Ilford HP5 PLUS 400 120 is a black and white panchromatic sensitized negative roll film whose great advantage is its extraordinary exposure flexibility.
What makes this film particularly outstanding is its low grain size, which increases only very gradually with prolonged development. These properties make it ideal for reportage and sports photography, or for photographs in low-light conditions.
Thanks to its versatility and extremely wide flexibility, this film is very popular among photographers. The nominal sensitivity of the film is ISO 400/27°, but its high exposure flexibility gives very good results even at moderate overexposure (250 ISO) and underexposure (3200 ISO).
Panchromatic films react to reality in a similar way to the human eye, which perceives light rays with wavelengths from approximately 380 nm to 740 nm (visible light), but in some cases can also be sensitive to the UV and IR component of light. It is therefore advisable to have a UV filter on the lens to suppress the effect of radiation on the film material. In order to achieve the correct sensitivity to the entire spectrum of visible light, this film is sensitized, which guarantees the correct conversion of the colour reality to the grey scale. If the film were not sensitized, it would not be able to respond to light rays of a certain wavelength, and so the resulting photographs would lack some parts of the tonal range. For example, the film would not respond to green, yellow, orange and red, i.e. it would not detect them and on a black and white positive these shades would be black or otherwise dark. Such material finds application mostly only in the field of scientific and industrial photography, where these "deficiencies" are dealt with deliberately.
Practical application:
At optimum exposure, Ilford HP5 PLUS 400 provides a very rich range of halftones and faithful drawing in both the light and dark parts of the exposed scene. The film is extremely versatile and therefore finds application in many areas of creative photography.
Film processing:
Safe lighting for developing is either infrared light or complete darkness. Ilford FP4 PLUS 125 film can be processed in all common negative developers (but Ilford ILFOTEC, MICROPHEN or Kodak D76 are recommended). The development bath should take 12 min for Ilford MICROPHEN and 11 min for Kodak D76 at a dilution ratio of 1:1. After the development time has elapsed, it is recommended to rinse the film briefly with distilled water or immerse it in a 2% acetic acid solution for 10 s, or use a break bath for approx. 1 min. Setting of the film is recommended at temperatures of 18-25°C, 2-5 min in Ilford Rapid Fixer diluted 1:4, or a minimum of 3 min in Fomafix Rapid Fixer diluted 1:5. After setting, the film must be washed in running water for 20-30 minutes at a wash water temperature below 15°C, or 15 minutes at a wash water temperature above 15°C. It is recommended to finish the film processing by rinsing the washed film with distilled water or by immersion in a wetting agent solution. When developing and settling in the developer bath, it is advisable to shake the developer during the first minute and every 10 seconds thereafter. For optimal results, it is advisable to maintain the manufacturer's recommended time and speed of shaking, but also the correct bath temperature (20°C), dilution ratio (1 part solution : n parts water) and their quality (freshness, cleanliness).The times given are only indicative, before using the film material, it is recommended to study the information provided by the manufacturer on the packaging or in the product data sheet.
