New film release, Kentmere 200, and the current status of black-and-white film production 🌅.
Ilford has introduced a new economical ISO 200 black-and-white film called Kentmere PAN 200. This marks their first expansion of the monochrome film line in quite some time.
One of the challenges in promoting and choosing black-and-white film is its visual indistinctiveness. A survey conducted among nearly 600 analogue photographers showed that many struggle to differentiate between various BW films: analog.cafe/r/photographer… ¹.
Nonetheless, significant differences exist among black-and-white films, even if they're not immediately obvious, which can greatly impact the quality of a photograph: analog.cafe/r/how-to-choos….
Fortunately, the production of black-and-white film has been recovering from previous challenges and is even flourishing recently, providing us with more tools for creating excellent images. Film Ferrania is getting back on course (kosmofoto.com/2025/04/film…), which is promising since their film has a distinctive appearance (see ¹,☝️). Light Lens Lab shared an update on their advancements with new film sensitizing equipment: lightlenslab.com/blogs/upc…, and I've even come across freshly-sensitized Film Washi being sold (which is primarily sold out now). Additionally, Kodak has reduced prices on Tri-X: analog.cafe/r/colour-film-…
This is encouraging news.
#editorial🔥
Ilford has introduced a new economical ISO 200 black-and-white film called Kentmere PAN 200. This marks their first addition to the monochrome film lineup in quite some time.