Hey everyone, it’s been awhile. Close to a couple of months since I’ve shared anything. I apologize but hey, life. It’s been hectic and I’ve also ventured into darkroom printing so that’s been keeping me busy. More on that in another blog soon, I promise.
Anyways, this blog is about my first impressions of JCH Street Pan 400. It’s a film that I have no experience with but I’ve been curious about. If that makes sense. I haven’t read any reviews on it, but I have gotten other photographer’s opinions in regards to the film and wow, talk about opinions being all over the place.
I knew this was a high contrast film and from my understanding there really isn’t much exposure latitude, which can be a not so good thing for some film shooters. I guess it all comes down to your taste and if it fits your style or not.
Having a little bit of free time, I decided to head downtown with my Nikon F100 and my Widelux F6. I wanted to get a good walk in but I also wanted to look for new things to capture. I’ve walked downtown so many times but I always find something I’ve never seen before. This day was no different. Nikon F100 loaded with the JCH Street Pan 400 set to 200. The sun was out and I wanted to keep the contrast in check the best I could. I figured if I pulled it and developed it carefully it would help.
Anyways, I got my walk in and I was excited to develop, scan, and possibly print a photo or two from this roll. I reached out on social media on how to develop this film when shot at 200. HC110 1:47 for 6 min is what I was told by a wonderful film photographer, Bill Thoo. (If you don’t follow him already, find him online and do so. He creates some beautiful work. IG:@BillThoo.)
So I went through the process of developing and hung the roll in the bathroom with the hot steam from the shower. (I tried to minimize the amount of dust, I failed.) Now to the scanning. I went through my normal routine with scanning and dumped it into LR. Well, let’s say mixed results. I’d say most I didn’t care for, nothing pulled me in. They were blah. However, there were a couple that I really liked. Yes the contrast was heavy but it definitely helped the photo. Btw…I did my best to prevent dust but failed. Lots of cleanup in LR, which sucks because it’s a lot of wasted time. You may be asking, would you shoot it again? Simple answer is no. This film did nothing for me and I’d rather spend that money and grab two rolls of Foma something. Hey, I’m just being honest. Which is a good thing right? Anyways, this is my experience with my one roll of JCH Street Pan 400. Attached below are some sample images, please let me know what you think. Are you a fan of this film? Hate this film? I would love to hear from you. As always….enjoy.
