emmanuel pineau

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Emmanuel Pineau blog

emmanuel pineau blog

8 good reasons to try the Kentmere Pan 100

Déc 8, 2024 |

Kentmere Pan 100

Kentmere Pan 100 at 200 iso, processed in Xtol 1+1

Kentmere Pan 100 vs Kodak Tmax 100

In the early 90’s, I started to get interested in black and white photography and started to shoot with medium format cameras on film. The first film stock I’ve been using was Kodak Plus X (125 iso). It was a nice classic film with a lot of grain.

Then Kodak came with the Tmax technology and I switched to the Tmax 100. Since then it has always been my favorite slow speed film and I shot a lot of rolls on this stock, processed by a variety of developers.

I always loved the result from this film in terms of sharpness, tonal range and contrast. Feeling comfortable with the film stock is really important to me.

Here we are now in 2024. The prices of B&W films are increasing more and more. For one roll of Kodak Tmax 100 you need to pay about 10 euros. So I’ve decided to do some tests with other film manufacturers trying to find an alternative to my favorite film ever.

Kentmere Pan 100

Kentmere Pan 100, processed in a two bath developer (divided D23)

After reviewing articles on the web, I made the choice to try the Kentmere Pan 100.
I’ve been using this film more than a year now, under different light conditions and with different developers and I would like to share with you some reasons why you should give it a try too:

 

  1. The price: one roll of Kentmere Pan 100 in 120 is around 6 euros. So it is a significant cost difference comprare to the Kodak Tmax. This is not the cheapest film on the market, Foma can be less expensive, but you can get more roll for your money.
  2. Overall quality: this film stock is made by Harman Technology, the same manufacturer that makes all Ilford film and paper products. The film base is good and will produce very clear and flat negatives (no curling).
  3. Easy to use: Kodak Tmax will require more attention with exposure and processing to get the best results. I found Kentmere a bit more flexible.
  4. Classic look: at the beginning of the article, I was mentioning the Kodak Plus X. Kentmere has a classic emulsion so it won’t produce the same grain structure as the Tmax. But depending on the developer you use, the grain can be very discrete. The result is certainly less “clean” than the Tmax but with a bit more soul.
  5. Highlight handling: the film itself has less contrast than the Kodak, so maybe it helps with highlights. With Tmax, with some developers (as HC100) highlights could be hard to manage and go very dark on the negative. With Kentmere, I felt there was more room for highlights. Especially when using Xtol for developer
  6. Versatility: The base iso is 100 but I shot some rolls at 50 and 200 iso without any issues.
  7. Long exposure: I’ve made some tests with long exposure (night photography). The film was processed with the two bath development technique, known for giving good results in this case. And the negatives were simply incredible. So many details both in highlight and shadow.
  8. Studio: Using strobes or LEDs I found it easy to use and I didn’t change so much the way I set up the light or meter. Yes the film has less contrast to start with but it’s easy to add some during post production.
Kentmere Pan 100

Night photography with Kentmere Pan 100, processed in a two bath developer (divided D23)

Kentmere Pan 100

Kentmere Pan 100, processed in D23 1+1

Kentmere Pan 100

Kentmere Pan 100, processed in D23 1+1

In conclusion, I find this film is a valid option to replace the kodak Tmax 100. It won’t give you the exact same look or quality but I think it is a very good budget alternative.

All images presented in this article were processed by myself and DSLR scan with a Nikon D800. Contrast and luminance were adjusted in Capture One. You can find more samples of my black and white analog photography in this section.

Have fun with films !!!

Kentmere Pan 100

Kentmere Pan 100, processed in D23 1+1

5 good reasons to use Kodak Xtol

Juin 11, 2021 |

kodak xtol

Kodak Tmax 100 at 200 Asa, Processed in Xtol 1+1

Kodak Xtol

I’ve been shooting and processing black and white for many years now, for my personal work but also sometimes for editorials or commercials. Of course, I’ve tried and used several types of films and developers. But my favorites have always been Kodak Tmax 100 and Kodak Tri-X.
Regarding developers, I used to prefer liquid concentrates such as Ilfosol or Kodak HC-110 because I thought it was easier to mix and I’ve always favored the one shot solutions.

Then I wanted to do some experiments with other developers and finally came across Kodak Xtol that I really love !!!

