Ilford XP / Kodak BW400CN non-C41 developed?

[SixFlags]

Hi everyone,

This week I had an Ilford XP1 film sent for development at a local drug store here. As I checked the development status online today I saw that the film will be or had been developed with the standard B/W procedure instead of the C41 process.
I immediately contacted the lab, since I explicitly wrote "C41 process" on the development sheet as I always do, but I guess chances are low that it will be processed the correct way.

Does anybody know what will happen with these C41 B/W films when they undergo a standard B/W development?

I really hope that the negatives aren't ruined since the roll contains something of an attempt of a more "serious" approach on making pictures rather than my usual random snapshots.
On the other hand if they do get ruined, I guess this'll push me to use real B/W films and develop them myself sooner than planned.

 

[xwhatsit]

It's quite possible to develop C41 films in standard B&W process. Many people do, especially with XP2 et al.

You get a much grainier image (silver halide) than with the C41 dye image, but it's not out of the ordinary for a 400-speed film and the tonality is quite nice. Probably not as good technical results as using the film the way it was intended, but many people like the results they get.

Bear in mind, though, that to get good results, you have to give it some decent development; I used the time off the Massive Dev Chart with a roll of XP2 and some D76. 14 minutes in stock D76 at 22°! That's a hell of a lot of development energy.

I don't know what your lab is like (having never used one for B&W film), but I hear they often use a standard developer and a standard length of time for all films. So the results may be indifferent and underdeveloped.

By the way; XP1? I thought that was ancient stuff?

 

[Pirate]

I had a roll of XP1 I shot in Paris and developed it with Neofin Blau. It came out Green, but it still scanned.

 

[SixFlags]

Thank you xwhatsit and Pirate!

I can only hope the results won't be that horrible then. I haven't developed a B/W film there but the lab seems to have some quality issues, even with C-41, e.g. occasionally scratches on the negatives. (The highlight was a huge fingerprint on one frame)

By the way; XP1? I thought that was ancient stuff?

It's a roll of the film discussed here It's a no-name label but it says "film made in EU".

 

[sevo]

I've sometimes done that when I ran out of regular film and had to rush processing - it is not as good as a chromogenic development, but was good enough for press use. In your special case the outcome will be hard to predict either way, as XP1 is something like twenty years past expiration by now - you might even fare better rescuing it to regular black and white...