 and HP5 (both 35mm and 120). I rate my HP5 at 250 for normal contrast range, and get absolutely wonderful negs with this. I can now identify the prints made from these HP5 negs, and they are almost aways VERY easy to print.

I also use Pan-F with XTol 1+1 when I want more sharpness/less grain (this is in 120)

Finally, Delta 3200 @ 1600 with stock XTol is a very nice combo also.

Existing Light said:

here's a pretty good discussion on the topic if you're interested.It really isnt complicated, but there are a few more steps to deal with. I'm perfectly happy with fp4+ slides so far

Click to expand...

somehow, I flocked up and didnt post the link.... or my computer is more screwed up than I thought

here it is

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I'll PM this to you as well, rhmimac, since I havent been keeping up with this thread over the last few days