March has been a much better month weather wise for photography and I managed to complete my comparison of Kodak Tri-X and Ilford HP5 this week by shooting a roll of Ilford HP5 in my Nikon F801 and Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 plastic fantastic lens. I have enjoyed my look at perhaps the most popular and best selling films of the last few decades. I think I can safely say that the availability of Ilford and Kodak film has been a big part of keeping film photography alive for the film photography community in the teeth of the Digital Revolution. Both companies have had their rocky moments, but with Ilford and Kodak still in business, I reckon it gives confidence to other manufacturers that they too can have a viable film business in the 21st century.
I went back to Mesnes Park in Wigan to shoot my roll of HP5 (it is my favourite classroom), I like to be able to compare like for like as well as different compositions. The light is never the same, but it's not so dissimilar that it makes the exercise a waste of time. As it happened it was another 1/250th f/11 kind of day in Wigan on a bright Wednesday afternoon. I enjoyed a bit of exercise and explored a few old favourite's and tried some different ones to get a range of shots I could pixel peep at home. The Park was a bit busier than my previous visit and I had to wait around for a little while near to the statue of Sir Francis Sharp Powell whilst a steady stream of folk gave his foot a rub for luck. You have to respect local customs and, when in Rome... yep I gave his foot a rub too.
Time flies when you're having fun and before long I had just about finished my roll so I headed for home. I developed this weeks film in Kodak HC-110 dilution B for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and hung it to dry in my bathroom. I was quite pleased with the negatives, they seemed to be quite an even spread as I had been trying a couple at 1/500th f/16 and others at 1/200th f/8 for differences on light and shade etc. I did miss a few exposures, either a bit too much over or under, but that's the joy of learning isn't it? There was nothing I couldn't put right in Affinity Photo if I needed to do more than tidying the dust spots etc.
I have really enjoyed taking a look at these two films and learned a lot in the process. They are very similar and I can see why folk like to use them. Consistency, sharpness, grain that doesn't overpower the image and a great tonal range are the hallmarks of them both. It's been a formula for success for 6 decades and I hope it continues for another 6 decades and more for both companies.
I said in my first look at these films that the only real difference is the price, Ilford HP5 is a couple of bucks/quid cheaper than Tri-X but it certainly isn't inferior. I will happily shoot both again for as long as both companies still make them, but if I was pressed into making a choice my heart says Ilford. The factory is an hours drive from my home and during these troubled times I think it's important to buy local, but I can still have Tri-X on the side for a little garnish every now and then.
Here's a few of my images from this roll of HP5 and I have put an album on my Flickr account where you can see for yourself how I got on with both films over the course of this month. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them.
Ilford HP5 - Nikon F801
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