B&W Film Comparison: Are Kentmere 400, Rollei RPX 400, & AgfaPhoto APX 400 the Same Film? by Taylor Blanchard

Written by Taylor Blanchard

Last summer, Marc and I trekked to Brooklyn Film Camera on a long weekend visit. While someone in front of me was deciding between Portra 400 and CineStill 800T (seriously), I was excited to see AgfaPhoto APX. I bought a roll of the 100 and 400 speeds, shooting the 400 that weekend in my Olympus OM-1. After returning home, I developed and scanned the film and instantly loved the results. 

I knew it wasn’t the original Agfa, but I didn’t know much of the history. Online searches led me to forums with similar claims: the new Agfa is repackaged Kentmere. Or: the new Agfa is repackaged Rollei RPX. Some people even claimed all three film stocks are the same. Having shot my fair share of Kentmere, I was dubious that AgfaPhoto APX was simply Kentmere in different packaging. I’d shot many Rollei film stocks, but at the time, not the RPX line. I couldn’t wrap my head around these claims by “experts” on forums, with no real insider information.

Shooting the Three Film Stocks

I decided to shoot all three with the hope I could glean some insights. Unlike my T-MAX and Tri-X comparison, I wasn’t as precise (in that case I shot the film stocks back to back in the same location and lighting, and pulled and pushed each). For this test, I used one camera, my Olympus OM1 with my nifty fifty lens, and took detailed notes about my location, time of day, lighting conditions, shutter speed, and f-stop.

Then, I returned to the same location with each roll of film at the same time of day and lighting. Using the same exposure settings, I attempted to take the same photo. In addition, I took some non-comparison photos with each roll. I didn’t push or pull the films and only shot one roll of each.

Of course, this experiment was riddled with limitations. I was in a bit of a creative slump, and it took me several weeks to finish the first roll, the Rollei RPX. A burst of creativity, enthusiasm, and a looming article deadline led me to shoot the Kentmere 400 and AgfaPhoto APX over three days. For the outdoor shots, the angle of the sun changed significantly between the first roll and the last; I had much more control with the indoor shots. 

History of Kentmere, AgfaPhoto APX, and Rollei RPX

Kentmere

Kentmere was acquired by Ilford in 2007, and the Kentmere line was relaunched in 2009. In 2022, Kentmere added medium format to the line-up. It’s arguably the most well-known of three and is often touted as an excellent brand for students or those newer to film.

Rollei

Rollei is a brand with an extensive history of making exceptional cameras; As a film brand, the name Rollei is under license. Detailed history of Rollei films is unclear. A Rollei brand of film existed in the early 20^th century; That company filed for bankruptcy. The RPX 400 was introduced in 2011 and, at the time, was said to be a new emulsion based on Agfa or an older, cold-stored Agfa stock. Currently, Rollei films are made by Maco.

Agfa

Agfa introduced its first photographic film in the early 1900s and is still a sprawling global company. In 2004, the Consumer Imaging company was spun off from Agfa into AgfaPhoto. The original AgfaPan 400 was introduced in 1989-90; AgfaPhoto APX 400 was introduced in 2005 and made by Ferrania. Information about AgfaPhoto after 2012-2013 is very murky. The Agfa name is licensed, and information about who makes their films is speculative.

Developing the Film Stocks

Anytime you want to learn more about a film stock, an excellent place to start is the datasheet, which gives you details about the sensitivity, recommended use, developing times, filter use, and more. Unfortunately, the only Agfa datasheets I could find are from previous iterations. The most recent ‘datasheet’ I could find, from 2014, is more like a marketing flyer with few details (and the Agfa website is very frustrating, never delivering the datasheet but opening a new tab with the same window.) Both Kentmere and Rollei have detailed datasheets, although nothing I read gave insight into whether the films are the same.

