I developed my first rolls of Kodak Plus-X and Ilford FP-4 Plus in PMK the other day. I had really good luck with Tri-X in PMK and was expecting to succeed again.

I was surprised at how different the films looked.

I shot the FP4 at ISO 125 and the Plus-X at EI 80, per the recommendations of Anchell's Film Development Cookbook. Development was at 21 degrees for 10:00.

The FP4 negatives are pretty good, perhaps slightly underdeveloped (or underexposed). There are some areas of good density. Base fog is very low. Staining is quite high but not as high as with Tri-X.

The Plus-X negatives were very odd. The density is much greater. Staining was very high. Unfortunately, there's a very noticeable base stain as well, absent in the FP4.

The Delta 400 negatives were the most disappointing. I developed this film for 12:30 @ 21 degrees. I was worried that the pyro stain would not be very strong, but it is fine. However, the actual developed silver image is quite faint. The majority of the image seems to be formed by the stain. (This is what I was expecting when I first used pyro.) After development, the used developer was extremely dark. (It was more like rusty water with the other films, but in this case it was nearly opaque.)

I have yet to print any of them.

Your experiences with these films would be welcome.

-- Jim MacKenzie (photojim@yahoo.com), December 05, 2000

Answers

I shot the Delta 400 at ISO 400. Perhaps I should give it more exposure.

-- Jim MacKenzie (photojim@yahoo.com), December 05, 2000.

Jim,

I've developed all four films mentioned, as well as others, in PMK. Of the four films I like FP4+ the best, Plus-x next, then Tri-x and the Delta films the least. BTW, of all the films I've tried with PMK the Kodak T-max films are the least satisfactory.

I would urge you to try exposing the FP4+ negatives at a lower EI. As with Plus-x, I rate FP4+ at either 64 or 80, depending on the meter/camera being used, and also develop it (120 roll film and 35mm) for 10:00 at 68 degrees. The additional exposure really supports the low value densities.

Good luck, Sergio.

-- Sergio Ortega (s.ortega@worldnet.att.net), December 05, 2000.

Delta 400 is EI:250. FP-4+ is EI:80. Tri-X (35mm) is EI:250. Tri-X pro is EI:320. HP-5+ is EI:400. Tri-X (35mm)is very foggy, not a great film. HD curve is S shaped: long toe, early shoulder. HP-5+ has a virtually straight line HD curve and is a true 400 speed. Can't say much about Plus-X, fairly decent. FP-4 is notably superior with virtually no base fog. FP-4+ and HP-5+ are spectacular films. Are you using plain water stop and Formulary TF-4 fixer?

-- Michael D Fraser (mdfraser@earthlink.net), December 07, 2000.