Kentmere 100 and 400 are two new emulsions from Ilford/Harman – who purchased Kentmere and the rights to their name a while ago. Along with all this they also closed down and transplanted the Kentmere plant to Ilford’s complex, and so on. But the thing is that Kentmere wasn’t a film manufacturer, they coated paper exclusively, and were quite good at it.
So where do Kentmere 100 and 400 come from? They’re two new emulsions being coated by Harman (the parent company of Ilford and Kentmere, formed by a management buyout of Ilford in 2005, when it went into receivership) and sold under the Kentmere name. There was some speculation that they were rebrandings of Ilford Pan 100 and 400, two rarely seen but still produced emulsions, but the official word is that they are 100% new, and testing data seems to back that up.
So! Two new types of film for the market, aimed at the cheaper sector, priced below HP5+ and FP4+, and available only in 36ex and 100ft bulk 35mm rolls. No 120 or sheet film, and I wouldn’t really expect it.
I picked up this roll for $8 at Total Photographic Supplies and figured I’d give it a shot. I’m shooting it at 800EI and we’ll see what sort of results I get, but I expect good.