QuestionHP5 at 1600 for night street in Leith, push it or buy Delta 3200?

First post, hello. Been shooting film for about a year, AE-1 Program and the FD 50 1.8, mostly HP5 at box speed and a lab does everything for me.

Now it's dark by the time I'm out of work I want to keep going round Leith and the Shore in the evenings. Meter says 1/30 at f/1.8 at 1600 under the street lights, which seems doable. Question is whether to push HP5 two stops and tell the lab, or just buy Delta 3200 and rate it at 1600 or so. Delta's a fair bit dearer a roll.

Also do labs charge extra for a push, or is that a daft question

Push the HP5. It's made for it, goes to 1600 without breaking a sweat, and you save a few quid a roll. Delta 3200 is lovely but it's really a 1000-ish speed film, so at 1600 you're only pushing it a touch and paying extra for speed you're not using.

Most labs charge for a push, usually a couple of quid a roll. Ring yours and ask. And welcome, pal.

lucyinthedarkroom said:

Push the HP5

Yep. HP5 at 1600 from a lab is a nice look, contrasty, blacks go proper black under street lights. If you ever start home developing its the cheapest way to shoot at night by miles

Drummond said:

Also do labs charge extra for a push

Ah, HP5 at 1600... my dad swore by it in Microphen, though to be fair he swore by most things in Microphen, including the time he tried developing the holiday snaps in the kitchen sink and turned the grout grey for the best part of a decade. Mum never let it go.

Worth asking your lab whether they actually extend the development for a push, or just stick a label on the cassette and run it through the machine with everything else? Most are honest, but you'd never know until the negatives came back thin... and by then what can you do, reshoot the evening? Ask what developer they use while you're at it. If they say something with a lot of speed in it, lovely. If they don't know, that tells you something too.

And meter for the shadows you care about, not the street lamp. A pushed film forgives a lot but it won't invent detail in a doorway that never got any light. Ilford for this every time, mind.

lucyinthedarkroom said:

Ring yours and ask

Rang them this morning, it's £2.50 extra a roll and they do adjust the time. Still cheaper than the Delta. HP5 it is, cheers all

Back when we did this with Tri-X at 1600 under sodium lights nobody called it a "look". It was just the only way to get the shot, and we were grateful for it. Grain like golf balls, blocked highlights on every lamp, and some of the best pictures I ever took. Have fun with it.

First pushed roll back. Couple of frames on the Shore under the lamps I'm chuffed with. The rest are thin in the doorways, exactly like Pete said they'd be. Lesson learned, meter for the shadows, not the lamp.

Drummond said:

The rest are thin in the doorways

Welcome to night film pal. Half your keepers will come from frames you nearly didn't bother taking. Next step's developing it yourself, you know it is.