New film: Kentmere 200 (135 + 120)

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Kentmere 200 35mm

Kentmere PAN 200 is an ISO 200 black & white film, with enhanced contrast suitable for most shooting applications and conditions Fine grain and good sharpness Broad tonal range with clean shadows and high contrast Medium speed ISO 200 Black & White processing Available in 24 exp, 36 exp, 35mm...
www.ilfordphoto.com www.ilfordphoto.com
 
Freakscene said:
i have no idea why Harman Ilford thought this was a good idea, but all new films are gratefully accepted.
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I tend to use cheap 200s to test things. It’s usually better when I want to test « high » speeds as European weather doesn’t always follow my wishes, but I can still have ok grain. If I actually want to take photographs it probably wouldn’t be my first choice either.
 
dourbalistar said:
I feel the same way, except about the color choice on the packaging. 🤣
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The 400 definitely has the best colour packaging.

Disappointed_Horse said:
That portrait in the example photos looks really bad, with blown out highlights on the subject's face.
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It looks from all the samples very much to me like Ilford did with this film what Foma did with their 200 - it is slower but they wanted to differentiate it so all their recommendations are to underexpose and overdevelop. The samples, overall, look awful to me.
 
I think it's a great idea. IMO ISO 200 is the "sweet spot" for general photography.
I have been looking for my ideal 200 speed BW film for a decade or more.
Could this be the one? I look forward to finding out...

Chris
 
trix4ever said:
Since I rate both Tri-x and Delta 400 at iso 250 not sure this is for me. As for HP5 I've never been able to make it work for me at any speed rating.
Agree about the sample pictures, horrible.
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Looking at the samples it appears that it’s slower than ISO 200. With Fomapan 200 you can see from the curves that it is substantially slower than ISO200: https://www.foma.cz/en/fomapan-200 even in Microphen. This might be the same. I always found, like @trix4ever, that I needed some overexposure, and for me, more speed allowed light loss for filters or low light. I’ll be interested to see the curves when Foma put a data sheet online.

Edit: having said that, I hope that it works well in some utilitarian conditions and that Foma sells a truckload of it. I am fond of the brand from when I lived in Prague.
 
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I tried 35mm Foma 200, even iso 100 wasn't overexposed. A very ordinary film.
After getting a whole box of Foma 8x10 with heavy coating marks on every sheet I gave up on Foma film. A great shame as Chris at Blanco Negro is a great guy but the QC at foma is crap. Having said that I like the Foma fibre paper and have never had a problem with it.
 
trix4ever said:
I tried 35mm Foma 200, even iso 100 wasn't overexposed. A very ordinary film.
After getting a whole box of Foma 8x10 with heavy coating marks on every sheet I gave up on Foma film. A great shame as Chris at Blanco Negro is a great guy but the QC at foma is crap. Having said that I like the Foma fibre paper and have never had a problem with it.
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They have improved their QA/QC a lot, but lost trust is lost trust. And a box of 8x10 film is no small investment of cash or time.

The tonality of Foma 200 in FX-39 ii is gorgeous (thanks Roger, RIP), but it’s 80-100 speed at best. When I worked in Prague if anyone shot it at 200 I developed it in T-Max RS with the replenisher in the developer at 1+4 and pleaded with the client to shoot it at 100 next time.

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Foma 400, Foma warmtone glossy FB paper.
Prague, mid-1990s.
 
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Freakscene said:
They have improved their QA/QC a lot, but lost trust is lost trust. And a box of 8x10 film is no small investment of cash or time.

The tonality of Foma 200 in FX-39 ii is gorgeous (thanks Roger, RIP), but it’s 80-100 speed at best. When I worked in Prague if anyone shot it at 200 I developed it in T-Max RS with the replenisher in the developer at 1+4 and pleaded with the client to shoot it at 100 next time.

View attachment 4864260
Foma 400, Foma warmtone glossy FB paper.
Prague, mid-1990s.
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I never managed to make foma200 look like how I would like it in HC110. The foma400 despite being a very peculiar film, worked better for me at 250 in HC110.

Never got on with Kentmere 400 - to the point of never buying it again. I might try the K200 thought and see what I think.
 
p.giannakis said:
I never managed to make foma200 look like how I would like it in HC110. The foma400 despite being a very peculiar film, worked better for me at 250 in HC110.

Never got on with Kentmere 400 - to the point of never buying it again. I might try the K200 thought and see what I think.
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Foma 200 was rather challenging for me to get right as well. I've had decent luck with Kentmere 400 in TMAX dev. @dourbalistar keeps showing results that I really want to get with K400, so I keep buying it (just not shooting a lot of film since I got my Pentax monochrome).
 
I tried Fomapan 200 when it was first introduced.
Quality control issues ruined some of my negatives.
Perhaps they straightened that out, but they had already lost my business.

For an ~ ISO 200 BW film I have used Eastman 5222 with good results.
As it became very popular price for this film has increased dramatically.

I am happy to try an ISO 200 film made by Harman at a reduced price.
And the increased contrast promised may be the icing on the cake...

Chris
 
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