Topic: Ilford Pan films

[Kai-san]

Since the more "exotic" films are not available in shops or web shops in Norway I often buy these from European web shops. In one of the UK shops I've found two films that made me curious, namely the Ilford Pan 100 and Pan 400. The shop says that these are not regularly available in the UK, but I have not seen these offered in for example Germany. It made me wonder if these are the same as Kentmere 100 and 400, but I do not see the logic in marketing the same films under different labels and with a different price.
Does anyone here have any knowledge of these films? I'm a fan of the Ilford Pan F 50, so a similar looking film with higher speed would be interesting.

[Francois]

Got absolutely no idea. Never seen them in our local shops...
I just checked the Ilford website and there is absolutely no mention of these films...

[ManuelL]

I have read somewhere that these films are sold by Ilford as affordable option in developing countries, then get reimportet to Europe and are sold here at a higher price. Not sure if that is accurate.

[KevinAllan]

Firstcall Photographic, in the UK, sell these films, including in 35mm bulk rolls - see https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=33186310%40N03&sort=date-taken-desc&text=holga&view_all=1

I've never used them myself - partly because there are other sellers who sell FP4+ or HP5 for only slightly more.

[MiguelCampano]

They used to sell it in Venezuela, as opposed to HP5+, however, I remember that the camera shop owner, who was one of the few shops that still sold film back then (2007 or so), used to say that the Ilford Latin-America rep told him that it was HP5+ with an older emulsion.

If you get Kentmere 100/400, go for that. Also made by Harman.

[Pete_R]

There's a data sheet at www.theimagingwarehouse.com/ProductGrp/Ilford-Pan-100

[Pete_R]

There's also a Flickr group. Results look similar to the Kentmere films to me.

[Kai-san]

From what I can see from the datasheets the Pan 100 seems to have more latitude than the Kentmere 100. I have never been impressed by the Kentmere films, they are sort of "middle of the road" films. I think I'll stick to the Pan F and Delta 100 when it comes to Ilford films.
Thanks to all for your replies. 

[Jonathan]

I tried a roll of Pan 400 a few years ago, when testing a camera and lenses. It was quite a bit cheaper than FP4, I think, and my impression is that these Pan films are between Kentmere and FP4/HP5 in quality -- better than the former, but lacking the exposure latitude etc of the latter.

This one taken on Pan 400, developed in HC-110, taken on Praktica BC1:
Park benches lined up in formation by Jonathan, on Flickr

[AJShepherd]

Never tried the Pan 100 or Pan 400, did try Kentmere once and it's OK, but really Pan F+, FP4+ and HP5+ are my go-to Ilford films of choice, and I'll never get tired of the look of HP5 shot through a red filter on a sunny day with a few oktas of cloud.

[Francois]

Often, I find that these "middle of the road" films as you call them can get to be pretty darn good if you're willing to put in the time to adapt the developing procedure so that you can get the best results.

If it's anything like my experience with Arista films, in order to get a good contrast range you need to overexpose them and then underdevelop.
For Arista.EDU Ultra 400, I need to expose at EI 250 and develop in HC-110 Dil. E
For Arista Ortho-Litho that is said to be a 6 ISO film, I expose it at EI 3 and develop in HC-110 Dil. F instead of using something like Dektol...

I'm pretty sure that things are similar for these.
Thing is, people buy film for it's ISO rating. If you can make an emulsion "just pass" as a 400 ISO film, people will buy it for that.