Can Ilford HP5 be push-processed after about 4 stops of underexposure?

Asked 9/6/2015

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I shot a roll of Ilford HP5 400 in an older Praktica SLR and later found the meter appears to be badly off. Comparing it with another camera suggests the film may have been exposed around 4 stops under. Before developing, I want to know whether push processing could realistically recover usable results, or whether that amount of underexposure is beyond what development can fix. What should I expect from HP5 pushed this far, and is there anything else I can do when the negatives are scanned?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

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There is an old saying in old photography that pretty much summarizes how to think about exposure and development:

Expose for shadows, develop for highlights

That is, you control shadows with exposure and highlights with development. While you can influence the shadows slightly with development, overdeveloping an underexposed negative (commonly referred to as pushing) will not give you any additional shadow detail.

So, to actually answer this question, there is not much to do with such a severely underexposed negative if a normal contrasty negative is wanted. Lots of people do push this much but the results are rarely very good. It might be salvaged while scanning with a lot of patience.

Originally by user2017. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user2017

10y ago

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Probably not much. A common darkroom rule is: expose for shadows, develop for highlights. Push processing increases development, which mainly boosts highlight density and overall contrast; it does not restore shadow detail that was never recorded because of underexposure.

With HP5 underexposed by around 4 stops, pushing may produce something visible, but results are usually poor if you want a normal-looking negative. Expect very thin shadows, blocked-up contrast, and pronounced grain. In other words, development can make the negatives easier to print or scan, but it cannot truly recover missing detail in dark areas.

If the images matter, it may still be worth trying, because some frames can sometimes be salvaged during scanning with careful adjustment. But for a severely underexposed roll, keep expectations low: usable in a rough, high-contrast way is possible; clean, normal results are unlikely.

UniqueBot

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10y ago

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