EXG1 For Pushing HP5+ to 3200

I recently developed some HP5+ shot at 3200 in EXG1. I was actually quite concerned as to what developer to use for this extreme of a push. The film had been sitting in my fridge for months due to my indecision. Finally after testing out EXG1 a lot, I decided to proceed with using it for developing these two rolls of 35mm film. I developed it for 24m and the temperature was ~71F. Normal agitation per minute was used. Overall results are great. As expected there is quite a bit of missing shadow detail that comes with pushing HP5+ this far, but the actual contrast and tonality is great, and the grain is obvious but not ugly. Anyway, enjoy a few of my favorites

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More EXG1 Results

So I’ve now used EXG1 with a stock pile of well preserved but ancient Kodak Plus-X (expiration 1966) that came out with excellent results. I wouldn’t really say it’s an ideal developer for this fogged film due to quite a bit of grain, but I do really enjoy the tonality of it, and the grain isn’t too bad since I’m using it in 6x4.5 format.

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Kodak Plus-X in 6x4.5 developed in EXG1

The Plus-X was developed at 70F for 8m30s. Overall density seemed like it could’ve used just a slight bit less time, and there was some base fogging naturally from the age of the film. However, the base fog was about comparable to a test roll that was processed in D-76.

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Flat (no burn/dodge) 8x8” print on Ilford MGV

Now finally, I also made my first prints from EXG1 processed film. The film used was FP4+ in 35mm processed for 11m in EXG1. Overall wasn’t too difficult to print, but I did have to burn in the sky quite a bit in the high contrast scene on the final print (which I neglected to scan before framing). I used Ilford MGV RC paper developed in Ansco 130 and exposed at f/8 11s with contrast grade 2 filtration.

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Raw film scan of the FP4+ negative

Anyway, so the developer could use a bit more highlight compensation, but other than some clipped highlights I had no problem translating the film onto paper for darkroom printing. It definitely is quite grainy for 35mm FP4+ at box speed, but I tend to like grain anyway and especially like the tonality here. It can be a bit contrasty for portraits, but is great for my other work.