I did an article about pushing Kentmere Pan 400 to 800 and shot some photos at night from the car. I was actually really surprised that anything came out. I thought I’d try pushing HP5 to 3200 in the same setting to see how it compared. I was again surprised to see that there wasn’t much of a difference.
Right Pic: Ilford HP5 400 at 3200
Push processing is when you shoot your film at an ISO higher than box speed, and then develop it at that ISO as well. I developed this film in Kodak HC110 dilution B for 9:30 minutes. I normally process HP5 in Kodak D76, but at 3200 it would’ve taken around 20 minutes.
I used my Leica M2 rangefinder camera for these shots from my car, and that wasn’t ideal because its not as easy to focus from a moving car quickly with a rangefinder as it is with an SLR, at least not for me. I am relatively new to shooting with it. Therefore these moving car results aren’t great and I probably won’t be using that combination again. It was mainly for the sake of this article and to see how the film held up at night when pushed to 3200.
On the other hand, when continuing my quest to find a film to shoot handheld at home, I really liked my results. The highlights weren’t blown in these shots the way they were when I shot Ilford Delta 3200.
When I began this journey I was looking for a film with relatively low contrast and grain, but as I have been pushing different stocks my style I think has changed a tiny bit. The contrast is starting to grow on me. Grain is still something I prefer to be low, but I do like the feel the contrast gives to my photos.
Ilford HP5 400 pushed to 3200 definitely introduces quite a bit of contrast, but I actually found myself adding even more in post.
Final Thoughts
I am really happy to find that I like my results with HP5 pushed to 3200 because it has always been my go-to film. It isn’t too expensive and knowing that it suits my subjects and my style means I will continue to use it. I do however plan on pushing Kentmere to 3200 to see how it compares since it is a little bit cheaper as well as some other stocks that were recommended.
I also plan on continuing this series on my YouTube channel, so be sure to sign up to get my articles in your inbox and please head over to my channel and subscribe there as well.
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Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
By Alyssa Chiarello in Riding In Cars with Film
52 pages, published 11/19/2020
Hi, that is a great article, thanks for sharing it. When you shoot at night do you expose (light meter) how you would normally do at iso 400 then pushing it to ISO3200 in development or do you expose at ISO3200 then pushing it to ISO3200. That’s i find a bit confusing. 👏👏👏
Hi Frank. Thanks! I shoot it (meter at) iso 3200 then develop it at 3200. That is pushing. If I shot it at 400 and then developed it as if it were 3200 i think that would underexpose it. Hope that helps