3 > Film Review: Kentmere Pan 100 by James Hand

Kentmere Pan 100 is a 24-exposure budget black and white film from Ilford and like most Ilford products, it doesn’t disappoint. I was a little skeptical when I picked up a roll of this to try since black and white film is relatively cheap already and coming in at about $2 a roll less than other top film stocks, I was sure the quality would suffer. I was wrong.

Pan 100 is a Panchromatic film which renders tones closer to how the eye sees everyday life. This is a great base for colored filters or post editing to your liking. That being said, I was surprised this film actually has contrast when exposed at or a little under box speed without filters and can handle exposures over and under by 1 stop without adding time to development.

What’s nice about cheaper films is you’re not worried about wasting film like with other more expensive films, so you can focus on the joy of shooting rather than making every shot count. I can see this film being at home with a beginner learning how to shoot film for the first time as well as a pro on a budget that needs as much film as possible without sacrificing quality. Ilford added another great choice to a long list of 35mm black and white films, which will make it that much harder to choose.

All photos shot at 100ISO with a Leica M3 and a Voigtlander 40mm 1.4.