Ilford data I have at hand show nearly straight line at slight bend at midtone depending on how you see it. I do not know if Ilford has made a change in the film recently (because my stock is in bricks I bought many months ago that are frozen). However, I don't know how much I trust Ilford's published data because they tend to oversimplified. Either way, compared to XP2, Delta 3200 and Delta 400, HP5+'s shoulder is almost nonexistent.(posted 8077 days ago)If you can make a big shoulder, I would like to know how. One of my ultimate purpose of messing with chemical is to make one film produce straight line and a big shoulder depending on processing (with little hope... I don't know a trick at this moment).