Some Kentmere 400 samples

paulfish4570 · Jul 7, 2010

Samples from my fifth self-developed roll. Kentmere 400, exposed in a variety of hard lighting situation; developed 6 minutes in 1-4 Tmax, 20C; Yashica Lynx 14E, fixed Yashinon-DX 45/1.4, exposures determined by camera's meter.

Tripod (30 or 15 at f8 or so):

paulfish4570 · Jul 7, 2010

Epson V300. The Kentmere film certainly is not HP5 or Tri-X, but it dries FLAT, which really helps the scanning.

paulfish4570 · Jul 8, 2010

I don't know Alessandro. Perhaps I should try.
The little scanner is amazing me so far.

Ian Grant · Jul 8, 2010

Some great tonality there, looks good.

Ian

paulfish4570 · Jul 8, 2010

Thanks, Ian. Harsh highlights are difficult for the K-400 to hold, but the film is worth more than the price. I reckon when I get set up with an enlarger I will be able to squeeze a little juice out out the brightest highlights.
I have some Arista Premium 400 on the way to try next ...

lns · Jul 8, 2010

Thanks for showing these. There's a lot of grain, to my eye. I wonder if that's from the scanner or is that a characteristic of the film? I'm asking because I think sometimes a grainy film would be nice for effect.

-Laura

p.s. - your river shot makes me think of Eudora Welty's "The Wide Net"

paulfish4570 · Jul 8, 2010

Ins, it is grainier than Tri-X, but it is expected and has a nice look because of it. I probably will buy some more of it even if I like the Arista Premium that is on the way.
And that one of my photos would remind someone of a Welty work is a wonderful compliment. Thank you.

5stringdeath · Jul 9, 2010

lns said:
Thanks for showing these. There's a lot of grain, to my eye. I wonder if that's from the scanner or is that a characteristic of the film? I'm asking because I think sometimes a grainy film would be nice for effect.

-Laura

p.s. - your river shot makes me think of Eudora Welty's "The Wide Net"

I've been shooting some Kentmere 400 myself, and it is indeed a grainy 400 speed film ... I have mixed feelings about this myself, as the grain is very different from Tri-X grain, which I'm more used to. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes it just seems I'm staring at grain .... Which usually I love, and I can't really explain why it bothers me sometimes with Kentmere .. just a new film I have to either get used to or move on.

BTW, I've printed all mine and you can indeed get a lot more out of the highlights in the darkroom ... one thing I love about this film is the printing range ... in fact, when I first started with the negs, to my eye they looked quite dense so I grabbed for a #1 filter but can end up going to 2 or 2.5 for really rich scale and details shadows and texture in highlights. So its nice to work with. Diffusion head btw.

I bought a 100' bulk roll on a whim, so I have more left to play with. I've been developing it in Sprint 1+9 but am heading into Rodinal land with it next.

2F/2F · Jul 9, 2010

Looks like a decent film. Nothing really seems sharp to me in the pix, though. I just did a portfolio of 8x12s from HP5, and they are plenty sharp. Grainy, but sharp grainy, even at an 8x enlargement from pushed film in Ilfotec HC 1:63 (albeit only 1/2 stop push). Maybe a shutter speed issue, or some other technical thing, or the scan. With Arista Premium at $2.20 per 36-exposure roll, I don't see the point in using it based on the examples. Then again, these are scanned negatives adjusted by a distant stranger, so it is hard to know exactly what they tell us. I was excited when it came out, thinking that it was just rebadged HP5, but I tested a roll and it obviously was not. I like it, but as I said, would not buy it when I can get Tri-X for $2.20 per roll of 36.

