It’s been some time since the announcement; new Kentmere films have arrived in the European shops. My initial speculation about the price was around 6€ for a roll, so it wouldn’t be able to out-price Fomapan films. I was almost right – prices are closer to 7€.
According to my go-to film shop in the EU zone, Fotoimpex.de, 120 format Kentmere films are priced at 6.79€ for 100 ASA film, and 6.89€ for 400 ASA film. That’s just slightly less than Ilford’s staples – FP4+ and HP5+ go for 10 euro cents more.
As expected, nothing can beat Fomapan prices, those films are available at 4.79€ and 5.10€, for 100 ASA and 400 ASA films, respectively. What’s interesting, Rollei Retro films are also slightly cheaper than Kentmere films – both 80S and 400S go for 6.5€.
Medium format Kentmere films are a welcome addition, but expectedly not the cheapest option out there. Potential availability in non-EU shops could mean Kentmere films might have an edge over Fomapan films, but for us Europeans, Foma continues to be a brand to go for cheap, day-to-day black & white film.
Disclaimer: prices are correct on the date of writing of the article only!