Kodak Xtol

Kodak Tri-x 400 at 800 Asa, Processed in Xtol 1+1

Created by Kodak in 1996, Xtol in not exactly a newborn. But it’s not the most popular developer considaring the threads you can find on internet. Also the fact that it’s only available in packaging to make 5 liters of stock solution, make it perhaps less userfriendly than other developers.

Here are some of the reasons :

  1. Kodak Xtol is easy to use. All you have to do is to mix the powder at room temperature to make the 5 liters of stock solution. It’s recommended to mix it with distilled water for better storage capacity. Then you divide the solution into five bottles of 1 liter each, completely full (no air) and tightly closed.
  2. The storage capacity following these recommendations is very good. Kodak gives 12 months for the stock solution, but according to my experience you can still use it after 18 months if it is stored in a cool dark place.
  3. Xtol is often told “the environment friendly” developer. It is true as it uses ascorbic acid and Phenidone rather than Metol or Hydroquinone.
  4. You can shoot at box speed ! Well maybe it seems anecdotic, but for myself I like the idea. There are a lot of developers with which you need to over-expose your film. With Xtol you don’t. And it works really great also for pushing (and I like that too !).
    The best is to use it as a one shot solution with a 1+1 dilution. All you need to have in mind is to use at least 100ml of stock solution per film (135 or 120). This makes it a quite economical developer (it leaves some $$ to buy your film). I am using it with a “home made” rotary processor and result is just fine.
  5. But what about the result ? As I told you I mainly use it for Kodak Tmax 100 and Tri-X.
    For the Tmax it works really great. The grain is nice and the gradation too. You will get good shadow details and above all, because it can be crucial with Tmax, a very good highlight control. Kodak Xtol is also known for its sharpness, and according to my experiments it is quite true. I personally use Tmax 100 @ 200 and process a bit longer to get a little more contrast. Wth the Tri-X it works also very well. Maybe it won’t beat the Tri-x / D76 combo or Rodinal but it works well with a lot of different speeds so it’s very comfortable to work with.
Kodak Xtol

Kodak Tri-x 400 at 800 Asa, Processed in Xtol 1+1

Kodak Xtol

Kodak Tri-x 400 at 800 Asa, Processed in Xtol 1+1

All the pictures I’ve used to illustrate this article are from recent series, « les limites du territoire », « One piece of my mind » and the on going series « A simple life » initiated in 2020. You can find here more information about my photography work.
I hope this will be useful for choosing your Film/Dev combo. Keep in mind that expirments are good, but the most important is to take pictures. There’re so many possibilities that a all life will not be enough to test everything. So stick to a receipe for a some time, just to make sure you have made the most of it. It takes time to tune a process…

A good alternative to Kodak Xtol is Adox XT-3 available from the German website Fotoimpex. I’ve tested it recently and I was really pleased with both the results and the ease to use it. One of the good thing with this X-tol clone is that you can buy it to make 1 or 5 liters. It’s nice to have the choice as 5 liters of stock solution can be too long to use for people who do not shoot a lot of rolls. Choosing the 1 liter package make it a bit more expensive of course. Also, the powder is much easier to mix and safier too (according to Adox) due to the captura technology.

I’ve used it to process Tmax 100 and Tri-x and both of them looks great with this developer. All the qualities I like with X-tol were there, even a bit better !

Have fun with films !!!

Black and white analog photography

Déc 10, 2018 |

black and white analog photography by emmanuel pineau

Black and white analog photography:

I came back to my old Bronica  and the Kodak Tmax 100 for this series shot this summer in West of France.
As usual I process the film myself, in small Jobo tank. For many years I use Kodak HC110 developper (1+31 or 1+63) because I like the ease of liquide developper and the the great keeping properties of HC110.
Black and white is what I like and analog photography is my passion. I’ve been doing this since I started photography when I was a kid and never stop since then. I always try to keep up on my technic and improve my processing in the idea to get the best result possible and above all the image I had in my I released the shutter…

Update : 03/03/2022

I’ve recently change a bit my film porcessing, using more and more Kodak X-tol as my main developper. It gives me a better control on the highlights and overall sharpness. Also using a rotary processor make the process more even. I wrote an article about my experience with X-tol.

Emmanuel Pineau blog