Ilford XP2 Pulling?

[Tikles]

So I was suggest by a local on the forum this film, and I got curious and started reading up on it.

Ilford claims it can be pulled as low as iso 50. Have any of you guys tried to do so?

And something I'm curious about, if you pull at 50, shouldn't you also process it at 50? I've read of people on the internets pulling it to 100 or 200, but then they process it at 400. I just can't seem to find the point in that if the point of going to 50 or 100 and processing the same is to get finer grained results. Unless they are just looking for different results. 😎

 

[rpsawin]

I pulled to 100 and pushed to 800 on the same roll. It was processed as rated...400 based on the reccomendation of the processor. The roll turned out usable. Normally, I shoot it at 400 and have it processed at 400 and get good results.

Bob

 

[Neare]

Bob, what you did was not pushing or pulling. You simply underexposed and overexposed on the same roll and there was still a suitable image on the neg. Pushing or pulling is not what you shoot at, but rather what the film is developed at. So yes Tikles, you have to develop at ISO 50 and shoot at it as well to get a pulled 50iso image.

I'm not sure about pulling the film however I am aware that Ilford does not recommend pushing xp2 because grain will start to show up rapidly. This sort of thing is something that is better done by you with a little trial and error, take and roll and see what you get.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Bob, what you did was not pushing or pulling. You simply underexposed and overexposed on the same roll .

Exactly. At 50 you get lower sharpness and finer grain; at 800, (slightly) higher sharpness and coarser grain (the opposte of conventional film).

Messing around with the dev time (true push/pull) is a rotten idea. You MAY be able to give it a bit longer without adverse effects, but less is sheer foolishness.

In fact. so-called 'pulling' (reducing first dev time) is a pretty dubious idea with any film unless you are photographing a subject with a very long tonal range. With any films you simply reduce contrast, rather than effective speed. You'll ofen lose a lot less quality by smply overexposing. One stop is nothing; two stops ain't too bad; and three stops is often tolerable. With an ISO 400 film that's EI 200, 100 and 50.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Nikon Bob]

I just had a look at the Ilford site and the fact sheet on their XP2 film. Nowhere on the fact sheet is there anything about pushing or pulling this film. It does say that it can be over exposed or under exposed. The standard procedure for a lot of people using this film and Kodak BWCN400 is to re rate it and develop it normally. You can shoot this film at any speed suggested in the fact sheet, even on the same roll, and have it developed normally as a 400 speed film. No need to tell your processor anything about actually doing a push or pull process on it.

Bob

 

[Tikles]

I'm so sorry about that. I'm new at most of this, and when I read the exposure film speed to shoot at, I had also assumed that was also pertaining to development.

Okay, so Ilford says you can shoot at ISO 50 & 200, but why would this be any different from manually overexposing with f or shutter speed?

 

[Nikon Bob]

Nothing to be sorry about and I had thought you had misunderstood so just wanted to clear that up. It is not any different from manually overexposing by altering the f stop or shutter speed. You re rate XP2 to 200 or so because you want less grain but you will still need to adjust the in camera meter recommended exposure if the scene is predominately darker or lighter than average.

Bob