FP4 vs HP5 – Which black & white film do I always gravitate towards? Let’s take a look.
Let’s start by saying Ilford HP5+ is a great film. There’s good reason why it’s possibly the most well known and popular of the black & white films on the market today. HP5 is super easy to shoot photographs with. Exposing for the shadows is almost always going to be your best bet and you’ll get a great exposure latitude throughout your scene. What that means for me however, is that I find the images somewhat flat. In a lot of cases that simply means you have a lot of data in the film to work with and make the image look how you want.
Ilford FP4+ is also a great film and the one we’re going to take a much closer look at today.
A closer look at Ilford FP4+ B&W Film
Ilford FP4+ has an ISO at 125 making it a medium speed film. In the bright lights of a studio or in good outdoor lighting, FP4+ is a fantastic choice.
With the lower ISO sensitivity comes a sharper image with less grain (than HP5+). This is exceptionally handy for portraits. But it is the contrast right off the bat that makes this my go-to black and white film. With deeper blacks and brighter whites, photographs on Ilford’s FP4+ film have more contrast than, for example, HP5+. If you like a more contrasty B&W photo, FP4+ might be for you.
The challenge with shooting a film with an ISO of 125 is that when the light dims slightly, it makes it far more difficult to shoot. In the selection below, a few of the portraits were made at f/4 with a shutter of only 1/30th of. a second. With the large mirror slap of a Bronica SQ-b medium format camera, you can see a bit of blur creeping into the photographs. Sigh.
Why I like Ilford FP4 plus Film
As soon as I pull my roll of film out of the developing tank, it’s evident the images are sharp, contrasty and clear. The blacks already look deeper and it’s in negative. LOL.
I like the slightly higher contrast I get from this film. The cleaner grain is also a big win for me. Probably my biggest issue with FP4+ is that, even though I carry a tripod, I don’t bring it out nearly enough. Maybe this post will serve as a reminder for me to stop being lazy and use a tripod more often. Maybe.
Pros
- Fine grain
- Really sharp images
- Medium contrast
- deep blacks
Cons
- Slower ISO
- Shallower exposure latitude
- Harder to nail exposure
Sample Images with Ilford FP4Plus
Check out a few photographs from a recent walk through the streets of Melbourne. There’s a few portraits, candids and other images to check. Most photographs were in reasonably bright lighting with a light cloud cover.
A couple of the portraits were unfortunately under some trees on Collins St making them a little harder to get as sharp as I’d like.
You can also see some FP4 in 35mm and in action over in the blog.