Kentmere at Freestyle

[Jan Pietrzak]

To all,

The new Kentmere product line is in, after talking to some of the Freestyle people the new product line is in and ready for orders. Shipping will go out on Monday if not Friday of this week. I am hoping to get to the store friday to pick up some of the new papers to work with and also to see Linda Connor on friday night.

Jan Pietrzak

 

[david b]

I got one of the new freestyle catalogs today and it had a big write up about the paper. I'll try it some time.

 

[mikewhi]

To all,

The new Kentmere product line is in, after talking to some of the Freestyle people the new product line is in and ready for orders. Shipping will go out on Monday if not Friday of this week. I am hoping to get to the store friday to pick up some of the new papers to work with and also to see Linda Connor on friday night.

Jan Pietrzak

Do they have the Kentmere Bromide graded FB paper yet?

 

[titrisol]

Shoullnd't this thread be in the sponsors forum?

 

[Jan Pietrzak]

Michael,

Not sure about the bromides dilivery date, other than Mar/Apr. I will be seeing the people from Freestyle and Kentmere on Fri I will ask and get back to you.

As for which place to put this thread I may have quessed wrong, sorry.

Jan Pietrzak

ps Michael are you the same person that is the book seller

 

[Mark Layne]

Michael,

Not sure about the bromides dilivery date, other than Mar/Apr. I will be seeing the people from Freestyle and Kentmere on Fri I will ask and get back to you.

As for which place to put this thread I may have quessed wrong, sorry.

Jan Pietrzak

ps Michael are you the same person that is the book seller

Jan
Perhaps you could ask them how come the US website is listing Bromide in three grades while the manufacturer's site lists only grade 2

Mark

 

[Jim Moore]

I was looking forward to trying these Kentmere papers, but after hearing from a few about the inconsistency of Kentmere products I think I'll wait for some reports to roll in.

So for now I have decided to give some Graded Oriental Seagull a try.

Jim

 

[mikewhi]

Michael,

Not sure about the bromides dilivery date, other than Mar/Apr. I will be seeing the people from Freestyle and Kentmere on Fri I will ask and get back to you.

As for which place to put this thread I may have quessed wrong, sorry.

Jan Pietrzak

ps Michael are you the same person that is the book seller

Jan:
Nope, I'm not a bookseller.
Thanks for the info on the Bromide paper.

-Mike

 

[Jan Pietrzak]

Mark,

Kentmere Bromide will come in 4 (US) grades #1 #2 #3 #4 Freestyle should be receiveing the paper in April. The reason for the 4 grades is to have a full line of product.

Jan Pietrzak

 

[mikewhi]

Mark,

Kentmere Bromide will come in 4 (US) grades #1 #2 #3 #4 Freestyle should be receiveing the paper in April. The reason for the 4 grades is to have a full line of product.

Jan Pietrzak

Excellent news! I will check to see if they take pre-orders.

-Mike

 

[Jan Pietrzak]

Michael,

Yes they will, grades 2 3 4 will be in stock (hopefuly) in April and grade 1 to be comming later.

Its one of the frist days with some sun in SoCal so off to the darkroom to work on making my new sink. Six feet of shiny/shinnie stainless.

Jan Pietrzak

 

[mikewhi]

Michael,

Yes they will, grades 2 3 4 will be in stock (hopefuly) in April and grade 1 to be comming later.

Its one of the frist days with some sun in SoCal so off to the darkroom to work on making my new sink. Six feet of shiny/shinnie stainless.

Jan Pietrzak

Thanks! I placed a pre-order with them. Can't wait for the paper to come in.
I took the dive and ordered 8x10, 16x20 and 20x24 sizes. I will try some Grade #1 when it comes in. They said they believe it will be available in rolls, too.

Nice to see a bromide paper again. Hope I like it as much as the original Zone VI Brilliant.

-Mike

 

[doughowk]

It appears that the Kentmere Bromide papers are already in stock. I pre-ordered from Freestyle & just got notification of shipment. Looking forward to trying this paper. Any recommendations of paper developer?

 

[Peter Schrager]

Bromide Paper

MikeW and DougHouk - Would you guys please return here and post your findings on the Kentmere Paper after you've tried it?
Thanks, Peter

 

[Mark Layne]

Mark,

Kentmere Bromide will come in 4 (US) grades #1 #2 #3 #4 Freestyle should be receiveing the paper in April. The reason for the 4 grades is to have a full line of product.

