>>3853622The others anon explained it well.
When a developer is "good for pushing" it usually means it's better - relative to a "bad for pushing" developer - at giving some more shadow detail, and some less contrast. A "bad for pushing" developer won't give much (or any) extra detail in the shadows when pushing (vs developing normally), and it will give more density in the highlights. It means you'll get a more contrasty image. Many people say a "bad for pushing" developer doesn't give you any "real speed", and this is the same previous point reworded, because the speed/ISO of the film is defined essentially by the shadow detail.
Secondarily, the comparison anon made was about grain. Different developers give different amount of grain, and pushing increases that amount (for all developers).
Anon was making a point about how grainy Rodinal can be: it'll give you as much grain while *pulling* HP5+ 2 stops (pulling reduces grain, like pushing increases it), as *pushing* Fomapan 400 (a grainier film already vs HP5+) 2 stops in a general purpose developer.
He's exaggerating a bit but he's not far off.
In any case, just look up the times and dilutions in massive dev chart, give it a try and see how it looks.
Even better, post results.
A final point: If you want to be very lax about exposures (over/under) and want real extra speed (good shadow detail) while retaining normal contrast and no-blown highlights, for traditional grain films (HP5+, TriX, etc.), Diafine is unbeatable.
It's gives an extra stop of speed in shadows, with normal grain, and highlights will never get blown due to its t-bath compensating nature.
It's great for high contrast scenes as well because of that: gives detail in the shadows more than "normal" developers, and keeps the highlights from blowing much more than "normal" developers, *at the same time*.
It's a bit niche, but if it fits your use case, nothing matches it.
Bellini makes a smaller kit (1L) and it's available in Europe, called Duo.
