anyone using kentmere 400 b&w

[prk60091]

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i have seen a lot of this for sale at a much lower price than tri-x or tmax 400. 

anyone that has used this please let me know how it compares..

 

thanks in advance

 

[Charles Morgan]

It's ok, a perfectly fine film, but I much prefer HP5 so save my money by buying that in 30m lengths and loading it myself. This is a recent panoramic shot on Kentmere at 400 in HC100. I find it a big grainy.

 

 

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Edited June 16, 2021 by Charles Morgan

[prk60091]

2 hours ago, Charles Morgan said:

It's ok, a perfectly fine film, but I much prefer HP5 so save my money by buying that in 30m lengths and loading it myself. This is a recent panoramic shot on Kentmere at 400 in HC100. I find it a big grainy.

 

 

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thank you...wonderful image... cant tell the grain from the posted image..

[oldwino]

A bit grainy, much like the old Tri-X was. Not quite as sharp as HP5. It is a very good film, especially for the money.

The Kentmere 100 is excellent, with nice grain and sharpness.

[adan]

Ilford markets the Kentmere line as products "for students and beginners."

Don't take that as a serious negative (hah!) - it just means Ilford leaves out some of the modern chemical magic, which saves them money and saves you money.

If Delta 400 is modern sophisticated T-grain chemistry, and HP5+ is updated "old-school 1989" cubic-grain chemistry, then Kentmere 400 is "old-old-school" 1960s-70s cubic-grain chemistry. Which is probably why it reminds oldwino of "old" Tri-X.

I just wish it (and the ISO 100 version) were available in 120 format - I'd give them a try. But I guess the era of 120 meaning "box cameras" and students with $99.99 Yashica D 6x6 TLRs (or in my case, also a $9.99 Diana) is long past. At least from Ilford's point of view.

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Yashica-D

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_(camera)

[giannis]

On 6/16/2021 at 6:50 PM, prk60091 said:

i have seen a lot of this for sale at a much lower price than tri-x or tmax 400. 

anyone that has used this please let me know how it compares..

 

thanks in advance

 

An absolutely fine film, both in quality control (no coating defects etc., good packaging) and image quality. You can treat it like HP5+ pretty much, or like any other ISO400 traditional grain film. There might be slight differences, which though are very small and not field relevant (unless you want to push a lot).

It's also repackaged as Agfa APX 400 (same for APX 100 and Kentmere 100). If you find it at a decently good price, get it.

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