paulfish4570 · Jul 9, 2010

Exactly, which is why I ordered the Arista Premium, 12 36-exp rolls. I do not mind grain at all; it is supposed to be there in 400 asa film. But the Kentmere grain seems clumpish.
If you think these photos have hand shake, you should examine my pics with a Bessa R. I had to let it go even though it was beloved because of a neurological condition I have (CIDP: it causes, among other issues, hand tremors related to the posture in which my hands are; tremors increase the finer I try to control things with my fingers; a monopod is in my near future). The heavy, leaf-shutter Yashica is my solution for portable kit.
My very first scanner is Epson's V300. I am delighted with it.
Now, these pics came from my fifth roll of self-developed film (2 rolls Tri-X, 3 Kentmere), so my experience is next to nil. But I know this and much appreciate it: the Kentmere 400 dries FLAT, as if ironed and starched ...

2F/2F, speaking of grain - or little of it - here is my flickr page with photos from the Yashica and Portra vc160: Dead Link Removed

paulfish4570 · Jul 9, 2010

Alessandro, it probably is the Tmax. On black and white I scan at 16-bit grayscale, 3200, and everything else off except for unsharp mask. In PP, I mess a little with contrast and brightness and such if autofix doesn't do what I want ...

lns · Jul 9, 2010

Thanks for the information. I am glad to know there's an option like this. Sometimes you want a grainy look.

Paulfish, I'm sorry to hear about your CIDP. I'm impressed that you are forging ahead with your photography and film development. Awesome!

-Laura

paulfish4570 · Jul 9, 2010

Thanks, Laura. It is more of an aggravation than anything else most days ...

lycher · Sep 14, 2012

Does it dry very flat? that will be very helpful! I also use a V300, and I just bought some kentmere-400, can't help shooting it!

pentaxuser · Sep 14, 2012

2F/2F said:
I like it, but as I said, would not buy it when I can get Tri-X for $2.20 per roll of 36.

That was 2 years ago. How does its price v quality compare now to Tri-X? Thanks

pentaxuser

BradS · Sep 14, 2012

pentaxuser said:
That was 2 years ago. How does its price v quality compare now to Tri-X? Thanks

pentaxuser

Arista Premium 135, 36exp : $2.89
Kentmere 400 135, 36exp : $3.99

at Freestyle

lensman_nh · Sep 15, 2012

BradS said:
Arista Premium 135, 36exp : $2.89
Kentmere 400 135, 36exp : $3.99

at Freestyle

Kentmere 400 100 ft $35.99
Arista Remium 100 ft $45.99

B&H sells the Kentmere 100 ft for 29.99. I tend to use B&H because the shipping is cheaper and I get it in 2 days with standard shipping. Freestyle gets plenty of other business from me.

J.

helvetica · Sep 18, 2012

I too bought a 100' roll and honestly, it's nearly driven me to give up film twice now. I'm processing with D76 stock, and scanning with an Epson V500 and the grain and resolution makes the shots look like a 2 or 3 megapixel capture that's been sent through SilverEfex Pro. I've scanned quite a few rolls so far, so I do not think it was just a "one bad /off temp batch" either... unless my whole roll is suspect.

On the other hand, it is cheap to purchase and moderately fast ISO, so that's not a terrible thing!

Jerevan · Sep 19, 2012

I'd just say scanning 35 mm film with a low-end scanner is going to be hard work however you do it. And the scanner accentuates any grain in the film, so... get wet printing instead!

helvetica · Sep 19, 2012

Alessandro Serrao said:
Here's a couple of examples:
- http://flic.kr/p/dbT1dd
- http://flic.kr/p/dbT1aL

I picked up a refurbished v500 on sale for less than $100 - it was too good to pass up! Would you mind sharing a full resolution scan? They look to have clean detail!

This is what i am up against:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49325953@N07/7990738480/sizes/k/in/photostream/
That is the full resolution, and a slight crop into the negative at that. Compare that to say, this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49325953@N07/6923787154/sizes/h/in/photostream/
shot with cheap Fuji 200 color negative film. Granted it's not an apples-to-apples comparison!

Some Kentmere 400 samples

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