First of all, ultimately I believe that its in your best interest to make a few exposures and vary the exposure + processing and evaluate the results
to determine what works best for your tastes. We all do things differently to achieve the specific results we want, and film + developer technique has a large effect on the result.
But I do have one suggestion, since you're specifically asking about HP5: I have found that for my tastes, HP5 lacks separation of values in the upper tones. I find it renders the light values a bit flat, with poor tonal separation. But there's a developer that is known for delivering a better tonal range on HP5 and is capable of rendering better separation of higher values, and that's
FA-1027, available from Photographers Formulary.
"FA-1027 produces a very fine negative with Ilford HP-5 film, for example. There is a very distinct high value separation in Zones VI and above. In Zones V and below, there is just as impressive a separation, without the dumping of those values into murky darkness; as is the case with the Tri-X/HC-110 effect. The chemist responsible for the FA-1027 formula tells me that 2 restrainers, Potassium Bromide and Benzatriazole are responsible for this phenomenon; that one affects the upper end of the film curve (high values) and the other affects the low end (low values)."
I've used FA-1027 a lot in the past 2 years and I find that the statements about its performance are accurate and truthful. I have rarely liked images I've made on HP5, no matter what the choice of developer: I've always found the results lack "sparkle" compared to - for example - Delta 100. (You can view two photos I made to compare the two films
here The differences are subtle, but what I'm describing should be perceptible)
FA-1027 improves the results I've gotten on all films, not just HP5, but its definitely made my HP5 negatives better. (for MY tastes - YMMV) So you might want to consider trying this combination for yourself. I've found that FA-1027 tends to give a bit of a speed boost to films: I'm able to expose HP5 at 250 to get what I want, instead of 160ASA. Also worth noting is that FA-1027 is a liquid concentrate, and it lasts for at least a year after opening the bottle. At the 1:14 dilution, its very economical.
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