Kentmere film - what's it like?

[Phantomas]

This is the first time I hear about this brand/film. Came across it on Maco and at first thought it was repackaged something, but google showed manufacturer's site, acquired by Harman, seems to be self-produced.
Anyone used this film, care to share your experience?


Manufacturer's site

Some more (developing) info on Maco site

 

[Phantomas]

That's Albert Cuyp, isn't it? 😀

 

[HLing]

Kentmere dries nice and flat.

 

[slm]

I've been trying to research it a bit also (the 100 iso), I read somewhere it's "low contrast", doesn't really make "black black's", but I dunno if that's not really just a matter of developer/time combo ?

 

[hteasley]

I got a couple rolls from Freestyle, and liked it. I like the grain.

 

[Phantomas]

Thanks. I can see where the "black's not black" comment's coming from.

Can posters please specify the ISO of their examples (100 or 400)? And maybe developer.

 

[Mackinaw]

You aren't going to be able to judge this film's character by looking at a few scanned images. Post-processing in Photoshop can flatter or destroy a film. Best to buy a few rolls, process, and see what you think.

Jim B.

 

[emraphoto]

shot a lot of kentmere 400. lovely stuff with a hard surface/emulsion after development, which seems the achille's heel of most of the 'cheap stuff'.

always love seeing De Pijp. one of my favourite cities in the world!

 

[erik]

Actually, no, the "blacks not black" comment doesn't make much sense to me, with these or most any neg films. I have found these films to behave quite normally and respond to changes in development time pretty much as one might expect. That is you can adjust contrast in the negative to better fit the subject brightness range if you choose. They have a traditional look to them, somewhat grainy. This is Ilford offering a product to compete at the economy end of the market, for schools and the thrifty. As such they are a good value as they still have Ilford's QC.