Any views on Kentmere film?

[f16sunshine]

I've just begun to use k400.
Here is one at 1600 developed in Tmax Dev 1:7
I like the film when given enough exposure.... I want a bit of grain when I use 135 and it does not disappoint.
Scanned here with a Pakon 135+ which leaves a sort of sepia tone by default... I left it as scanned.
Eos EF50mm stm
eos7ne ef50 k400@1600AA036 by Adnan, on Flickr

 

[stompyq]

I am finding kentmere 400 @ 800 in diafine to be a magical combination! I highly recommend it. This is after about 3-400' of 400 developed in hc110 and d76.

Hmm. Thats strange. I tried Kentmere 100 with Diafine and it was terrible. Worst combination of film+developer I've tried (this includes orwo 100 + rodinal)

 

[joeswe]

I've just begun to use k400.
Here is one at 1600 developed in Tmax Dev 1:7
I like the film when given enough exposure.... I want a bit of grain when I use 135 and it does not disappoint.
Scanned here with a Pakon 135+ which leaves a sort of sepia tone by default... I left it as scanned.
Eos EF50mm stm

Highlights and shadows did suffer a bit in this example, as could be expected due to the lighting situation and the push processing. But the midtone contrast (hair/facial skintones) is still quite nice and not overly contrasty.
Did you use the scanner defaults in the Pakon software or have you tried to tame the highlights a bit by adjusting brightness and contrast down before saving? In my experience the Pakon software generally does a decent job with the default setting, but when it comes to push processed film (mostly K400@1600 in my case) and large brightness range I usually have to adjust brightness and contrast down in the preview window to avoid clipping. After doing that, I am often surprised to find that areas that appeared to be blown beyond recovery on first sight actually still held good tonal separation and that a lot of seemingly lost highlight information can be recovered. I have come to prefer the look of pushed K400 over that of pushed Tri-X. Of course a lot depends on the developer (Xtol 1+1 in my case) and also on the type of subject.

 

[joeswe]

Hmm. Thats strange. I tried Kentmere 100 with Diafine and it was terrible. Worst combination of film+developer I've tried (this includes orwo 100 + rodinal)

Why? Two different films, so I cannot see why they should not give different results in the same developer ...

 

[stompyq]

Why? Two different films, so I cannot see why they should not give different results in the same developer ...

True. I guess I lumped in 400 with the 100 since they are both by kentmere. I will try the 400 emulsion and see how it compares to TriX+diafine.

 

[f16sunshine]

Hi Joe

I do actually the same as you when scanning. Pulling the "brightness" down in the PSI software.
It varies from one roll to another as the Pakon scans the entire roll with the same exposure set.

K400 is not a film I would reach for for controlling all elements of any given exposure.
But then, when I use 135 I'm not usually looking for anything near perfect.
Interesting that you prefer K400 over tri-x for pushing.
I'll have to see how it goes. This was only the second roll iirc.
I'm a bit afraid of what the grain is going to look like with Rodinal 1:50 which is my other developer 😱

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Andy, it looks great! Tones, small grain and sharp. I can't get it this good even on K100 🙂.

 

[f16sunshine]

Thank you Kostya.
I credit Tmax developer for the controlled grain.
It's top shelf in my experience for grain/speed/sharpness.
The developer I use when pushing beyond Box speed.
This one was 1:7 as I was short of the concentrate to mix 1:4 which is my usual Tmax soup.
Some find it expensive but if one considers that a gallon batch of TmaxDev 1:4 can be re-used for 10 rolls at normal times and another 10 at 25% extra time... the cost is quite reasonable considering the outcome.
It is still more costly than Rodinal and lacks some of that "sparkly" grainy bite that says... Film!

 

[joeswe]

Hi Joe

I do actually the same as you when scanning. Pulling the "brightness" down in the PSI software.
It varies from one roll to another as the Pakon scans the entire roll with the same exposure set.

Not sure, I think this is only true if you have checked the option "portrait mode" somewhere in the settings menu. Normally Pakon should determine the exposure independently for every single frame. Then, I have a preset for scanning b+w of about -5 brightness and -5 contrast. That usually gives me files that do not show any clipping in shadows or highlights. Except for very contrasty scenes from pushed film as mentioned which requires additional intervention. I have to say I don't do a lot of post editing with these Pakon files, just save them for future reference as digital proofs, as I love darkroom work much better than sitting in front of a computer display 🙂 So I will normaly go through the Pakon scans and pick the frames that I really like and later wet print them in the darkroom.

BTW, I have a second Pakon (same model) which requires different presets to get the same results. A bit strange.

What I prefer about pushed K400 is not so much the grain (Tri-X may be finer) but the tonality of the midtones. But I admit I haven't done any direct comparison and haven't shot any Tri-X in some years.

 

[steveyork]

In my experience, for the "inexpensive" B&W films, Kentmere has a modern, Ilford look, and Fomapan (Arista) is more retro.

I've only shot a bit of Kentmere (a brick), developed in Rodinal, standing developing, and received good results.

I shoot mostly the Fompan, although I have 200' of Kentmere 100 in the freezer.

 

[Jon Buffington]

Hey Andy, you probably know this but if not, in PSI click options, more options, cool and the sepia is gone.
Back on topic, very good push with the tmax developer. I have an unopened bottle here I may have to give kentmere a try with.

For stompyg, I have not tried k100 with diafine but extensively with hc110 and d-76, both give beautiful tones. K100 is an excellent film! My only complaints is the emulsion seems to be soft, I seem to get scratches consistently with it when shooting with my M5. Thought I may need to send it in but I do not get this problem with delta, hp5, triX, fp4, etc. Just k100. Don't get this scratch in other cameras. Very weird.

 

[Jon Buffington]

Few more k400 @ 800 in diafine, pakon f135+ scanned for those that care. Leica CL, 40 summicron. All recent, from this winter.