FP4 Plus 125 film shot at 50.

[alokppatel]

I hope to salvage some shots i got on a trip to california. I shot

a roll of Pan F 50, and then loaded some FP4 Plus, rated at 125 and

did not in my rush to get shooting, adjust the camera. I have been

doing my own developing, using Ilfosol S. Can I salvage this roll?

Or is it hopelessly lost? If i can salvage it, what do I do as far

as developing it. Thank You for any help,

Alok

[michaelging]

you could pull the film a stop,according the massive developing chart FP4 rated at ASA 50, would be developed in Ilfosol S at, (1 to 14 )at 7 min, 30 sec, at 20 degrees C.

[mike dixon]

I regularly rate FP4+ at EI 80 and develop normally--works great that way. You might want to pull development half a stop or reduce your times maybe 10% to 15% so the highlights aren't <b>too</b> dense, but the negs should be quite usable even if you develop normally.

[alokppatel]

Wow, okay, what a relief. I was in this beautiful cedar grove in northern California. It was amazing for B&W shooting, and I was so disappointed when I thought I had lost all of those shots. I will give it a shot tommorrow and let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

Alok

[andre_noble4]

When are people ever going to figure it out? FP4 Plus 125 film SHOULD BE shot around 50. Just develop the &%@# as if nothing 'happened' and you'll do great.

[btmuir]

I think you should be worryiny about the Pan F. I'm lucky to get ISO 25 when developed

normally in D 76.

[nikos peri]

It's a 64 for me, unless light is quite flat, when I'll venture to use it at 80. I'll second that: I'd worry about the Pan F...

[max zappa]

Naturally you have got several answers, with slightly different variables, as one might expect. So here is my 10 cents. I normally rate FP4 at E.I. 80 and develop in D76 at 1+1 dilution for 6 minutes at 20C. However I use a condenser enlarger, so times for a diffuser may be slightly longer.

 

For Ilfosol S , Ilfords recommendations for FP4 rated at EI 50 are 4.5 minutes at 1+9 dilution, or alternatively 7.5 minutes at 1+14 dilution. Providing you use these times, you are likely to produce negatives and hence prints, generally better than when rating the film at EI 125. I say this because, it appears to be generally accepted that manufacturers film speed recommendations are high, and in my experience this would appear to be borne out. Most of my photographer friends after thorough testing, usually rate film speeds at near or around half of the manufacturers recommendations. For example I rate Ilford HP5 at E.I. 160 (one and a third of a stop) and Ilford FP4 at E.I. 80 (two thirds of a stop).

 

I am sure you are now totally confused, lol, but here is the link to Ilfords Site http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/pdf/FP4Plus.pdf

[alokppatel]

Okay, so this is really turning the tables. I went to the Ilford website, and read a little about the reciprocity effect. Since my exposures were longer, I figure my Pan F is a little underexposed anyway. So by not rating it at say 25 that means it will be even more underexposed. right? So I should increse the development by....I don't know how you figure that out, i.e. what system do you use to figure that out. How does the time relate to stops. Oh, and thanks again.

Alok

[max zappa]

Basically by rating a film e.g. Ilford Pan F, from E.I.50 to E.I.25 ,(i.e. half the normal or recommended speed) you are increasing exposure by a factor of 2, or one stop. Camera meter readings will double in duration e.g. 60th sec will now become 30th sec, and so on.

 

This will require decreased development of the negatives to preserve the highlights. My understanding is that as a general rule of thumb, downrating a film by the equivalent of one stop, will require about a 30% decrease in devlopment time. Similarly when uprating or pushing a film, by the eqivalent of 1 stop, will require increased development by 30%. So in answer to your question, if you decide to rate any film at half the manufacturers rating then you will have to reduce development by around 30%. This is a very general rule of course, but should be close to the mark, and given the ability to vary contrast with multigrade papers, should allow you to produce a decent print, by increasing or decreasing the paper grade, should the negatives not be perfect.

 

Hope this helps

 

Max Zappa.

[alokppatel]

Thanks Max, it does help.

Alok

[alokppatel]

Developed both rolls last night they came out great. The Pan F came out a little flat, but I think that may be the exposure more than the devlopment since some of the shots came out fine. The film where Ilford has printed the name of the film, i.e. FP4, was pretty faded, Is that becasue I used less time developing?

[nikos peri]

Disregard the density of the writing on the film edges; particularly for FP4. It is quite unreliable, and often is faded even on overdeveloped negs. (I asked the same question a while back). The print is the only arbiter.

[Bill Bowes]

Hello everyone. For well over 35 years I have experimented with different emulsion (B/W) exposure/development times. Doing this work BEFORE the occasional goof up in the field can spare one a lot of grief about what to do with the "goof". Additionaly, you will find many "tricks" for each emulsion type that later can be used deliberatly.. Have fun with this "work". Bill