Looking for something different

colyn

colyn

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I have been using the usual film brands (Kodak, Ilford, Fuji, etc) and am now looking for something different.

Any opinions on Kentmere and Fomapan??

Any other easy to get films??
 
Rollei RPX 100, which some claim to be a rebranded Kentmere film, works very well for me at EI 64 in Rodinal 1+50. If you shoot MF be aware, that the "Start" arrow is marked 2cm too late, so you need to anticipate in in the cameras as you load them, particularly if you shoot 16 frames on 645.


MF20145807 by mfogiel, on Flickr
 
I shot a bit of Kentmere 100 a while back. Worked fine, developed it in Caffenol. Looking back at the photos I'm thinking about getting some more, though it's not much cheaper than FP4+ in bulk rolls.

I've only shot Fomapan 200 in 120. The emulsion is soft and easily damaged, and it ends up rather grainy in Caffenol (my only developer). Tones are nice, but it didn't work out ideally for me because of my chosen developer.
 
I didn't find anything special in Kentmere, it is cheap film and nothing else, IMO.
Fomapan seems to be more interesting.
 
Kentmere is a budget film made by Ilford. Foma is, as Ko Fe said, more interesting. Foma 100 has beautiful tonality, but is a little grainier than most 100 speed films. D-76 1+1 gives full box speed with it. The 120 size curls horribly.

Ultimately, I prefer Ilford and Kodak films.

pure-sealed-dairy-1.jpg


Fomapan 100, 120 size, developed in D-76 1+1.
 
Rollei atp1.1 or 80s. Adox silver max 100 or CMS 20. I have tried all apart from the CMS20.
 
Foma 200 is the special one in my opinion. It has really great tonality and just the right amount of grain in 135, and is even better in 120 if you are looking for finer grain.

RPX is not Kentmere, but they are both budget films made by Harman (Ilford), and both quite good.

Rollei Superpan is an interesting film as well. It is a finicky aviation film, Agfa Aviphot if I remember correctly. I find it quite good in Rodinal for experimenting with scenes for a near zero grain, high sharpness look. It can also be used as infrared with a light IR filter. I have yet to find good results with other developers though.
 
Foma 400 has coarser grain than other 400 films. It also has extended red sensitivity which makes light-skinned people look a little pasty under incandescent light. If you are looking for something different it may be one to try.
 
I've heard a lot of good about Fomapan and Rollei films and will give them a try.
My all time favorite though is still Acros 100 so as long as it is produced I'll keep using it..
 
robbeiflex said:
Foma 200 is the special one in my opinion. It has really great tonality and just the right amount of grain in 135, and is even better in 120 if you are looking for finer grain.

RPX is not Kentmere, but they are both budget films made by Harman (Ilford), and both quite good.
Click to expand...

I agree, Foma 200 is excellent and one of the most flexible films that I've used in decades. It responds exceptionally well to extended and reduced development for contrast controll. I've used a great deal of it on sheets and recently started testing in 35mm. I run it in HC110 with excellent results.

I've also been experimenting with Foma 100, Kentmer 100 and 400. I'm trying Each in different developers and haven't decided on which I like yet. I tried Foma 100 in Acufine 1:3 rating it at 200 and got excellent grain and tonality. I've also shot a little Kentmere 100 and run it in HC110 but need to do more testing.

This weekend I shot some Kentmere 400 and ran it in straight D76 and scanned some negs. So far I'm quite pleased with how it looks. I'm generally an HC110 and Rodinal user with Acufine for pushing but have to say the Kentmer 400 looks excellent in D76. It's fairly fine grained and beautiful tonality with excellent shadows at box speed. It actually reminds me of something between HP5
and old TriX from the 60's.

I've been a huge fan of TX until the change a few years ago. IMO it's a long way from the TX I used for so many years. TX in the 60's through the 80's was my standard film. I later switched to Fuji Neopan 400 and still have several hundred rolls but know the day is coming I'll need to find a replacement. I do like HP5 quite well but there may be something better and I'm trying to find it.
 
Film is the beginning !
It's what and how you shoot with it.
Look at many photographers, see what you like.
Try duplicate that look..
Wide angle lenses, large aperture lenses and limited depth of field,
over exposure, underexposure, different developing techniques!
Double expose in camera, use color filters, red,blue,green, soft focus,
polarizer.
Stay with one Film and One developer.
I use Kentmere 400 not because it's budget but dries easily FLAT.
Very needed in my Canonscan..
Ansel Adams said "Film is the score, the print the performance."
I used Rodinal till it was stopped. Blazinol not behave same way..
I used Tri-X like forever, but now hate the Shirley Temple curls..
 
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