Ilford XP2

Some people wouldn’t even go near XP2, they’ll try and tell you that it’s not real black and white, just because it’s C-41 (processed with colour film chemistry.)

XP2 was the first black and white film I ever tried, simply because of this character. At the time I hadn’t found a developers that I liked, and was just sticking to a high street store who only dealt with C41 — it was natural for me to just use the film that they’d be able to do.

I’m personally much more of a colour film user, however I really enjoyed my experience with XP2, I can’t speak for any of the development side of things as I didn’t do it myself, but I am more than happy with the results. The images have a great silvery feel to the skin tones and the perfect level of contrast for me.

I’ll leave a few of my favourite images i’ve taken with XP2 below so that you can get a feel for the films look, I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you haven’t, especially if you’re just getting started with film photography.

All images taken by George Muncey on a Contax T2 using Ilford XP2