Widely available and affordable, making it a popular choice for both amateur and professional photographers I have also took a lot of shots pulling the film: excellent results at 3200 ASA and development in Rodinal stand 1 + 100, although for best results developing in ILFOTEC, to lower a little the grain could be the right choice. Of all the problems I had with digital photography there was one that always got me; photograph in the dark looked like crap. Even with good full frame bodies, they still looked awful to me. However, while I can’t think of any reason to recommend you don’t use this film for street photography, there is still that one aspect that means you might not want to anyway. And that is that contrast again.

HP5 PLUS 120 - Ilford Photo HP5 PLUS 120 - Ilford Photo

exposure rolls can help you make your mind up about a film without committing to a full roll of 36 exposures. A full roll of film may take you a while to finish, and this is great for when you have a project or specific idea in mind that you need a lot of images for. However, if you are simply testing a film, or want to experiment by trying a favourite film in a new way, 24 exposure is the faster and more cost effective way to go. ILFORD don’t recommend to re-use 1+4 DD-X solutions for pushing film, but I did it on so many occasions and I always had good results, you just need to add up some time in development, that’s all. HP5+ and ILFORD developers are products I would recommend for a novice – you can’t go wrong with this stuff! From my experience though, that’s the wrong way to look at it. The steady Eddie stats that make up Ilford HP5 Plus are analogous to the last part of its name. A positive, not a negative. All things considered, I really liked the results it gave me. Another useful technique is to agitate twice less in the last third of your development time – say, if I develop for 10 minutes, during the last three minutes I would agitate only once a minute. It is a commonly known technique to reduce the grain, and it works extremely well – even for box speed processing.The majority of our films break down into 2 distinct lines: The PLUS films (FP4 PLUS, HP5 PLUS and PAN F PLUS,) and the DELTA PROFESSIONAL films (DELTA 100, DELTA 400 and DELTA 3200). When it comes to processing, the HP film is a dream to work with. You see, Ilford has created this film to dry flat, and that makes all the difference when scanning your negatives. Also, Ilford’s HP5 Plus 400 is available in various formats from 35MM 24 EXPOSURE, 36 Exposure, 120 Roll and even pre-loaded on the Ilford Single Use camera. Further to this, Ilford provides a range of sheet film in all standard sizes. So, what are the pros and cons of pushing HP5+ this far? Well, there’s a fair bit of grain, but HP5+ is never the smoothest film anyway, and the structure is pretty good, adding a nice grittiness to the shots. Deep shadows get pretty crushed, but what else can you expect shooting at night? Honestly, being able to take a camera out in the evening or at night and either set-and-forget exposure, or use it the same way you would on a sunny day, with a wide range of shutter speeds and apertures available, is a fantastic experience. Being able to shoot at night, handheld, with a variety of apertures and speeds available, is great, though if using a rangefinder you do need to find a bright area to focus on. In contrast, my other camera, loaded with Fuji Press 800 at box speed, needed to be on a tripod for all shots. Almost empty streets have a ghostly feel under the streetlamps – but with a high ASA you can capture people in the moment, where long exposures would blur them out.

HP5 PLUS Sheet Film - Ilford Photo HP5 PLUS Sheet Film - Ilford Photo

This not only means you can shoot scenes with both bright and dark areas, but also that the film can help you out if you do under or overexpose. As an ISO 400 film, you get plenty of leeway in both directions. And let’s not forget that ISO 400 rating gives you plenty of speed to shoot in the potentially ever-changing lighting conditions out in the street too.Of course, there are plenty of other solid options for pushing HP5+. The developers above are both fine-grain developers, which means they have a solvent in them that reduces the size of the grain, and potentially some of the sharpness of the film. If you’re personally a big fan of grains, then you’ll want a High-Acutance developer like Rodinal or diluted HC-110. ORTHO PLUS - All ILFORD and Kentmere films are panchromatic with the exception of ORTHO PLUS which is an Orthochromatic film. This means it is blue and green sensitive but not red. Deeper oranges and reds will therefore appear dark and contrasty which can create some beautiful effects. Another unique characteristic of this film is that it can be processed using a dark red safelight which makes it ideal for those learning to load a spiral. The film is rated ISO 80 under daylight conditions but ISO 40 when shooting in Tungsten light. The film offers very fine grain and exceptional sharpness. Kentmere films I mentioned above that HP5 PLUS typically retains less shadow detail in darker scenes than modern T-grain films but that isn’t a surprise considering the differences in emulsion technology. Taking advantage of this characteristic allows the photographer to isolate lighter subjects in bright relief (as the images above show), and is something to think about when you’re shooting this film in a dark environment.