Kentmere 100 or Arista/EDU 100?

chip j · Nov 15, 2018

Which would you choose? Kent mere is 54c cheaper in 36 exp., plus free ship w/$49 order @ B&H.

Disconnekt · Nov 16, 2018

I would go with Kentmere, dries pretty flat from what I've read on here & other sites.

Another option to look at is Ultrafine Xtreme, its a few bucks cheaper ~$45 with shipping (if you live in California includes tax), a couple bucks less if you live outside of California & order from them.

chip j · Nov 16, 2018

Anyone know if Ultrafine has finer grain than Kentmere or Arista?

Disconnekt · Nov 16, 2018

I would say about the same as Kentmere, theres been rumors that the Ultrafine Xtreme films are rebranded Kentmere, but neither company will confirm if its true or not.
Compared to Arista I dont know, but Arista is also a rebranded film which I believe is either of Kodak Tmax or Tri-X (someone else on here should know more)

Here's a Flicker link that you can look some photos people have put up: https://www.flickr.com/groups/ultrafinextreme/

Agulliver · Nov 16, 2018

The Ultrafine 100 won't be exactly the same as Kentmere, as Harman go to great lengths to say that no Ilford or Kentmere product is sold under another name/label. However, it is known that Ultrafine 100 is manufactured by Harman so it might be *similar* to Kentmere 100.

Arista Edu 100 is surely rebranded Fomapan 100, the properties of which are well known. I love it, but YMMV. It can be contrasty and needs taming. I'm currently about half way through a 100 foot bulk roll of Arista Edu 100, dries perfectly flat and acts exactly like Fomapan 100.

The bottom line is that I've used Kentmere and Arista/Foma and both are perfectly fine films. Arista/Foma needs a bit of care in the processing or the contrast can be very high. Kentmere is lower contrast and more forgiving of temperature/time fluctuations.

Michael W · Nov 16, 2018

I started testing Kentmere 100 recently and made my first print from it a week ago. Not thorough testing but I liked the look of it. Exposed at 100 and processed in LC29. I have a bulk roll so will continue on with that. I can't recall if I've ever used Foma 100, which is what I assume the Edu is, but I would tend to back Ilford's quality over Foma's. If the Kentmere is cheaper I would definitely go for that.

MattKing · Nov 16, 2018

Harman are in the contract coating business. So is Eastman Kodak. If I understand things correctly, Harman's minimum order quantities are smaller than Eastman Kodak's.
If you have specifications for a film you want manufactured, either of them will be happy to take lots of your money and give you lots of your film in return.
However, neither Harman nor Eastman Kodak will sell you Ilford or Kentmere or Kodak film with your name on it.

stphoto · Nov 16, 2018

I agree with the previous poster who said, "Arista/Foma needs a bit of care in the processing or the contrast can be very high. Kentmere is lower contrast and more forgiving of temperature/time fluctuations." Foma/Arista also is grainier than Kentmere when processed in a similar way, especially the 400 ISO emulsion. Foma/Arista 100 does look very nice when processed with gentle agitation or stand developed. I went ahead and ordered a bulk roll of Kentmere 400 from B&H and have been very pleased, both at box speed and pushed to 1600 with Caffenol. Now I'm deciding between Kentmere 100 and FP4+ for my lower speed emulsion and then I'll get another bulk roll. Keep in mind, if you ever commit to bulk loading, the 100' rolls of Foma/Arista do NOT have edge numbers on the film, while Kentmere does.

destroya · Nov 16, 2018

the Xtreme is finer grain than EDU 100and 400, it is also lower in contrast. bthe base of the EDU film is much clearer than the Xtreme base which is the greyest of all the films I use. Xtreme does dry very flat in both 35mm and 120.

Im guessing the Xtreme is very very similar, if not possibly the same, to the rpx films. I use the rpx times for the Xtreme films if using a developer i have not tested and I get good results.

wahiba · Mar 26, 2019

There is one supplier in the UK who does not stock Agfa as they reckon it is Kentmere, and say so. There phrasing is 'suspect' but i suspect they might know more than that!!

pentaxuser · Mar 26, 2019

wahiba said:
There is one supplier in the UK who does not stock Agfa as they reckon it is Kentmere, and say so. There phrasing is 'suspect' but i suspect they might know more than that!!

I presume this Is a large or largish retailer on the internet. I look at most of the retailers' film stock on a fairly regular basis but cannot recall seeing a reference such as this but might not have noticed this. If it states this on its website then presumably it isn't secretive abut its suspicions so who is it? I presume that it gives this an one of its reasons or even the only reason for not stocking both Agfa and Kentmere films?

Does it give any reasons for its suspicions and if so what are they?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Paul Verizzo · Mar 26, 2019

Old topic, round and round we go.

I think that it has been well confirmed that the FS Arista.Edu films are Foma. And if you look at Foma's own spec sheets, the 100 sucks in terms of granularity. Also some reports of emulsion failures. Not a Plus-X or FP4+ wannabe.

Also pretty well confirmed is that the Photo Warehouse/Ultrafine Extreme 100 and 400 films are Kentmere. My limited trials with the 100 are very, very encouraging.

I am a 54 year customer of Freestyle. Love 'em. But when it comes to buying Arista.edu or Kentmere/UF extreme, my money is spent on the latter.

mgb74 · Mar 27, 2019

Kentmere does dry nice and flat. Important if scanning - especially with flatbed holders; other film qualities hardly matter if you can't keep the film flat when scanning.

Best deal I saw for Kentmere was Adorama. You can get free 2 day shipping using "Shoprunner", which you can get free via a couple of mechanisms (Google it).

Paul Howell · Mar 27, 2019

I use to use Foma 100 and 400 in all formats, but have started to use Ultafine in 35mm and 120 for my shoot around film, still use Foma 400 for 4X5 and Tmax 400 when I need to push. Seems that Ultafine is very close to Kentmere, may be made by Harmon, at any rate I tend to go with the best price and I can bundled both Untlrafine 35mm and 120 in the same order. The only Kentmere films I've seen are in 35mm. Might also try some Bergger Pancro400 in 4X5 as Photo Warehouse now carries it.

Kentmere 100 or Arista/EDU 100?

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