In part 1, we took a closer look at Ilford FP4 but today, we’re going into Ilford’s more popular film stock, HP5plus. It’s definitely a very popular or at least an incredibly well known black and white film, but why? What makes Ilford HP5 so good?
Diving into Ilford HP5 plus
When choosing a black and white film, or any film for that matter, it’s important to know what you hope to achieve and how you want to get there.
Ilford HP5plus has an ISO of 400. Basically, it’s a high speed film that is well suited to most types of lighting. Compared to FP4plus, the faster ISO means it’s still reasonably usable as the sun goes down towards the end of your day.
Natural light on almost any day is going to prove easy with HP5plus and if you’re shooting sports or any action scene, the high ISO rating means faster shutter speeds wont be an issue.
Ilford HP5 plus is also very well performing in the studio too. The 400ISO means you don’t need the most powerful strobes and constant lights are also an option. Studio portraits produce clean, crisp photographs with bright whites, deep blacks and a super nice filmy look to them.
This does mean there is a whole lot more grain than Ilford FP4plus which we spoke about previously. But grain doesn’t mean this black and white film produces poor image quality, quite the opposite. The grain is delightful and adds a real nice touch to your images.
The exposure latitude of Ilford HP5plus is unreal. Highlight detail with excellent shadow detail all in the same exposure. For photographers starting out with manual exposure settings, this becomes far more forgiving and still produces a usable photograph.
The best of Ilford HP5 Plus Black and White Film
Chatting to a bunch of great film photographers over Instagram, a common thread is how versatile this black and white film is. Pushing HP5 to 1600 ISO definitely became a favourite way to shoot Ilford HP5 because it rendered a really high contract photographs and thickened up that tasty grain.
But shot at box speed, Ilford HP5+ still makes a great image. The base scan will look a little flat, if you ask me, not unlike a raw image in a digital camera. All the data is there and the work is up to you to draw out. This can be both a good and a bad thing. If you don’t want to edit your film scans but like a high contrast image, maybe look at FP4+ but if you want all the image ‘data’ and all the possibility to ‘edit to taste’ then Ilford HP5plus black and white film could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Pros
- Huge exposure latitude
- More forgiving to exposure errors
- Fast 400ISO for lower light scenarios
- Ability to push/pull
Cons
- Flatter ‘grey’ image
- More grain
- Needs more ‘work’ in post production (depending on preferences)
Sample Images with Ilford FP4Plus
On the street, in the studio, low light bright light. This little black and white film is extremely versatile. You can see where I pushed HP5 to 1600 in a previous blog but the images below are a few Ilford HP5 plus samples from the year 2022.
Let me know what you think!
