Ilford FP4 in a Pentax K1000 is an Excellent Black and White Film Combination for Beginners

Using the Pentax K1000 35mm camera with a 50mm f/1.7 SMC lens, I could not have been happier with the results of the Ilford FP4 Plus 125 black and white film. I shot this roll on a sunny day, a few hours before sundown, but in late-February, so the sun was at a sharp angle, giving me very nice light to play with.
Scanned on an Epson V600 using the basic version of Epson Scan software, I was able to get magnificant contrast, and incredibly sharp images almost straight out of the scanner.
I import my tif images into Lightroom for both catalog purposes, as well as minor adjustments. Some films require a lot of adjustments, but as I said, I found this roll of FP4 to be almost perfect right away. Other than a few adjustments for exposure or opening up some shadow areas, the dynamic range of this film proved to be incredibly broad.
Developed in Cinestill DF96 Mono bath - amzn.to/3TgyikM
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#filmphotography #pentaxk1000 #Ilfordfp4

[@garyweatherford9484]

Lost my K1000 in a house fire. It was the most versitile I ever owned and miss it dearly. I am using the K70 now but still miss the K1000.

[@semperfi-1918]

Just scored a k1000 se. Amd once warm weather comes im goona do some photos. For now doing practice woth my pentax K50. Learning how to create good photos. Excellent job. Biggest thing is getting out and using the camera.

[@DozierGraphic]

Good stuff! Yes, I'm always amazed anytime I get keeper photos lol But if you don't get out and shoot, you get nothing! And nothing wrong with that K50 either. Most all old pentax cameras are worthy of owning.

[@zhongyao-sc1lj]

what iso did you use?all film shot with over-all integral metering?

[@sdhute]

I’d like to see your DF96 technique. Still practicing after 4 different rolls still don’t have them developed good enough for scan. Thinking either my developer is too old or I’m not agitating right. After using dark bag and Patterson tank. I’ve been using room temperature Df96 and rotating it with lid on for 6 mins and I have added 15 seconds per roll I’ve developed. Then I dump developer back into container. Rinse with room temperature water. And use Kodak product to eliminate streaks.

[@DozierGraphic]

I've corresponded a few times with the very helpful techs at Cinestill, and was told (not quoting them, just what I picked up from the conversation) that optimal results are heating the DF96 to 80 degrees (F) and doing the constant inversion for 3 minutes (assuming it's the first roll in the jug, otherwise add 15 seconds each additional roll), which is what I do with all my rolls. I tried the two other options they list and did not have as good results as just doing constant inversion. I was able to easily get my chemicals to 80' just by running hot tap water and letting the jug sit in a tupperware container until it reaches 80'. I did not have to keep the tap running the entire time, just got it good and hot, turned tap off and within five minutes was easily at 80'. In addition, I've experimented with pushing 400 speed film to 800 and 1600 with nice results as well (those videos are coming). To push to 800, just start with 90' water, with 1600 you need to be closer to 100, which I couldn't reach with the tap, but got well into 95' and went with that - great results. Bottom line, I'd go with the 80' and constant inversion. Even though purists will tell you any developer less than 4:00 isn't good/effective, I find it works great with DF96. Hope that helps, and yes, there is a video in the works to explain all this. Thanks so much for watching and your question/comment!

[@DozierGraphic]

ADDED NOTE: DF96 only has a shelf life of about 2 months after opening, so if it's been sitting a while that could easily be your issue.

[@sdhute]

@@DozierGraphic thanks I I will try and heat up on the next roll. This time I used a white phone screen app and the photo myne app. The pictures looked better then I expected grainy however using this janky method with the apps. Thanks for the help going to experiment more before I buy that plustek ai8300 scanner. Trying to get it down before I invest more funds. The bottle of Df96 is about a year old now. Need to replace that too.