100 or 200 skies – Kentmere vs Kentmere – Not really a fair contest

There is nearly always Kentmere film in the fridge. There are films I would prefer, but Kentmere rarely seems to be out of stock when it is shopping time. With a period of cold front weather bringing some really quite impressive skies, I determined that I should get through at least one roll dedicated to the stacking cumulus.

Two cameras were to take part. Pitting a 120 against a 35mm is not really a entirely straight fight, though in terms of speed of use the two chosen certainly weren’t chalk and cheese. The delightful Kodak Retina iic was loaded with a roll of Kentmere 200 and the trusty, brick like Mamiya C220 with a roll of the 100. Both cameras have a compliment of three lenses that happen to be equivalent in their respective formats. There were a number of ways in which this couldn’t be a fair comparison. The Mamiya loves and indeed deserves a tripod. The Retina, just doesn’t really suit one so well. With light often sifting through the cloud breaks, working quickly might be important, but with both cameras served by a hand held meter, there was potential for missed opportunities with both. The Retina had a full 36 frames to play with and of course the Mamiya a measly 12. In reality I have a very deep fondness for both of these cameras, so this was never really any kind of meaningful competition.

Kentmere 200 has already been described as a good film for beginners, easy to use, quite forgiving and with a little grain. With this in mind, it seemed the 100 might be better for detail in these skies and the Mamiya Kentmere 100 combination certainly produced some very nice definition in some of the clouds. The 200 has a more contrasty look and maybe that would also be good for already dramatic looking skies with darker patches.  Both films were processed in 510 Pyro, although not in the tank together, as there is quite a difference in times. To date the only recipe I have found for Kentmere 200 is 7 minutes 15 seconds, in 510 Pyro.

Retina first

To the Retina and the Kentmere 200 first, as this film stock seemed to really suit the conditions especially in the morning. There was less definition in some of the clouds than I recalled seeing, but a slightly painterly effect through the grain. Shooting straight toward crepuscular rays worked really quite well on a few occasions. The photo below is possibly one of my favourites from this roll.

Ninety degrees to the sun worked fine too and the grain seemed to help in most cases. The 35mm lens for the Retina does vignette quite badly and that is without a hood (now got one on order).

Shooting at 180 degrees from the sun was also just fine and again I think the Kentmere has done quite a nice job of the clouds.

The Mamiya’s turn

With just the 12 frames and a change in my work schedule, the Mamiya / Kentmere 100 combination didn’t get the same opportunities. It did though produce a few nice cloudscapes, one of which has just been framed as I write this.

Here the 55mm lens facing similar problems to the little Kodak’s 35mm. Once again I had a hood for the other two lenses with this camera, but not the wide angle, a situation now also rectified with an order from an auction web site.  The 55mm has a tendency to vignette, so a crop helps. This lens also has a penchant for flare in contre-jour situations, though in fairness a lot was being asked here as the sun broke over the top of the cloud. I still like this frame even though the Harbour Keeper was caught in some of the flare.

Finally, my favourite from this period of sky drama. This is the Mamiya with the 55mm lens, on Kentmere 100. It is probably the winner if there has to be one, but the little Retina might well have made a nice job of this too with the 100 film. This one is cropped to represent what has been done with it as a framed print.  Almost the same clouds as the frame above, but exposed from a different point and before the sun broke through.

Making these photographs gave me a lot of pleasure, I hope you might have enjoyed viewing them.

Share this post: