Kentmere Pan 200 and a Contax 137 MA Quartz/ZEISS 50mm f/1.7

I have used Kentmere films before. There’s some examples of Kentmere Pan 100 here… (one below)

I liked them both.

They may not be as contrasty or as pin sharp as other B&W films I typically favor, but what drew me to them was their affordable price. Add to that the promise of improved contrast with 120 films and I would count them as a success.

On my recent visit to my local camera shop, Venu recommended I try this new Kentmere film. He shared that this new Kentmere Pan 200 was sharper than their previous films. Count me in.

Bought a roll of 35mm and 120. This is about the 35mm variant.

Given the current ills of the world, I was overdue for a bit of analog therapy, so I struck out to a local “downtown” area. (Quotes are an obnoxious side effect of my being from NY and living in NYC for a few years. Can’t be helped.) Ran through the roll in no time. And as a bonus once I got home I confirmed that I got some images as well.

Cool. Developed at home using Cinestill df96 and scanned with my trusty Epson V600. Before I get to the images, let me mention the camera used.

The Contax 137 MA Quartz…

…is my personal favorite SLR. A claim I do not make lightly since there are other SLRs I rather like. Had quite a few of them. But when things got out of hand and it came time to thin the SLR herd, this is a camera that was going nowhere. Never once thought of selling it.

Here are 10 of the images, with the remainder of the images posted here, with thoughts afterward.

Thoughts… this film is cuss word awesome.

I had no nits to pick with Kentmere’s 100 and 400 films, but to my eyes, this 200 variant is better. Very nice tones. Relatively low grain. As sharp as 100 and more consistent than the 400. And best of all, it is very affordable. If it looks this good in 35mm, I am very curious how it looks in 120 format (120 test post at this link.). I definitely will be buying it again.

Well done, Kentmere.

I appreciate having this opportunity to share my experiences with this film.

Eric L. Woods

I shoot a variety of new and old digital and film cameras. Industrial Engineer by education, IT is my vocation, and I really enjoy using, testing, and writing about cameras. All three of the latter are very therapeutic exercises for me. If you are so inclined my blog address is ewoodsphoto.com and I can be found on threads and Instagram. All the best to you.

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