What is the difference between Ilford Plus and Delta films?

Plus films (HP5, FP4, Pan F) use traditional cubic grain for a classic, punchy look. Delta films use modern tabular grain for finer grain and higher sharpness at the same speed, with a cleaner tonality.

Can I push Ilford HP5 to 1600?

Yes. HP5 Plus is famous for pushing. Rate it at 1600, extend development, and you gain contrast and grain that suit low light, concerts and reportage without losing usable detail.

The Complete Ilford Film Guide

Ilford is the last great dedicated black-and-white film maker. Here is how its whole range behaves, from grainy HP5 to silky Delta 100.

If you shoot black and white, you shoot Ilford sooner or later. The British manufacturer, based at Mobberley in Cheshire, is the last major company devoted almost entirely to monochrome film, paper and chemistry, and its range is deep enough to cover every lighting situation and every taste in grain. Ilford films split into two families: the classic Plus emulsions with traditional cubic grain, and the modern Delta emulsions with fine, tabular grain. The Plus films give you that timeless, slightly gritty silver-gelatin look; the Delta films give you clinical sharpness and smoothness. Learn the difference and you can pick a stock on purpose rather than by habit. Here is the whole line.

HP5 Plus — the workhorse

HP5 Plus 400 is the film most photographers reach for first, and many never stop. It is a forgiving ISO 400 stock with wide exposure latitude, moderate contrast and pronounced but pleasing grain. You can underexpose or overexpose it by a stop or two and still pull a usable negative, which is exactly what you want when the light is changing fast on the street. Its real superpower is push processing: HP5 pushes cleanly to 800, 1600 and even 3200, gaining contrast and grit that suit reportage, gigs and low light. It is the classic documentary and street film for good reason, and it develops beautifully in almost any developer, from Ilford ID-11 to Kodak HC-110. Photographers from Don McCullin to countless newspaper shooters built careers on emulsions like this, and it remains the single most recommended film for anyone starting out in black and white because it teaches you the craft without punishing every mistake.

FP4 Plus — the fine-grain classic

FP4 Plus 125 is HP5's slower, sharper cousin. At ISO 125 it delivers finer grain, higher resolution and a long, gentle tonal scale that makes it superb for landscape, still life and studio work where you control the light. It has beautiful highlight retention and a slightly vintage character that flatters architecture and quiet, contemplative frames. Many photographers who love HP5 for the street keep FP4 for their tripod work.

Pan F Plus — the sharpest

Pan F Plus 50 is Ilford's slowest general film. At ISO 50 the grain is nearly invisible and sharpness is exceptional, giving glassy, detailed negatives ideal for bright light and big enlargements. Its tonality is crisp and high in micro-contrast. It is less forgiving of exposure error and, because of a mild latent-image instability, it is best developed reasonably soon after shooting rather than left in the camera for months.

The Delta family — modern tabular grain

Delta 100: extremely fine grain and high sharpness with a clean, modern tonality — Ilford's answer to Kodak T-Max 100, ideal for detailed landscape and studio work.
Delta 400: finer grain than HP5 at the same speed, with a smoother, more clinical look; a great all-rounder for those who prefer refinement over grit while keeping ISO 400 flexibility.
Delta 3200: a genuine high-speed film (true speed around 1000, rated and designed to be shot at 3200) for concerts, indoor and night work. Big, atmospheric grain is part of the appeal rather than a defect to fight.

The specialists — XP2 and SFX

XP2 Super 400 is a chromogenic black-and-white film developed in standard C-41 color chemistry, so any one-hour lab that handles color can process it — hugely convenient if you have no darkroom. It offers very wide latitude, shoots well anywhere from 200 to 800 on the same roll, and gives smooth, even grain. SFX 200 is an extended-red-sensitivity film that, with a deep red (e.g. 720nm) filter, produces near-infrared effects: white foliage, dark dramatic skies and an otherworldly glow to skin. It is not true infrared film, but it gets remarkably close for far less hassle.

How to choose and develop

For everyday shooting and learning to develop at home, start with HP5 Plus — it is cheap, forgiving and pushes when you need speed. Move to FP4 or Delta 100 when you want the cleanest big prints, and reach for Delta 3200 or a pushed HP5 for dark venues. Keep XP2 in the bag for the days you have no time to develop and want a lab to handle it, and save SFX for a bright summer afternoon when you want that surreal infrared drama. Ilford's own developers pair predictably with the films: ID-11 or Perceptol for fine grain, Microphen for extra speed, and DD-X for the Delta line.

Formats and the wider system

Almost every Ilford film comes in both 35mm and 120, and several in large-format sheets, so once you settle on a look you can scale it from a compact camera up to a view camera without changing your palette. Ilford also makes the paper and chemistry to finish the job — Multigrade papers, ID-11, Rapid Fixer and more — which means you can shoot, develop and print an entire photograph inside one coherent, well-documented system. That vertical integration is a big reason the brand has survived while most of its rivals folded. For anyone learning the craft, sticking to one manufacturer's ecosystem removes a lot of guesswork.

Between the classic Plus films, the refined Delta line and these specialists, Ilford covers everything from soft portraiture to gritty reportage to surreal infrared, and it does so with published development times you can trust for every popular developer. Boston Camera keeps the Ilford range and the developer to match whichever look you choose.