Ilford HP5 Plus Black and White Film
Ilford HP5 Plus Black and White Film
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[Feb 09, 2003]
DeaShin
Intermediate
Strength:
CHEAP. (The price was actually 1.3 on Ebay) Simply the best B&W film I've ever used. Amazing saturation, amazing latitude, and sharp! For the value rating, I'd like to give something like 7 instead of a 5!!
Weakness:
ahhh.... let me think..... Hmmmmm... Duhhhhh.. Can't think of any. None WOW, Wow, wow. This is truly an awesome film. Ok, I don't have much experience with B & W films... But I've tried some Tri-X and Tmax. While Tmax seemed really poor (poor contrast, blue-cast, etc.) Tri-X seemed pretty good. But when I developed HP5+ just as recommended (11 mins) and printed it on a Ilford Multigrade paper, I couldn't believe my eyes! Yes there are some grains, but they look nice (personal preference I guess.., but most of all, SUPER saturation for a 400 film, SUPER Sharp!! it's an awesome film! Customer Service None needed Similar Products Used: Tri-X (400 mainly) Tmax (100 mainly) |
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[Dec 30, 2002]
Christian Maldonado Fisker
Professional
Strength:
allmost all very handy film reg.exposure e-.q cheap
Weakness:
None This is simply a very wonderfull you can expose almost at any level. It has wonderfull grains and contrast and i compare it often with the TriX as well,and find this one a little better in some areas,ont he other hand the other has its advantage,difficult to choose between Porsche and Ferrari,therefore i take both.*! Customer Service None Similar Products Used: Kodak Trix and Agfa..Fuji. |
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[Sep 19, 2002]
lowlight
Intermediate
Strength:
- good exposure latitude - nice tonal range / contrast - inexpensive
Weakness:
- sometimes, it's not as sharp as i'd like (though i like the results when i develop it on rodinal) ilford's all-purpose black & white film. i always carry a few of these on my backpack... it's very useful, first because if offers you a very good quality for an iso400 film (i'm talking about sharpness and contrast) and second because of its speed (iso400 is quite useful on most situations, but this film is easily pusheable without ruining the results [i usually push it to iso800, but you can push it up to iso3200 but, obviously, you get extra-grain). i like this one a lot. Similar Products Used: Agfa APX 400, Kodak T-Max 400, Ilford Delta 400 |
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[May 10, 2002]
Steven Kleiner
Intermediate
Strength:
Wide tonal Range. Versatility. Warm prints. Low cost.
Weakness:
Not for high contrast photography Great for the all-around photographer who straps on the camera bag each morning not knowing what he/she will shoot. Wide tonal range nice for the human face. Handles pushing and pulling better than any other B&W film I know. Customer Service Good Similar Products Used: T-max 400 |
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[Jan 08, 2002]
ttown
Intermediate
Strength:
gives "soft" look great greys good tonality
Weakness:
poor contrast only average sharpness large grain price! (great value!) This is good film... but not as good as Delta 400 IMHO. I would say that it is better than Tri-X as it has much better contrast and tighter grain than Tri-X. Basically, it offers good mid-tones but I never seem to get the saturated whites and blacks out of it that I want. I don''''t do portraits, but I would think that it would be great for that line of work, as it is not very contrasty, giving more of a "soft" look. The grain hurts though, when I want to make an 8x10 out of it, the grains are apparent although not as bad as with Tri-X. Delta 400 offers much better contrast and sharpness and has much smaller grain. I am going to have to be a bit of a downer on HP5 plus compared to most of the other reviews, for three reasons: large grain, poor contrast, and only average sharpness. But it is very cheap and if you are into the look of this film it gives you a lot of bang for the buck. Similar Products Used: AGFAPAN, Tri-X, Delta films, Konica IR, Kodak HIE |
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[Jan 03, 2002]
visionstudios
Professional
Strength:
Good tonal range, ability to hadle high contrast scenes. Excellent pushabilty up to 1600 in my experience. Excellent combination of speed and small grain. Good job, Ilford!
Weakness:
None I have been using this film for a couple of years as my standard B&W film both in 35 and 120 sizes. I''ve always rated it at 250 and processed in T-max. My experience has been similar to other reviewers - wonderful film. So I had nothing to add until today. I rated it at 1600 and doubled the processing time in T-max (to 9 minutes at 75 deg. F in rotary Wing Lynch processor). First impression: where the heck is the grain!? I made an 8x12 full frame Epson print scanned at 320 dpi, and the image is very smooth with good tonal gradation, good highlight and shadow detail, and small tight grain. This was made from a 35 mm neg. Images from Delta look much grainier, and Delta only works for me at ISO 1250. TMZ is grainier yet. I think this will be my main low light film from now on with a true iso of 1600. I am glad I re-discovered this film. Customer Service Never needed. Excellent data sheets at Ilford''s website. Similar Products Used: Most Ilford emulsions, T-max, Neopan, Efke, Svema (Ukraine) |
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[Oct 30, 2001]
dcsnapshots hotmail
Expert
Strength:
Photogs eye
Weakness:
Photogs eye Photos and film are all personal preference. Very nice contrast and scaling. Smooth granulation. Rich tone. Complements my snapshots. It''s not the film or the equipment that make the art...it''s the artist. Customer Service no need Similar Products Used: Fuji slide and print (color) film, Ilford B&W film, Kodak slide, color, B&W film Smartmedia... |
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[Sep 18, 2001]
whufe86
Expert
Strength:
Has great tonal range and is easy to print. like the detail in shadow and highlights.
Weakness:
None I consider this a great general purpose black and white film. I have been using this film for a number of years and have always had great results. Customer Service Not Used Similar Products Used: Kodak Plus X Fuji Neopan |
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[Aug 12, 2000]
J Thrush
Intermediate
Strength:
Beautiful contrast, excellent detail, and a solid appearance
Weakness:
none in my experience I was given a couple of rolls of HP5 in 1989 simply because they were around. I had been a solid Kodak user before... one roll developed and I was completely converted to Ilford. The Kodak looked as though a bunch of greys had been thrown together whereas Ilford had true black, true white, and plenty of solid and rich greys. It's just a very substantial appearance which gives character to the subject. I'm completely satisfied with it. Customer Service N/A Similar Products Used: Kodak B&W |
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[Aug 04, 2000]
jj
Expert
Strength:
It's entirely competititive with XXX. But it's ASA 400, not 125 like the tag line up there says!
Weakness:
Not ASA 125 :=) Sometimes i want XXX, sometimes HP5. To be honest, I can see in which scene I want each, but I can't put words to it. Similar Products Used: XXX. |