Which of the cheapo b&w ISO 400 film's has the highest actual sensitivity?

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retinax

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Hello folks,
I've been wondering - if I buy some cheaper ISO 400 film in addition to my beloved tmax 400, for fooling around with lenses that don't resolve that much anyway and for fun - I'd like to get actually good sensitivity in exchange for the grain and limited resolution I'll accept. Which of the cheap “400“ films is actually most sensitive? Probably not Foma, then there's APX/Kentmere, N74... what else? ultrafine isn't available in Europe afaik. I'll develop in x-tol 1:2.
 
Easy answer: Kentmere 400.
Fomapan 400 has much lower speed.
AgfaPhoto APX 400 and Rollei RPX 400 are only rebranded Kentmere 400, but at a significantly higher price.
Therefore Kentmere 400 is the best deal if you want to go cheap. But this film is of course not in the same class as TMY-2, but you certainly know that.

Cheers, Jan
 
Pushability ist a good point and matters too, but I was mostly wondering about actual sensitivity as measured in shadow separation.
 
HHPhoto said:
Easy answer: Kentmere 400.
Fomapan 400 has much lower speed.
AgfaPhoto APX 400 and Rollei RPX 400 are only rebranded Kentmere 400, but at a significantly higher price.
Therefore Kentmere 400 is the best deal if you want to go cheap. But this film is of course not in the same class as TMY-2, but you certainly know that.

Cheers, Jan
Click to expand...

Thank you. You wouldn't happen to know about N74 as well?
 
Indeed i have read positive stuff about ultrafine's "extreme" 400 and 100 speed film. Any of you compared it to "big brand" films like tri-x? As it is half the price, is it also half as good or is it comparable?

Sorry i don't mean to hijack the thread😀
 
Had used Ultrafine 400 at 800 with very good results. Funny you ask because I intend to push it (on 120) to 1600 next week.

On my eyes, it certainly looks different than TriX. Is more similar to Ilford HP5+.

Ultrafine 100, haven't really used it outside of 100. Tried at 50 on D76 but didn't liked the results. Too much contrast but probably due to development rutine.

Regards

Marcelo
 
Ultrafine (PhotoWarehouse) 400 is indeed comparable to HP5+

Arguably they are the same film. Not unlike Arista 50 is Pan F 50 is Ultrafine 50.
 
Which of the cheapo b&w ISO 400 film's has the highest actual sensitivity?

retinax said:
I just realized Kentmere and Oreo N74 don't seem to be available in 120. Is my only cheap option the Foma for 120?
Click to expand...



Check out Ultrafine Xtreme film lines.

Edit. Oh I just read that you are in Europe where Ultrafine is not available.


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B-9 said:
Ultrafine (PhotoWarehouse) 400 is indeed comparable to HP5+

Arguably they are the same film. Not unlike Arista 50 is Pan F 50 is Ultrafine 50.
Click to expand...



I have shot all ultrafine xtreme, kentmere amd hp5.
I found that the first 2 are quite on par, both in terms of quality and price. However, hp5 is way better (and 1.5 times more expensive)


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retinax said:
Some say that, others say it's not. In any case the Kentmere stuff under all the known labels, Agfa APX, Adox CHS... is not available in 120...
Click to expand...

Adox CHS 100 II is not Kentmere 100! Not at all.
Kentmere 100 is in the boxes of
- Rollei RPX 100 (higher price)
- AgfaPhoto APX 100 (higher price)
- Oriental 100
- Fotoimpex CHM 100.

Cheers, Jan
 
I am with Jan regarding Kentmere films. While Ultrafine xtreme is quite similar to Kentmere but I still can see some differences, for instance Ultrafine is less grainy than Kentmere a little bit


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I am surprised nobody mentioned Ilford PAN 400.

Quite more refined than Kentmere 400 for the same price (yet with a tendancy to price increase recently) and very close to HP5+.

Only available in 135-36, though.
 
Highway 61 said:
I am surprised nobody mentioned Ilford PAN 400.
Click to expand...

Probably because Pan 100 and 400 are only officially offered by Ilford in certain markets (mainly NICS), and not generally worldwide.

Highway 61 said:
Quite more refined than Kentmere 400 for the same price (yet with a tendancy to price increase recently) and very close to HP5+.
Click to expand...

Here in Germany it is not imported by the official Ilford distributor. It is only offered by one wholesaler, who imports it by himself from other wholesalers in other countries. And so it is more expensive here compared to the Kentmeres.

Cheers, Jan
 
HHPhoto said:
Adox CHS 100 II is not Kentmere 100! Not at all.
Kentmere 100 is in the boxes of
- Rollei RPX 100 (higher price)
- AgfaPhoto APX 100 (higher price)
- Oriental 100
- Fotoimpex CHM 100.

Cheers, Jan
Click to expand...
Of course. I got confused, the naming with CHS and CHM is not very easy to memorize.

Actually under the Agfa APX branding the 30.5 meter rolls seem to be cheapest (50€), 36 frame rolls are indeed a little cheaper as Kentmere, but not a lot of places sell it under that branding in Germany.
 
HHPhoto said:
Here in Germany it is not imported by the official Ilford distributor. It is only offered by one wholesaler, who imports it by himself from other wholesalers in other countries. And so it is more expensive here compared to the Kentmeres.
Click to expand...
The EU and the open Schengen market aren't dead yet.

German customers can buy some Ilford PAN 400 online from other EU countries.

Some French retailers price it at 4.80 € per 135-36 roll, all taxes included (Kentmere 400 is at 4.11 € per 135-36 roll at the same online store). If bought as packs, the real shipping costs amount, once calculated per roll, will be very low.
 
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