In the relatively early days of digital I was involved in online discussions about whether the fact that our short-to-shot cost with digital cameras was tempting us to ‘spray and pray’ rather than applying quite the same standards for subjects as we did in the days of film.
It was pointed out that, back in analogue days there was still a fair proportion of shots that would be ‘discards’ – where the focus was slightly too much off, where there was a little too much camera shake, where there was a pole growing out of someone’s head, or just those shots where you thought ‘Why on earth did I think of taking that?’
The general conclusion was that a good roll of film was one where you could pick out one third or more of the shots that were ‘keepers’.
I’m very much in admiration of anyone who does the ‘Whole roll’ publicly, but I’m putting forward the ‘One Third Keepers’ as a nice compromise between volume and variety of images – giving 12 or 8 shots off a 135 roll, and only doesn’t really work for 6×9 images off 120 film.
So I give you:
One third Keepers from a roll of Kentmere Pan 200 in the Konica Autoreflex T3
I’ve owned this camera since I was 17 (that’s quite some time ago). It has featured in previous articles here, here and here. It is a particular favourite. Lenses were Hexanon 52/1.8, Vivitar 28/2.8 and Hexanon 28/3.5 – all in Konica AR mount.
The film is the first roll I’ve tried of the relatively new Kentmere 200 which I processed at the equivalent of 16:30 in 1:50 Rodinal at 20 degrees (it was actually a stonkingly hot 32 degrees, so actually processing time was shorter).
The resulting negative strips were then scanned as TIFF files by a Plustek OpticFilm 135i scanner and processed and output as web-sized JPGs in DXO PL 7 with a final tweak in PSP.
The pictures
Kentmere Pan 200 seems like a good film to me. A fair compromise on film speed, and it produces a strong contrasty image. It dries reasonably flat with a slight reverse curl and is quite easy to scan.
Since developing this roll, I’ve experimented with reduced developing times with R09 at 1:50 and am currently using 11:15 minutes which gives less grain.
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Comments
Gary Smith on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
I'm hoping to get better than a third of my shots on my next outing with the 4 x 5...
Thanks for another inspiring article!
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Curtis Heikkinen on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Christopher Welch on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Eric F on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Marco Andrés on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Still find that 36 exposures is just too many. Prefer medium format with less than a dozen. Not a believer in « pray and spray ». But would be interested in seeing the other 24 images. Keepers, after all, are a judgement call.
Comment posted: 27/07/2025
Alexander Seidler on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Geoff Chaplin on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Keith Drysdale on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Ibraar Hussain on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Thanks Bob!
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Simon Bohrsmann on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Jim Grey on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
The T3 is a terrific SLR and you really made the Kentmere 200 sing.
Comment posted: 28/07/2025
Mike Connealy on ‘One Third Keepers’ with Kentmere Pan 200 and a Konica AutoReflex T3
Comment posted: 02/08/2025