Burton Agnes Hall & a question

[PetethePrimate]

A few from the film I shot here over Easter. If someone could answer a question for me I'd appreciate it. The last film I shot was an Ilford XP2 400 (C41 process) film & overall the shots were probably more consistent than the results with this one.
This film was an Ilford HP5 400 and it seems to be a bit more sensitive than the XP2. For example, in the 2nd shot there is a grainy appearance to the sky and the highlights on the statue's flowers on the last one are overexposed. I'm using an old Petri TTL SLR with a 55mm 1.8 lens.

I wonder if I would be better off sticking to the XP2 than the HP5 or whether it's just me not getting the exposure correct. Would I benefit from using any kind of filter in bright sunlight?

Any comments appreciated.

Thanks for looking

 

[joxby]

It is unlikely to be the film at fault, more likely the limitations or accuracy of the metering.
Your shots with the C41 film appear to have been shot on a cloudy day, or at least at a time when there wasn't the direct sunlight there is in these HP5 shots.
Hp5 isn't especially grainy but grain can appear more pronounced for a number of reasons associated with the chemical processing and any digital editing of the scan itself.
You'd have to pick 1 HP5 shot and 1 Kodak CN to compare, then maybe the differences between just those 2 could be explained or suggested in more detail.

 

[Knikki]

Are you developing & scanning the HP5 and is the shop doing the XP2?

Scanners will always show grain loads more then if you do a traditional wet print. It is just the way they work.

I have found in the past that HP5 will appear more grainy than Delta 400 because the grain structure is different, these days I tend to scan B&W at 1500dpi to reduce the more noticeable grain. Works for me.

Filters for a bright day?

ND can work, orange and red will darken a blue sky plus orange will add more contrast to stone work.

Overall I think a good set there Pete.

 

[PetethePrimate]

Are you developing & scanning the HP5 and is the shop doing the XP2?

Scanners will always show grain loads more then if you do a traditional wet print. It is just the way they work.

I have found in the past that HP5 will appear more grainy than Delta 400 because the grain structure is different, these days I tend to scan B&W at 1500dpi to reduce the more noticeable grain. Works for me.

Filters for a bright day?

ND can work, orange and red will darken a blue sky plus orange will add more contrast to stone work.

Overall I think a good set there Pete.

The XP2 was developed at ASDA but this one was developed by this firm as ASDA have decided they can only cope with developing 1 B&W film a month. These were scanned onto a CD as part of the process and the print of #2 also shows a grainy sky.
I'm aware that the camera is 40 years old & was produced at the time as a low to mid range SLR but with this film the results have been a bit more hit and miss than with the XP2. I might invest in an orange filter.

@Joxby, yes, this film was shot on 2 very bright sunny days whereas the XP2 was shot on a pretty gloomy day. I'll have to try an XP2 on a sunny day next time.

Thank you both for your comments, it gives me something to work on.