I developed all three together in Kodak X-TOL in my tall Patterson tank; Massive Dev suggested 12:00 at 1+1. I thought that indicated they are the same stock – until I saw the results. Both the Rollei and the Agfa looked like they needed a minute or two more of developing time – they seemed slightly underdeveloped. Later, I compared the times on the datasheets in Kodak D76 and Ilford DDX. The listed times for the three stocks in D76 and DDX are not the same! 

The films seem to have a similar base, although I found the Rollei difficult to load.

A local shop, The Photo Outfitters, scanned these for me using Negative Lab Pro.

Film Comparison Results

My experiment gives a general idea of the results, but variations in framing and other details mean I can’t confidently proclaim if they are the same – or not.

Based on my limited test, all three films have a nice tonal range with a lot of shadow detail. None of them have pronounced contrast, yet they give you enough detail to add contrast digitally or in the darkroom. All three have a smooth and pleasing grain structure. They have very similar characteristics and descriptions about their use. While I don’t think we can say if they are exactly the same, they are certainly similar. 

Last summer, I thought the Agfa didn’t handle over-exposure well: it looked like the highlights blew out too easily. I purposely shot all three in bright, backlit situations, and this time, found that all three had a wide latitude. My Olympus might have been the culprit when I previously shot Agfa, as its meter can be thrown off by bright spots of light. This time, I used an external light meter for many of my shots.

In summary, these are very versatile stocks from portrait to street to indoors – and I would carry any of them for general shooting when you find yourself in a range of lighting conditions. I personally appreciate the shadow detail, even if the negatives don’t look as punchy as higher contrast films. 

Film Stock Details

Conclusion

Film manufacturing, while a global industry, is shielded in mystery. It’s not always clear the origin of a film. I’ve written about companies repackaging cinema films and manufacturing film. There is a third way that film comes to market – and that’s when a brand contracts a manufacturer to produce a film.

Take a company like Lomography. They are transparent that they are contracting with a company, most likely Kodak, to manufacture their films. Yet Lomography isn’t simply rebranding an existing Kodak film as their own; Otherwise, how would you explain all their specialty stocks? (And please don’t even come at me with the claim that Lomography Color 400 is Kodak UltraMax.)

Ilford is known for manufacturing other films for others – but simply because a film is coming off their production line does not mean it’s the same. There is a good chance Ilford is making both Rollei RPX and Agfa APX, but that does not mean it’s the same film.

In the dark days when it seemed like film photography was going to collapse, many film manufacturers had to shudder their operations. Some spun their companies into several entities, like Kodak did, with the remaining pieces under different ownership.

Other companies went bankrupt and then were revitalized. What is left is a hodgepodge of ownership and management structures, licensing deals, and contract manufacturing. For understandable reasons, a company licensing the name Agfa or Rollei might not want to disclose the details of its operations.

I’m left with a take from Blue Moon Camera, which always has thorough research and level-headed perspectives: does it really matter who makes the film?

If you like a film, then shoot it.

All three of these stocks are excellent choices at a really nice price point. My advice is to buy one that’s easy for you to find or is the best price. Any of these films offer an affordable departure from something like Kodak Tri-X or Ilford HP5+ with dependable results.

Let me know if the comments: Have you shot these films and are you convinced they are the same?

Thank you so much, Taylor! Taylor is a regular contributor here at Shoot It With Film, and you can check out her other articles here, such as How Low Can You Go? Exploring Low ISO Films and Intrepid 4×5 MK5 Large Format Camera Review.

You can also check out more of Taylor’s work on Instagram.

Leave your questions about these black and white film stocks below in the comments, and you can pick some up for yourself here: Kentmere 400 | Rollei RPX 400 | AgfaPhoto APX 400

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Taylor Blanchard

Taylor Blanchard is a landscape and travel film photographer and a regular contributor for Shoot It With Film. Find her other articles here, such as My Foray Into Large Format Photography and The World of Infrared and Red-Sensitive Black and White Film.

Image Credit: Ashley Thalman

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