Ilford FP4 Black & White 35mm Film in a Pentax K1000 is an Excellent Combo

Using the Pentax K1000 35mm camera with a 50mm f/1.7 SMC lens, I could not have been happier with the results of the Ilford FP4 Plus 125 black and white film. I shot this roll on a sunny day, a few hours before sundown, but in late-February, so the sun was at a sharp angle, giving me very nice light to play with.

Scanned on an Epson V600 using the basic version of Epson Scan software, I was able to get magnificant contrast, and incredibly sharp images almost straight out of the scanner.

I import my tif images into Lightroom for both catalog purposes, as well as minor adjustments. Some films require a lot of adjustments, but as I said, I found this roll of FP4 to be almost perfect right away. Other than a few adjustments for exposure or opening up some shadow areas, the dynamic range of this film proved to be incredibly broad.

FORGIVING LATITUDE

According to Ilford, the FP4 Plus film will give usable results even if it is overexposed by as much as six stops, or underexposed by two stops. I find this to be a great benefit to not only newbies experimenting with different lighting, but also shooting on-the-go as I do where lighting changes frequently. This is also helpful for self-developers, as discussed later in this article.

LOW CONTRAST

The contrast is incredible (as someone who loves contrast), with deep blacks and plenty of details in the highlights. If you prefer a flat negative that you can customize, this isn't likely your best choice. The burned in character of this film is bright, sharp and plenty of contrast.

GRAIN

My first couple rolls did produce some pronounced grain, but that was likely over-development, which I tend to do on purpose because I like contrast and grain, but in general, this is a very low-grain looking film. Very pleasant and I find the grain to be a perfect balance.

DEVELOPING

As mentioned above regarding forgiving latitude (my term), Ilford touts this film's  versatility in both shooting and development, being extremely forgiving in different temperatures and will tolerate less than ideal processing conditions. This is good for newer hobbyists experimenting with development techniques and different chemicals.

SCANNING

I still use an Epson V600 scanner with no additional software other than the original Espon Scan, imported to Lightroom where I make very few adjustments other than typically exposure and shadow enhance. Since I shoot a lot on sunny days, I often also tend to pull the HIGHLIGHT slider down to bring back the details in the sky and other bright areas. This film adjusts great in these areas.