First Taste

Taking a look at Kentmere 200

Since first becoming interested in photography back in the mid 80s, I'd predominantly shot colour (mostly slides) with only occasional dabblings in mono. This trend continued into the digital era. When I came back to film around six years ago I made the conscious decision to explore the world of black and white (any colour work staying mainly in the digital realm).

Between Crocketford and Corsock

During this time Harman's Kentmere 100 and 400 emulsions have, on the whole, been my staple, giving consistent high quality results.

Beech trees along our lane.

Having enjoyed what these film stocks can do, I was very interested to read of a new emulsion coming to the Kentmere line, sitting in between the others in terms of speed but with a look all it's own.

A few from around home. Note the halation patterns around the highlights on the Skoda badge

I was intrigued by the lack of an anti-halation layer and what effect this can have on bright highlights with that characteristic glow. I was also interested to see what the enhanced contrast would look like, so I purchased a couple of 35mm rolls courtesy of Nick 'n' Trick, down in Kent, to have a play. So far I have only tried one roll.

1) Silage bales. 2) Seen better days

I took a look at the Massive Dev Chart for suggestions on relative times for the three emulsions, guesstimated what I needed by employing a high precision measuring instrument (finger in the wind), and arrived at 14 minutes. Although this seemed slightly high based on the resultant negatives, the scans came out very well despite the dense highlights.

Broken.

The results certainly have a higher level of contrast but not unduly so, with the scans mostly just needing minor white/black point adjustments. Sharpness and fine detail rendered very well (although the little Canon 40mm pancake lens is a fine performer in this regard, so this will have helped). Grain is also pleasingly smooth in character.

A half-frame equivalent area crop from the original. Still hols up very well.

Something that grabbed my attention is the way this film can lend a slight vintage look to an image, an attribute I find very appealing. Even though I've only shot the one roll to date, I've liked it enough to go shopping for more and I look forward to further adventures with K200.

An aftrernoon wander around Corsock Church.

This will likely be my last full post until early September as I'll be heading off on my hols with family for a few weeks (hopefully plenty of opportunities to snap away with that Kentmere 200!). Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy this selection from that first roll (some I've shown previously, some new). Until next time.

(All images taken with Canon EOS 500 and Canon 40mm f2.8 pancake lens on Kentmere 200 and developed in caffenol using my usual slightly altered version of the Delta recipe.)

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