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Ilford FP4 Plus - 35mm
It’s safe to say that Ilford FP4 Plus isn’t your grandparent’s film... it is also quite possible that your grandparents once used some of the FP film family, seeing as the first emulsion in this line of film was introduced in 1935.
Ilford first announced Fine-Grained Panchromatic (FP for short) roll films in 1935. The FP film would eventually undergo revisions, until Ilford reached FP4 in 1968. This film was eventually succeeded by FP4 Plus in 1990. Over the decades between these film types, the look of FP4 and FP4 Plus has changed as the emulsion has been tweaked. Though, some things have remained quite constant - FP4 Plus remains one of Ilford’s more versatile and beautiful films.
Ilford FP4 Plus is a cubic grain emulsion, just like it’s higher speed kin, HP5 Plus, and its now-deceased rival, Kodak Plus-X. As a cubic grain emulsion, different from modern T-grain emulsions, FP4 Plus has a more classic and textured look to its grain that continues to give the film a timeless feel. It is a film like FP4 Plus that will make you fall in love with film grain.
FP4 Plus is also known for its contrast. While not as high contrast as some films, such as orthochromatic emulsions, FP4 Plus has a nice, dramatic contrast to it. FP4 Plus exposures are especially known for their dramatic and deep shadows - these deep shadows don’t sacrifice the midtones.
The look of FP4 Plus’ grain and contrast can be highly customized depending on how the film is developed in the darkroom. This gets to another one of FP4 Plus’ big strengths: its versatility. The film's extremely long production run has given countless photographers ample opportunities to experiment and hone in on various development methods. You can easily find developing times for FP4 Plus shot at speeds ranging from ISO 100 up to ISO 6400. We have even heard of photographers pulling it down to ISO 50 and pushing it up to ISO 8000. Even if you don’t plan on changing FP4 Plus’ speed, you can customize its grain and contrast through development as well. By varying the developer of choice (Ilford DD-X will produce a different look than Rodinal 1:50, for example), the temperature and dilution of that developer, you can further smooth out FP4 Plus’ grain and contrast, or increase them for even more drama. In this sense, FP4 Plus can really be seen as dozens of different films all wrapped up in one package. If you want a film to hole up with, all winter with in the darkroom, FP4 Plus will make sure you don’t get bored of it.
What more could you want of a film, you ask? How about the fact that it is available in several different film types? FP4 Plus can be found in the usual formats of 35mm and 120, but it is also widely available in large format sizes. You have the big three large formats covered easily enough with 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10. Fp4 Plus is also one of the few films that is part of Ilford’s ULF (Ultra Large Format) program, meaning that it is possible to track down this famous emulsion in sheets of such size as 9x12cm, 2.25x3.25in, 4x10in, 11x14 and more. It’s versatility isn’t just in its image qualities but its shape and size as well!
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