Kentmere 200 is here!

I’ve been shooting Kentmere 100 and 400 for at least a decade, since I started buying the film in bulk from Ultrafine Online as Ultrafine Xtreme 100 and 400.  They have been dependable, lower-cost alternatives to Ilford FP4 and HP-5, as well as other b&w film choices.  So, you can imagine that I was pleased to see a new film from Ilford - Kentmere Pan 200.  A medium speed b&w film which is supposed to be fine grained, have medium-high contrast, and good sharpness.  What’s not to like about that?  I’ve been bulk-rolling Fomapan 200 and using it for some time, so I was definitely hoping that the Kentmere Pan 200 might be a better alternative.

I received 2 rolls of the Kentmere Pan 200 for testing from the FPP, and over the course of a couple of days, shot the two rolls with my Nikon F3HP and a 50mm f/2  Nikkor-H lens.  Certainly the sharpest lens in the drawer, and a great way to test the film.  I shot at a variety of apertures, but mostly around f/8 and f/11 in sunny conditions, and opened up to f/4 and f/2 when necessary.  Most of the shots were taken during the AVL camera Club camera meetup on April 27 in Asheville.

Roll 1 was developed in Kodak D-76 at full strength, for the recommended time of 7 1/2 minutes.

Roll 2 was developed in FPP D-96 for 8 1/2 minutes.  

My standard processing is develop for the listed time, wash - i.e., water stop, then fix for 8 minutes, and wash via the Ilford method.  I use JOBO reels and tanks, all done manually.  After the film dries, I scan it on my Epson V700 Photo scanner at 3200 DPI. You know what’s great about using an actual scanner, and not using a DSLR camera to “scan” the negatives?  I can write this post while the scanning is going on.  

Back to the Kentmere 200.  These were 24 exposure rolls, which was fine for reviewing the film, but in my typical practice, I’d want to use 36 exposure rolls.  The cassette is DX-coded, so for cameras that require a DX code, that is a plus.  ISO 200 hits that sweet spot between 100 and 400, and I was eager to see how my results fared.  

Roll 1 - Shot during the Asheville Camera Club meetup with the visiting Greensboro Photo Collective on April 27, 2025.  Developed in D-76 per Ilford’s instructions at 7.5 min.

Roll 2 - Shot on 4/27 and on 4/28,  finished up around my yard. Developed in FPP D-96 for 8/5 min.

Comments about the film

First of all, I like the way the film responds to a variety of lighting situations, and the grain is definitely less than Fomapan 200.  I normally tweak my images a bit from the scans to get what I want in a photo, but the Kentmere Pan 200 definitely did not need much of any “tweaking.”   The contrast that I found from this film was also very pleasing.  Not too contrasty, and not muddy, for sure.  The beauty of b&w films is that they can all do the same thing a bit differently from one another, but this film fits in with what I expect from a b&w image.  This is of course, very objective.  My expectations may be different from yours. 

Second, the film has a clear base, and sits absolutely flat in the scanner holder.  That’s a big plus for me. 

Third - Kentmere films have been reasonably priced (we'll see what Trump tariffs do), and the lower cost made me switch to them for a lot of my photography.  It’s rare that you get a bargain and excellent results.  I’ve not tested the 120 version of Kentmere Pan 200, but I expect that anyone that uses it should be happy with the results.

My final verdict is that Kentmere Pan 200 is worth a try, and it fills that niche of being of medium speed, making it rather versatile for anyone that wants a film with low grain and is of moderate contrast.  I definitely see it replacing Fomapan 200 as my go-to 200 ISO b&w film. Also, now that Kodak Double-X is becoming hard to get, Kentmere 200 definitely belongs in your camera.