Hi Ian.
Not shouting at you at all (as if!).
I used XP2 a few times years back and was quite impressed by it, but that was with commercial C41 processing. My understanding was that XP2 gives a beautiful, smooth tonal rendering which is at least partly down to the dye process masking grain structure.
If you're going to develop XP2 in ordinary B&W chemistry don't you lose that? Or, to put it another way, what does XP2 in HC110 give you that (for example) FP4 doesn't?

Still looking forward to seeing them!

Xp2
 

I am with Skellum on this one. I cannot see the point in using XP2 film and developing it in ordinary chemicals. It is a C41 film which uses colour film technology to get B&W negatives.

This almost the same as the Photrio site where one sees regular posts about developing 'X' film in such and such a developer when it isn't recommended, then wonder why when the results are not what they expect.

Perhaps it is because I process C41 anyway for colour negs and I can use one developer to do many tasks.

I suppose you've already done your homework on this, so good luck, Ian.
https://www.photrio.com/forum/thread...s.145287/print

I'm very happy with the XP2 Super negatives that I've processed in HC-110 or Ilfotec HC. They are printing extremely easily for me at the moment; and after several years of this they still look fine themselves. Ian, you have experience of this and shouldn't be put off standing by your choice.

Marty, your post beat mine to it. Your link is exactly what set me off on this practice.

Thanks for the replies.

I have developed XP2in HC-110 before and had pretty good results, HC-110 is my only developer and I use it for my Foma100, again not recommended, but works really well.

I can't find it now, but I was involved in thread on just this subject.

Marty, yep, like Michael that started me off.

I've gone for XP2 in the hope that the 400 speed combined with the little / no grain will work across the shoot.

The 100 is more in the way of a fun gamble.

Ian

HC110 does seem to be the developer favoured by a number of people who use XP2 Plus. There was a very long thread on this combo on Photrio(it may even be the link referred to by Marty) and the person whose thread it was used a picture of an old railway clock I think.

It looked very good, assuming of course that what you see on any forum regarding pictures is truly representative of the actual darkroom print.

What I don't think I have ever seen is a comparison of two prints of scenes where all conditions are the same in which the grain of the prints from C41 was compared to that from the HC110 or indeed any other b&w developer.

Mike

You may call me biased, but a lot of what appears on Photrio is I think not of practical experience but thought up after half a bottle of Bourbon whiskey!

They sometimes have some very 'odd' ideas!

Actually I may be going over to XP2 as my standard B&W because of the consistency of developing in C41 chemicals and cutting down what I need for doing conventional B&W and C41 colour. The film prices are not so great now either and bought in bulk rolls is not a problem when it is to be self loaded is not a huge problem.

Just been refreshing my memory about developing XP2 Super in HC-110 and although I understand this is not be a fully recognised way of doing things by Ilford they do have a page on their website about it

https://www.ilfordphoto.com/ilford-x...ite-chemistry/

So maybe not such a "left of field" thing to do.

Ian

PS have found the XP2 thread from 2018, was it really that long ago ? Doesn't time fly ?

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...ad.php?t=11978

Ian - thanks for bringing up XP2 in HC110....very interesting combination, which I hadn't heard of before. I just read the Ilford blog post, and really like what that fellow did with it. Esp. at iso 100 -- lovely tones. At iso 400 too -- nice gutsy tones, but not too contrasty.

I may try this as an alternative to TMX/TMY and D100 when I want a super-smooth low grain neg, as I have not been entirely happy with my results from those. I wonder what the enlargement capabilities of XP2 in 35mm at, say, iso 100 would be? Looks like it could be very promising.

Keep us posted on how your project turns out!

Total Disaster - Equipment failure
 

What a disaster today has turned out to be.

Had two X300 bodies loaded and prepped with new batteries and cleaned, only for a total equipment failure to stop me in my tracks.

First body managed 2 frames and second body managed 22 frames before they both died.

Reckon it's the curse of the X300's striking again. I think they are susceptible to a capacitor going in the base of the camera which stops them from winding on / cocking the shutter, making the whole body a pretty good door stop.

Who would believe that they could both die within about 5 minutes of each other.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the film, think I'm going to have to rewind it and then reload into a different body, wind and shoot with lens cap on past last used frame and finish them up from that point.

Hey ho, that's life, could do with trimming down my camera collection, so that's two gone.

Ian