Tips for FP4

[Lauffray]

I just got a few rolls of FP4 to test out and I have some questions for you guys, seeing as the last time I shot anything under ISO400 was uhm a long time ago !

- FP4 is rated ISO125, is there any gain in exposing it at 100 ? The aim is to simplify exposure calculations.
- If yes, how much should I compensate developing time for, if at all ? I mean a third of a stop seems a little insignificant

- I'm thinking about developing it in Rodinal, for the high acutance and to bring out that very fine grain just a little bit. Is there any gain to developing in Rodinal or am I best to go with an Ilford developer ? Any developer recommendations that would give me the result I'm looking for ?

 

[lawrence]

I mean a third of a stop seems a little insignificant

Yes, too insignificant to worry about

- I'm thinking about developing it in Rodinal, for the high acutance and to bring out that very fine grain just a little bit. Is there any gain to developing in Rodinal or am I best to go with an Ilford developer ? Any developer recommendations that would give me the result I'm looking for ?

In my experience Rodinal and Ilford films are not a great combo, they get too grainy for me. I can recommend Xtol as an excellent developer for FP4+. If you want to 'bring out the grain' then personally I'd try HP5+ instead or FP4+.

 

[Bille]

I'm thinking about developing it in Rodinal, for the high acutance and to bring out that very fine grain just a little bit. Is there any gain to developing in Rodinal or am I best to go with an Ilford developer ?

This was either Delta100 or FP4 in Rodinal.

 

[Dan Daniel]

For me the thing that makes FP4 worth using is a certain creaminess in the midtones. Using Rodinal works against this, makes things a bit sparkly. I'm fine using HC-110 with FP4.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

FP4 has great tonality in Rodinal but it does look gritty. My favorite developer for FP4 is PMK. D-76 1+1 gives beautiful results, too.

 

[jbielikowski]

I've used FP4 some time ago and fellow rff'er suggested to develop it in D-76 1+3, very pleasant indeed, most of pictures in this set was done this way.

 

[rfaspen]

I dislike FP4 in Rodinal. Grain is awful to me.
I like FP4 in HC-110. Midtones come out for me.

That's my preference. Also, I expose FP4 at ISO 100. I think most people do.

 

[Lauffray]

What's the Ilford equivalent to HC110 ?

 

[x-ray]

For me the thing that makes FP4 worth using is a certain creaminess in the midtones. Using Rodinal works against this, makes things a bit sparkly. I'm fine using HC-110 with FP4.

HC110 is my choice with FP4 also. I find with my agitation that I need to cut development times to keep contrast down. You'll need to experiment to see what works for you. In HC110 tonality, acutance and grain are excellent.

I think Ilfords equivalent of HC110 is HC. It's quite a bit more expensive. A few years ago HC110 was in short supply so I gave Freestyle's L110 which is the same as HC110. It's less viscous and easier to measure plus much more economical.

 

[02Pilot]

Don't know how you feel about homebrew developers, but FP4+ works pretty well in Caffenol C-H(RS). This was shot with an Olympus XA4, BTW.

 

[x-ray]

Don't know how you feel about homebrew developers, but FP4+ works pretty well in Caffenol C-H(RS). This was shot with an Olympus XA4, BTW.

Beautiful print. I'm going to have to try it.

 

[BLKRCAT]

Also when getting your times for FP4+ keep in mind that there is a euro version of HC110 and a US version of hc110. Im not sure if ilfords times are based off of the euro or us versions of hc110 but I find for Dil B 9 min is WAY too much. I cut development to 5:30 and get great results.

 

[daveywaugh]

I've been really happy with FP4+ rated at 100 and developed in XTOL 1:1 for 9:45.

 

[varchs]

I have just purchased a 30m bulk roll of FP4+.
I have not used FP4 for almost 5 years, and I will develop these films with Ilfosol 3 as I do with HP5. I am quite ok with Ilfosol 3. The only issue is that it is sensitive to air, and just after opening the bottle, I am splitting it to smaller pharmacy brown glass bottles to preserve it.

 

[rfaspen]

O2Pilot, that's a beautiful image you got there.

I too have used Caffenol on FP4 and it was a good combination. I tend to use HC110 instead because I'm often time constrained and don't want to mix up a batch of Caffenol. Otherwise, I would use it more often.

x-ray, Are you satisfied with the LC110? I think my current bottle of HC110 will last me a while yet, but once its gone I need to find a satisfactory replacement. I don't want to order the big bottle of HC110 (a few reasons why) so the LC110 is a candidate.

Just looked, only 2 rolls of FP4 in my freezer 😱 I guess I've been using a lot of Tmax lately instead (topic for another thread, another day).

 

[Bill Clark]

One of my fav films. Have lots of it in 100' rolls.

Back in the olden days, correct me if I'm wrong, I thought Ilford FP4 was similiar to Kodak's Plux-X.

 

[Ljós]

I would agree with rather not using Rodinal for HP5+, but with FP4+ it is a great and classic combination. It's been a staple of many photographers here in Germany.

I can recommend 1:50 with dev. times around 15 minutes at 20 degress Celsius. Remember, grainlessness is not everything ;-)

Do keep us posted how your pictures turned out -
Greetings, Ljós

 

[Vics]

I shot FP4+ at 80iso and developed it at the standard time in D76. Having said that, I didn't do a lot of careful metering in those days...
Student Unrest 2006 by Vic Stewart, on Flickr

 

[x-ray]

O2Pilot, that's a beautiful image you got there.

I too have used Caffenol on FP4 and it was a good combination. I tend to use HC110 instead because I'm often time constrained and don't want to mix up a batch of Caffenol. Otherwise, I would use it more often.

x-ray, Are you satisfied with the LC110? I think my current bottle of HC110 will last me a while yet, but once its gone I need to find a satisfactory replacement. I don't want to order the big bottle of HC110 (a few reasons why) so the LC110 is a candidate.

Just looked, only 2 rolls of FP4 in my freezer 😱 I guess I've been using a lot of Tmax lately instead (topic for another thread, another day).

I started using HC110 in 1975 and have processed thousands of rolls in it so I know it inside out. I'm unable to see any difference in the final results with L110. It's lower viscosity which is easier to measure.

 

[julio1fer]

I have shot many hundreds of meters of FP4+ and developed in different developers.

Never saw any difference from shooting at 100 or 125.

It works very well with Rodinal 1:50 IMHO. My favorite dev for FP4+ is ID-11 (or D-76) 1:1 because it gives finer grain and excellent tones.

With Beutler you get awesome tones but more grain than with ID-11.

FP4+ is quite a tolerant film, it will give good results with almost anything if well exposed.