I Tested the NEW Ilford Kentmere Film in Medium Format

Back in December, Ilford announced that they were releasing their Kentmere Pan 100 and 400 film stocks in medium format and I was lucky enough to be sent a couple of rolls of each to test.

For those of you who are not already aware of the Kentmere range from Harman Technology, Kentmere film is sold as a more affordable alternative to their own Ilford film stocks, which in a time where film prices are rocketing, is welcome news.

Kentmere Pan 100 and 400 already exist in 35mm format, but this new 120 format is helping to introduce more affordable film stocks to photographers like myself who predominantly work with medium format film.

Today I want to share some of the images that I shot with both of the film stocks, starting out with Kentmere 400.

Kentmere 400 Street Photography

Back in October, I headed to Sheffield for a portrait shoot. Post-shoot, I took a trip to Sheffield's Botanical Gardens, a place that I hadn't visited before, to begin testing the film. As the light was beginning to diminish so late on in an Autumn day, I decided a roll of the 400 speed film would be my safest bet.

That being said, it turned out to be unusually bright for an October afternoon in the North of England. Thankfully, 400 ISO is a good in-between speed when it comes to shooting with natural light. It works well when faced with both bright and darker lighting scenarios.

I was able to test how the film stock fared in bright conditions, where the contrast was high and the shadows cast were strong, but also inside the greenhouses where the light was more diffused.

I shot this first roll with the Mamiya RZ67 and a 50mm lens, which works out roughly equivalent to a 25mm focal length on a 35mm camera.

There’s a great sharpness to this film stock with a classic looking grain structure that offers the charm that only comes with film without it being overly intrusive. The contrast levels are brilliant too, and definitely to my taste. I tend to like my black and white film to be high in contrast and whilst Kentmere 400 isn’t too high in contrast, it feels like a perfect middle ground between too much and not enough.

Kentmere 400 Portrait Photography

Next up, I wanted to test Kentmere 400 in a portrait scenario, so I took to the streets of Manchester with my Mamiya RZ67 and 110mm lens (which is roughly equivalent to a 55mm focal length on a 35mm system) to test it.

On this day, the rain was really heavy and it was really overcast, so it was nice to use the film stock in a completely different lighting scenario to my initial roll.

Referencing the contrast again, I found that the contrast on Kentmere 400 was perfect for portrait scenarios. It wasn’t too strong that it took away from the portraits or the detail in the portraits, but it was enough that separated the different elements within the photos effectively.

Kentmere 100 Portrait Studio Shoot

With both rolls of Kentmere Pan 400 burned through, it was time to give Kentmere Pan 100 a go.

Kentmere 100 is described as a medium-speed, ISO 100, panchromatic black and white film, characterised by fine grain, good sharpness, and a wide and forgiving exposure latitude.

The first roll of Kentmere 100 that I tried was in the studio, using a two-light set-up. The all-black, classic outfit that the model opted for was a perfect match for the level of contrast for this film stock.

Ilford describe it as medium contrast but my experience with it was that it was quite high contrast.

You can see this in how deep the black point is, especially given that the two light set-up had one large softbox point at the front of the model which would have illuminated the outfit a little more.

I think that the characteristics of Kentmere 100 makes it perfect for classic portrait set-ups, especially when you want to accentuate shapes, lines and silhouettes. At 100 speed, it’s also perfect for using with strobe lighting.

Kentmere 100 Casual Photography

My next, and final, roll of Kentmere 100 was taken using the Fuji GA645 and I shot it across a couple of days when I was on other shoots, using it as a behind-the-scene camera and to get more snapshot-style photos of my days.

The contrast of the film stock is displayed again within this series of photos, taken on a wet rooftop at sunset, where the harsh lighting is made more dramatic by the deep shadows.

I also shot a few photos at sunrise, where the light was much softer, and I was impressed by how the soft light was rendered, especially where you can see it hitting the track and creating almost a radial gradient.

As well as testing the stock with natural light, I tried using the built-in flash on the Fuji GA645 at the race track on the Manchester City Etihad grounds. The contrasty nature of this film stock really compliments the direct-flash kind of vibe, and I definitely think it’s effective in this kind of scenario.

Whilst Ilford don’t describe the Kentmere Pan range as being ‘professional films’, they do note that the films can create results that all professionals would be proud of, and I think that that definitely rings true. At a lower price point, the film stocks make for great films for casual shooting, just like I did with the Fuji GA645, but equally I’d be happy to use both of the film stocks on professional jobs after seeing the way that Kentmere 400, in particular, worked on the portraiture shoot.

A huge thank you to Ilford for reaching out to me and allowing me to test out these film stocks early! It was such an honour and I always enjoy shooting film stocks I’ve not worked with before. I’m definitely going to be getting my hands on a few more rolls so expect to see more of my work with these Kentmere stocks.