First Roll: Kentmere 400

It has been awhile since I have ventured out of my comfort zone and thought about trying a different film stock. When it comes to the big ones such as Kodak Tri-X & T-Max or Ilfords HP5+, FP4, Delta 3200 etc. Ive always loved them. However the buy in is getting pretty steep for me as a hobbyist portrait photographer. I’ve been seeing a bunch of others using Kentmere 400 as an affordable alternative. It has the connotation of being a “newbie” film stock for those new to black and white film. If you know me, this is not my first rodeo with film.

I rated this stock at box speed, 400 ISO. I love the tonality this black and white has. It sort of has an older film stock feel to it, which I won’t complain about! It doesn’t have a modern look to it. I think specifically in the highlights it gives that older black and white charm. My verdict for this film stock is: I loved it! Without trying a roll first, I bought a 120 brick (10 rolls) of this so I guess that’s a good thing I found it worth to have around in the film fridge.

For you super, duper nerds. I developed this roll with HC-110 using dilution B (1:31) for developing. Then DSLR scanned the negatives, turning these into positives with the amazing Negative Lab Pro software!

First Roll: Ilford FP4+

In the fall I messaged Jennifer if she would be interested in creating some work and she agreed. I was super excited about this because I needed a mental health day from work. So we both had a Friday off and I met her at her awesome studio apartments in downtown Boise. We shot a ton this day, however I told her I had a roll of film that required a ton of sun. So we did one last outfit change and headed outside her apartment into the sun to feed the FP4+ extreme hunger for light. I rated this roll at box speed (ISO 125) and went through the roll pretty quick and it sort of saddens me there is no 220 of this in current production. As much as I love the 6x7 negative size, it really cuts short a roll at 10 exposures and if you only have one roll you become quite stingy on pushing the shutter.

Usually I am a Kodak fan boy at heart and I LOVE shooting Kodak Tri-X 400 but I was looking to explore other black and white films and when I ordered my Fomapan rolls forever ago I thought why not FP4 too? This roll was a joy to shoot and I honestly will be investing in more to keep stock in my fridge. The contrast is perfect for my taste, nice rich blacks, solid middle gray and great highlights. It was easy and quick for scanning, I barely spent anytime on adjustments, in fact I spent more time on removing dust. Kodak Tri-X is great but for more mid day shooting and harsh sunlight, FP4 will be an easy go to without hesitation.

First Roll: Kodak Double X

Sometime early 2019 a friend and local photographer gifted me a roll of Kodak Double X. This film is a cinema film, yes the kind they use for Hollywood movies. Famous movies that have used this stock were Schindlers List and the opening scene to 007 Casino Royale. So my approach was to give a minor attempt in creating some cinematic stills, was I successful? Maybe. However I was extremely excited with the outcome of this first roll and I knew also I would attempt to photograph different people and different light times to see what this film looks like in all avenues. Sometimes I found it tough because this film is a 250 ISO film and I overexposed a bit with rating it at 200. The last few shots with Ellen I took were much slower shutter speeds and it was key not to mess up and get motion blur.

Conclusion: Would I buy this film again? Without a doubt, this film was fun to shoot and I think I would always try to get cinematic looks with it just because that would be a fun challenge to do. My only complaint though, its only in 35mm and not in medium format (120)