It must be 30 years since I’ve used ILFORD FP4 PLUS, of course, it was plain FP4 in those days (I stopped using it before the PLUS arrived in 1990). ILFORD’s FP films have been around in various guises since 1935, that’s 83 years and long may it continue. I was given a fresh roll last year and in the EMULSIVE spirit of adventure, after reading EM’s FP4 PLUS review, thought I would give it a go.
I popped the roll into my Leica M2 with its Summarit-M 50mm lens. I guess this must be one of the commonest of medium speed films used today but to me, it was like discovering a new film. I shot it in a variety of locations and lighting. Since using this roll I have also bought some 4×5 film for my Intrepid. This 35mm roll was lab processed in Fuji Negastar and scanned; it suits this developer. The 4×5 sheets were lab-processed in ILFOTEC DD and scanned, this gives very similar results, you can see these images in my Intrepid 4×5 camera review.
The images really pop out, grain is fine, definition is excellent. In short: really pleasant images. I particularly liked the film’s handling of high contrast, strong sunshine. This film may have been around for a long time but it is very capable of producing great results. Having a latitude of –1.5 to +6 stops, it’s pretty bulletproof with dodgy exposures. After all these years away from FP4 PLUS, it proved to be a welcome return.
~ Phil
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2 responses to “5 Frames… With ILFORD FP4 PLUS (EI 125 / 35mm format / Leica M2)”
Thank You, rverstee.
Phil, it,s indeed a very good film i use it and this summer is was in the south of France the light conditions were very hard, i took some pictures during noon….full sun power and yet mazing results with this film. Thanks for sharing.