Back in late March, Michelle from Harman got in touch with news of yet another forthcoming film launch for 2025 – this time Kentmere 200. Kentmere films are manufactured by Harman in the UK, the same people (in case you didn’t know…) who make the Ilford Photo and Harman photo range of films. Unlike with the Harman Colour films (Phoenix and Red) though, I am allowed to use the word Ilford in this article. It’s a licensing thing for Harman – you can probably google it if you want to know more – but in short, the reason I can use the words Kentmere and Ilford in the same sentence here is because Kentmere is a black and white film, and is in fact sold alongside the Ilford range of films on their website.
Simply, Kentmere is just the budget brand. Harman’s literature on the new film says it’s not even supposed to compete with Ilford films. I’m not sure what this new 200 speed film is going to cost per roll, but the at 100 and 400 speed films aren’t far off half the price of the Ilford Delta 100 and 400 in the same formats. For e.g. at the time of writing, on the Ilford website Delta 100 and 400 in 35mm are £9.14 a roll whereas Kentmere 100 and 400 in 35mm are £5.20. As such, I would strongly suspect the 200 speed version will be the same price too.
Because of this lower price point, Kentmere films are often touted as “being great for beginners” or those (such as students) looking to start (or continue) shooting black & white film without worrying too much about the cost of film. For me, I have always thought of the Kentmere brand as being more of a consumer black & white film – a little bit like how Kodak Color Plus and Kodak Gold are the consumer films to the more professional Portra range from Kodak. I’m honestly not sure how fair a comparison that is to make really, but that’s how I have long thought of the brand. The reality is, it seems, that Harman just use less silver in the production for Kentemere than they do the Ilford range which – in their own words – makes for a “lower performance” film.
I say I have “long thought of the brand” here, as actually – whilst I have seen a lot of results from Kentmere film shared here on 35mmc – I have never (at least to my memory) shot either the 100 or 400 films. Of course, this makes me making any kind of comparison with the other speeds quite tricky (impossible) really. Though, of course, I do have some thoughts on the results I received back from Analogue Wonderland from my first two rolls of Kentemere 200.
Before I get to that though, just a quick thought on the need for a 200 speed film. I must admit, with plenty of options for 100 and 400 speed films from Kentmere and Ilford, my initial reaction was to wonder what the point in a dedicated 200 speed film is. 100 speed films can be pushed and 400 speed films pulled if you you really need 200 ISO. Although slightly more expensive still, I have often shot HP5 at EI 200 or even 100 without even bothering to pull process it. XP2, although slightly different as a chromogenic film, can also be shot at 200 without any need to change development processes. So what is the point of filling this gap? To be honest, I’m not sure. I am sure there are box-speed purists who would have a view out there, and perhaps it could even be seen as a happy medium… or maybe it’s because Foma comes in 100, 200 and 400 and Harman wanted a competing ‘medium speed’ film. One way or another, it exists now, and whilst I personally have never felt any need to shoot a specifically 200 speed film, the fact that it exists does no harm at all, and indeed does give the option to those who want it. With all that said, once I had it loaded into my Nikon F301 and the EI dialled into 200, I barely really thought about it until I was in the cover of the woods and did indeed notice a touch more flexibility than what I would have had shooting a 100 speed film, so maybe I am over thinking, and it’s just as simple as that…?
So what of the results? Well, being the snob that I am, I went into the experience with lower expectations – not unfairly I don’t think. As I have said, even Harman use the words “lower performance” when making comparisons with their other Ilford brand films. In hindsight, that was silly of me though, and I was definitely being a snob. Regardless of what Harman or indeed Kodak say about their films, I don’t go out with any other films with low expectations. When shooting Kodak Color Plus or Gold, I just expect slightly more grain and punchier “consumer” colours. And, aside from the obvious total lack of colour, that’s pretty much what I got from Kentmere 200. The grain isn’t actually as pronounced as I thought it might be, but all other factors being equal, I got slightly more visibly-grainy results than I expect I would get out of a “professional” grade film. I also got more punchy contrast too. But, ultimately, actually, that’s what I liked about the results! I would pick up a roll of consumer colour film to get a consumer colour film look. The same goes here: I would pick up a roll of this film if my goal was for these sort of punchy results.
I can certainly see the logic of marketing this film as for the beginner, student, pauper etc. – Harman want a product that fills that segment of the market. And certainly – at least within the context of my massively limited experience of these films – it seems true that the quality is “lower” than results from more expensive film. But for me, this has been something of an eye-opener to cheaper film. I really like the results, and I could see me seeking the look this film produces as a creative rather than financial choice. See what you think:
As I say, I really like some of the photos I have achieved here – especially the one above of my wife, youngest and dog under the tree – I think that’s just a beautiful rendering that I would definitely seek to duplicate! So yeah, I could definitely see me reaching for this and the other Kentmere films again!
You can find out more here, I have also uploaded the data sheet for convenience here.
Finally, another shout out to Analogue Wonderland’s dev and scan service – I got the results back well within their stated turnaround time – great service as usual!
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