Pushing Ilford FP4 to 400

Hello,

 

I've accidentally shot a roll of Ilford FP4+ at ISO 400. I can't seem to find the recommended times/temperature for developing FP4+ at

400 in DD-X. Has anyone had any prior experience?

 

Thanks,

Will.

<p>Will, You might<a href="http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=FP4&Developer=&mdc=Search&TempUnits=F"> start here.</a> Good luck. Best, Len.</p>

Thanks Len, I'm curious to see how the negs come out as I've heard FP4 isn't the best film to push.

<p>FP4+ pushes okay. It's a versatile film that responds well to different developers and techniques. I found it worked well with ID-11 and Microphen, but was a bit disappointing in Diafine when rated above the box speed of 125 in contrasty lighting.</p>

<p>But results depend on lighting, metering and exposure biases, developer and technique, and desired results.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<ul>

<li>If the lighting was contrasty daylight, it's probably best to avoid push processing. Just develop normally. This will minimize the risk of excessive contrast and grain.</li>

<li>If the lighting was tricky - say, stage lighting with a dark background and surroundings - the meter may have been fooled. Setting the ISO is arbitrary. What really matters is the actual exposure. In some cases push processing may help; in others, it may result in excessive contrast.</li>

<li>If the lighting was flat - say, overcast or very even but dim indoor lighting - push processing may restore desirable contrast and make the midtones more satisfactory and easier to print or scan well.</li>

</ul>

<p>The massive development chart says 200 or 250 for Diafine. I forget which the box actually says, but either way it isn't a huge push. </p>

<p>In my experience FP4+ in Diafine at EI 250 for photos in contrasty lighting offered none of the advantages of Tri-X in Diafine. The negatives were extremely contrasty with little true shadow detail. Microphen was better for pushing FP4+. DDX and a few other speed enhancing developers would probably do as well.</p>

<p>Diafine is a quirky developer that works very well with some films but is mediocre with others. I got excellent results with Diafine on Tri-X at 1200, Pan F+ at 50 (the only developer I tried that delivered good results at the box speed in contrasty daylight), and Delta 3200 at 1600-3200. Most other films I tried with Diafine were no better (HP5+) than with conventional developers and some were subjectively worse (TMX and TMY were odd looking, at best).</p>

<p>I once pushed the non-plus version of FP4 using Acufine (not Diafine) to an E.I. of 250 and it looked good, but Acufine is a single bath developer so not really a fair comparison. However, Microphen does offer times for an E.I. of 200. Maybe work from there. An extended water bath (2 to 4 minutes) after pouring out developer might tame the contrast. </p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Just saw this and will add 2 time combos to help out future visitors...</p>

<p>FP4+</p>

<p>@ 320 ASA - D76 1:1 29min 22'C......good<br>

@ 400 ASA - Ilfosol 3 1:14 12min 24'C ...... still a bit thin...better at maybe 16 min...<br>

agitation 2 inv start of every minute with a water pre-wash</p>

<p> </p>