Hi Frank, First, congratulations for the success! Second, I think that the prize is great!(posted 9053 days ago)I've been into B&W for only about 16 months and have used Ilfords 100&400 Delta, HP5+ and FP4+.
Without hesitation I can say that FP4+ is the film that I have enjoyed the most. I first started out with the Delta films thinking that newer technology is better. It was only after making my first print from my first FP4+ roll that i said "WOW! This is great". The Delta films are probably better for more experienced photographers who also manage to control the development precisely. But for an amateur like me, whose developer can easily be off by 1-2 degrees C, older technology films might be the better solution. I'm not quite sure yet about what actually fascinates me so much about FP4+. The prints simply look beautiful. Maybe more experienced FP4+ users who also like this film can put the magic into the right words.
These days, I usually develop FP4+ in ID-11(1+3) @ 14 min @ 20 degrees C. (I used to develop for 17 min. The negatives were a little denser but still easy to print). My normal prints are usually 14cm x 21cm and at this size the grain is very fine with very high sharpness (tripod mounted camera & prime lens). For competitons I make 20cm x 30cm prints and although the grain is more visible at this size I don't find it distracting at all.
I rate FP4+ at EI100. This is not from any test I've conducted but from general recommendations to rate the film speed a little higher (I've found rigid testing of films, as I've learned it from a couple of Zone System books to be rather difficult. But this is another topic).
I also wonder what others think about FP4+.
Best Regards, omar