Over the years, I have shot just about every emulsion of B&W film that is available. Some become "go-to" favorites, and others get used sparingly for specific purposes. Sometimes I come across a cache of a long-discontinued film, such as Kodak Panatomic-X, and use it sparingly, not wanting to use it up right away. It's downright annoying to really like a certain film and then have it unavailable. One of my favorite medium-speed monochrome 35mm films is
Kentmere 100. It has fine grain, lies really flat in the scanner, and is readily available in bulk rolls. Sold by Harman, it is made by Ilford, and is similar in performance to the Ilford FP-4 film. My favorite developer with it is D76 1:1, but XTOL 1:1 gives a nice result as well. I could write all sorts of things about the film, but it is probably just easier to show you some photographs:
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| old bus, Ann Arbor, MI |
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| Robert Beech |
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| Depot Street, Ypsilanti, MI |
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| Hillsdale, MI |
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| Ugly Mug, Ypsilanti, MI |
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| Short's Brewery Window, Bellaire, MI |
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| Birchwood Inn, Harbor Springs, MI |
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| Hocking Hills, OH |
I buy Kentmere 100 in bulk rolls, which saves me money. A roll of 100 ft. is about $40, which prices it far below a lot of films. The quality is excellent, and if you want to try a roll or two, of course, it is sold in 36 exp. rolls for about $3/roll online. It is available from all of the typical places such as B&H, Adorama, and Freestyle. I highly recommend Kentmere 100.
I've shot a couple rolls of Kentmere 100 and did not get great results either time. I sent both rolls out for processing, at two different processors, and got blown highlights both times. Everybody I know who gets good results from Kentmere processes their own film -- could this film just need specific or nuanced processing?
ReplyDeleteYour examples look good. I just picked up 10 rolls to try. My replacement for Plus X. Should do well with Perceptol. My favorite developer for fine grain films.
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