Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow 400

Stephen Dowling launched Agent Shadow on Kickstarter in June 2021 as the second product in the Kosmo Foto film range. The packaging gimmick was a film-noir spy briefcase that opened to reveal the roll alongside a graphic novella called The 36 Frames, written and illustrated for the campaign. Dowling is selling story as much as silver. He is a New Zealander based in London since the mid-1990s, runs the Kosmo Foto blog and shop, and has been growing a brand around Soviet-era design since 2012.

The emulsion underneath is almost certainly Kentmere 400, manufactured by Harman Technology in Mobberley. Multiple reviewers have triangulated this from development times, grain structure, and curve behavior. Dowling has been transparent that the films are rebadged from established manufacturers; the original Kosmo Foto Mono 100 was confirmed as Fomapan 100. Kentmere 400 sits below HP5 Plus in both price and capability, with slightly more contrast and less shadow latitude.

Rate it at 400 in average light, push to 800 or 1600 with extended development, and to 3200 or 6400 if you are willing to accept grain the size of pebbles and blocked shadows in service of a particular look. The noir branding wants you to push. The emulsion holds up reasonably well at 1600 in Microphen or DD-X; past that you are working creatively.

The closest peer is Kentmere 400 itself, sold under its own name for less money. If you want the briefcase and the comic, Agent Shadow is the only way to get them. If you want the same negative for the price of a sandwich, buy Kentmere. Both cases are defensible.

Available in 35mm only, 36 exposures per cassette. No 120 or sheet version exists.

The reciprocity exponent is 1.31. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A metered 30-second exposure becomes about 90 seconds at the negative. For night street work where you actually want the noir effect, that math runs constantly.