Harman sent me a couple of rolls of their new line up in the Kentmere range of Black and White films. Kentmere 200. And this new film will be exciting news for many Kentmere lovers! 

I was excited to see how this new film would perform and there is no better way to test a film than to get out there and shoot it in your normal environment and see how you like the results. Here’s a Chicken!

But before all that you need to find your perfect overall development happy medium or you’ll end up shooting some great photos, perfectly exposed, only to mess it all up in the development. 

See the Video

So I needed to find this out before I went out on location. 

Development Tests

With only two rolls of film and an intentional video to make for the SFLaB channel I needed to make sure I developed my film right. I chose Ilford ID-11 for my developer. And I already knew I was going to be dunking the film in it at 1 part to 1 part. I just needed to find the right time, or near enough! 

Over develop and I run into highlight problems. Under develop and I get negatives that are thin and hard to print. But if I get my times at least near enough then I know these films are pretty forgiving and I’ll get printable negs. And that’s all I am after.

At this time I had no data sheet from Harman. But even so, I would only use that as a guide and still experiment. I’ve since seen the data sheet and I wasn’t too far off!

So using my rotary processor from Filmomat I started off at 10.5 minutes. I took a few photographs of my Wife’s Aunty, Uncle and Cousin and then cut the film from the camera and developed the shots I took. 

Straight away I could see the negatives were dense. But surprisingly recoverable. But I needed to take time off. So I decided to knock off Two minutes. You can see the highlights stretching.

This time, at 8.5mins I got better negatives but still I could see they were denser than I would like. 

With now only one and a half rolls left I settled with just seven minutes development time. And I was elated when I saw the negatives. They looked perfect. For me at least!

7 Minutes!

When I scanned the negatives I was surprised to see the images had a good tonal range, sharp and fine grain too! I say surprised because I’ve always compared standard films to Ilford FP4. I shoot FP4 mostly. And I’ve never seen Kentmere 100 or 400 come nowhere close. But with Kentmere 200, I think I’d be hard pushed to tell the difference side by side. Maybe for another video I can do a comparison? 

And if it IS as good as Ilford FP4 it could well be a cheaper alternative! 

When I shoot FP4 I often shoot it at box speed for my scapes and often push it to 400 for my street. Even 800! Can I push Kentmere 200 to 400 or even 800? That waits to be seen. I will need to grab some more rolls and delve deeper. 

But for now Kentmere 200 has left a good impression. And even though I have only made scans so far I know from the negatives that darkroom prints will be good too.

I’m not one for delving deep into a films dynamic range, grain and sharpness with vigorous testing. As I said, I’ll shoot the film in various conditions, for my normal photography taste, and I can visually see if it is a film I can use. 

And I’ve shot probably every film out there. To be honest I think most films have a place for creative photography. Even those crazy contrast micro film films. Copex Rapid comes to mind! I’ve used this film where I’ve wanted super contrast for creative reasons. 

So if I stumble across an unusual film I’ll always give it a go and put it in a pigeon hole for a possible certain look I may need for any particular photoshoot. Even Harman Red. When that came out a few weeks back many were quick to label it as gimmicky or just plain awful. There are those that are happy to throw rocks at a new film on the market and there are those that are willing to get out and give it a go to find its potential. If any.

Coming back to this new film from Harman, which I believe will be rolled out in 120 and also 4×5 I think it’s excellent news for Kentmere fans and the film community as a whole. Film is still being pumped out for us film nuts to enjoy.