Jan Pietrzak

They had discontinued all except Grade 2 so they have obviously had to make something they never planned to make again. I hope these papers live up to expectations. I have some original grade 3 I can sometime compare.

 

[juan]

If this is, in fact. the same as the old Zone VI Brilliant, you might want to try what Fred Picker used - Dektol (1:2 or 1:3) or his Zone VI print developer, which is still available from Calumet.

I plan to try it with amidol and with Ansco 130.
juan

 

[Peter Schrager]

ZONE-VI?

Juan-this is NOT going to be the old Zone-VI paper. That was produced by Bergiomont(spelling is off)in France which was the oldest mfg. of light sensitive materials in the world until they closed shop. Zone-VI was good paper but there are plenty of excellent papers available today. I can make Forte VC do things that "old" Zone VI never did. If this paper is a "true" Bromide paper then we have alot to cheer about. Hope someone will get back here and give us a detailed report after trying it.
Regards, Peter

 

[juan]

That's right, Peter - I had forgotten the paper came from France. I'm still excited about a bromide paper.
juan

 

[Bob F.]

They had discontinued all except Grade 2 so they have obviously had to make something they never planned to make again. I hope these papers live up to expectations. I have some original grade 3 I can sometime compare.

I emailed Kentmere about this. Seems they only supply grade 2 themselves but will make a full roll of other grades to order. Presumably, this is what happened here.

If a customer requests a full mill reel of another Grade then it would be manufactured for them. This only happens very occasionally

Cheers, Bob

 

[Deckled Edge]

MikeW and DougHouk - Would you guys please return here and post your findings on the Kentmere Paper after you've tried it?
Thanks, Peter

I ordered the Kentmere VC Glossy DWt. from Freestyle, and was printing with it in 48 hours. It's FAST, has a nice surface, rather chilly, but tones pinkish with KRST. It's hard to tell the finished print from Kodak Polymax Fine Art FD before staining. It works well with the Kodak Polymax filters, but gives a 50% increase in speed. At 1$ per sheet of 11x14 it's a bargain. I have only used a few sheets, so far, from one box, so I cannot comment on matters of quality control or variability.

 

[mikewhi]

It appears that the Kentmere Bromide papers are already in stock. I pre-ordered from Freestyle & just got notification of shipment. Looking forward to trying this paper. Any recommendations of paper developer?

I pre-ordered, too, but have not received notification of shipment. I'll give them a call....

-Mike

 

[mikewhi]

I pre-ordered, too, but have not received notification of shipment. I'll give them a call....

-Mike

Just got off the phone with them. I ordered:

994284 KENTMERE BROMIDE GL#2 8X10/100 Qty: 1
9942163 KENTMERE BROMIDE GL#2 16X20/50 Qty: 1
994384 KENTMERE BROMIDE GL#3 8X10/100 Qty: 1

They said all this is on back-order until April 15th.

-Mike

 

[doughowk]

Initial Test: Used Kentmere Bromide grade 2 11X14 paper. I printed a rather thin 4X5 neg (30 sec @ f/16 in enlarger) of architectural subject. I had printed it last year on Oriental Seagull VC. Used Agfa Neutol Plus for 2+ mins.

Results: Not scientific but visual (didn't Bruce Barnbaum & Fred Picker ask rhetorical question are you printing for reading by a machine or viewing by a human). Has the 3-D appearance of an AZO print. Makes the Oriental print look flat in comparison. Great detail in both shadows & highligh areas.

Highly recommended. Will place an order for the other grades because this appears to be a great paper for cool-tone prints. Only caveat - the 2 ply weight made it impossible to use in my borderless easel, so had to switch easels.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Thank you

Decklededge and Doug howk -thanks to both of you for the heads up on the paper. Believe it or not I still have of pretty good stash of the Old Oriental Graded from the early nineties in the freezer but I'm running out of grade 3. Need to try some of this new bromide paper; and it's also important to let Kentmere know that we support them!
Regards, Peter

 

[Jim Moore]

Just got off the phone with them. I ordered:

994284 KENTMERE BROMIDE GL#2 8X10/100 Qty: 1
9942163 KENTMERE BROMIDE GL#2 16X20/50 Qty: 1
994384 KENTMERE BROMIDE GL#3 8X10/100 Qty: 1

They said all this is on back-order until April 15th.

-Mike

There is nothing more irritating than when a company introduces a new line and can't order enough product to meet the initial demand.

RRRrrrrrrrrrrggggggg