Hi All, Had to do a job the other day in very low ambient light. Just interested if anyone has rated Ilford HP5 plus at 3200 or 6400 and what developer / time combination they found best. Thanks David

-- David Jenkins (dhjphoto@hotmail.com), January 23, 2002

Answers

Hi David... I tried it with Ilford's Microphen some time ago, on 120 roll film. I've lost my notes but the tech information says 16 minutes @ 20 degrees for 3200 ISO (35 mm film). I would rate the results as OK given the conditions I was shooting in. (Highschool gym basketball game, no flash). Harv

-- Harv Jenkins (hjenkins@prcn.org), January 23, 2002.

Hi David! I shot a flamenco dance performance at the local theater, with only stagelights and no flash. Rated HP5+, 35mm, at 3200 developed it with Xtol 1+1 at 20¤c for 20 minutes, results were great! Shooting with Af Nikkors 300mm/4 & 180/2,8 had something to do with the results too, don't expect much from cheap plastic zooms when film speed is this high!

-- Johannes Aaltonen (harmanvalo@pp.nic.fi), January 25, 2002.

David- I'm with Harv- try Microphen straight (or Kodak's Microdol-X- nearly the same) for this sort of push. I have had good luck with Microphen @70 degrees F for 16 to 18 minutes at 3200, 17-20 minutes rated at 6400. If you have rolls from this job that are important, I'd say shoot another in similar light and test it. Try running only the first 3rd of the test roll, and then use the second 3rd for a second test if neccesary.

I would also suggest you do the dev. as a two step process for times above 15 minutes with any developer. e.g., if your time is 16 minutes, pour in developer, process normal for 8 minutes, them dump the dev. and refill with fresh chem for the remaining 8 minutes. You'll get better negs.

As always, test.

-- drew (swordfisher@hotmail.com), January 25, 2002.