JCH Street Pan 400 Photos

[Pioneer]

I just received my order of Street Pan 400 from Bellamy at Japan Camera Hunter. The first thing I did was pull out a roll of film, pop it into my M-A, and head outdoors for a down and dirty photo shoot. I haven't even fully gone through the entire package yet so I have no idea what may have been included.

I used the Leica M-A, Sunny 16 and three separate lenses, an Elmar M 50 3.5, a Sonnar C 50 1.5 and my trusty old Elmar 90 4 LTM. Most of the photos were shot in the late afternoon in Nevada so there is some pretty contrasty situations with strong highlights against deep shadows. I souped the film for 10:30 seconds in Rodinal 1:25 at 68F, agitating for the first 30 seconds and then three slow rotations every minute thereafter.

The film loaded on the Jobo 1500 reel easily, developed with no issues and dried straight and flat. It was very easy to load in the scanner.

I scanned as a TIFF at 2400 dpi with the Plustek OptiScan 7600i using Silverfast software. The photos were imported to Photoshop and resized for the web. Other than what the scanner software may do or what Photoshop may do these photos are as straight out of the camera as I can get them.

This first shot was taken with the Elmar M 50/3.5 and I don't think that this old toy truck has ever looked quite this good. Based on this and other photos this film seems to be made for this lens.

The next photograph is some small garden statues of some deer sitting under a small evergreen. The lens is the Zeiss Ikon ZM Sonnar C 50mm. In my mind the rendering is certainly more modern but it still came out pretty good.

This photograph comes from the old LTM Elmar 90/4 lens. I did make one photoshop change by making it a square image just to see how it looked. I think this photo illustrates the graphic impression that can be conveyed by this film.

Obviously, nothing is perfect. The next photograph shows what happens on a contrasty day when the exposure allows for a bit too much light. This particular photo was exposed at f/8 and 1/500 seconds, which was about two stops over what it should have been. Even though this is film these highlights are well and truly blown and the shadows are pretty close to being blocked. I suspect that this could be recovered to some extent in scanning and in Photoshop but it gives a good example of how contrasty the film is.

Of course, if this contrast is managed and the exposure is closer to correct, then the photos can provide an interesting view on things.

As an interim conclusion I think I am going to enjoy working with this film. I like how it responded to my older Leica lenses. It develops well with Rodinal and comes out flat and straight, ready to easily scan or print.

Care should be taken when using the film during bright sunny days though it can still work if you understand how the film will record your scene.

We should thank Bellamy for pushing to make this happen. I know there has been a bit of controversy, even right here on this forum, about this film and whether or not it is a good thing.

I want to be clear about my opinion, though it may sound a bit strong. In this seeming all digital era the ability to load a newly introduced film into a newly built film camera is like a dream come true and something I really didn't see happening.

I appreciate what Ilford has done and what Ferrania is trying to do. But there is as much room for this film on the market as there is for Kodak or anyone else.

I hope this little review will provide an idea of what one person was able to do with one roll of film. Please feel free to follow up with your own examples.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Some people need to climb down off their high horse and realize that, like it or not, the future of film will almost certainly depend on the willingness of people like Bellamy to introduce boutique films like Street Pan 400. It may cost a bit more but these people need to have their efforts supported as much or more than the big boys on the block.

This costs TWICE what Ilford or Kodak film costs. Refusing to waste money was once considered a virtue. I've seen nothing in your images or any others I've seen from this film to think it is any better than the fine films made by Kodak or Ilford.

 

[Pioneer]

This costs TWICE what Ilford or Kodak film costs. Refusing to waste money was once considered a virtue. I've seen nothing in your images or any others I've seen from this film to think it is any better than the fine films made by Kodak or Ilford.

Thanks, I definitely appreciate your opinion. But I don't see anyone twisting your arm to buy it Chris. If you aren't happy with the price then don't buy it.

But if you shoot everyone in the chest who attempts to produce and sell a new film then the only ones left will be Kodak, etc. Who, btw, haven't seemed a bit shy about raising costs as fast as they can for everyone but the movie industry.

 

[BLKRCAT]

Some people need to climb down off their high horse and realize that, like it or not, the future of film will almost certainly depend on the willingness of people like Bellamy to introduce boutique films like Street Pan 400. It may cost a bit more but these people need to have their efforts supported as much or more than the big boys on the block.

I appreciate what Ilford has done and what Ferrania is trying to do. But there is as much room for this film on the market as there is for Kodak or anyone else.

This film is cut from a master roll or expired is it not? It wasn't produced by bellamy, rather acquired and repackaged. I sure hope that the future of film isn't picking up what's left of the past and slapping a high pricetag on it.

I believe that efforts like Ferrania are the future.

 

[Faintandfuzzy]

Thanks, I definitely appreciate your opinion. But I don't see anyone twisting your arm to buy it Chris. If you aren't happy with the price then don't buy it.

But if you shoot everyone in the chest who attempts to produce and sell a new film then the only ones left will be Kodak, etc. Who, btw, haven't seemed a bit shy about raising costs as fast as they can for everyone but the movie industry.

While I appreciate your efforts, I am struggling to understand how paying twice as much for the same thing is somehow a value or anything of the sort. I love JCH and what they do, but I'd like to hear an explanation of how paying double for the same film is somehow helping the market.

 

[Pioneer]

While I appreciate your efforts, I am struggling to understand how paying twice as much for the same thing is somehow a value or anything of the sort. I love JCH and what they do, but I'd like to hear an explanation of how paying double for the same film is somehow helping the market.

I am quite curious. Contrary to what everyone seems to believe Bellamy specifically states "The is not a re-spooled film. This is a discontinued film that has been given a second chance." This would indicate to me that this particular film is no longer in production and would not have been sold had Bellamy not brought it back via Street Pan 400. This is further supported by this: "Now, I couldn’t have a completely new emulsion made, so I decided to go with an old discontinued surveillance film that was original made by AGFA, and have it put back into production."

However, my intent was not to start a second thread that battles over whether Bellamy should be selling his film. We already have one of those. What I wanted to do was to celebrate the fact that a new film was out, whether it was a film taken off the market and then re-introduced, or a brand new emulsion just brought to market. So, I apologize for my "high horse" remark so that I do not continue to offend the taller horsies. I have removed the paragraph from the review. Obviously I can't cut it from Chris's remarks.

I will continue to post results as I get them, the rest are welcome, as usual, to do as they please.

 

[jojoman2]

I'm always down to see results of "new" or exotic films. I might not go out and buy the film, but I certainly do like benefiting from someone else's experimentation. I also like rodinal a lot, so this post was for me. Looking forward to what you do next!

 

[Pioneer]

This film is cut from a master roll or expired is it not? It wasn't produced by bellamy, rather acquired and repackaged. I sure hope that the future of film isn't picking up what's left of the past and slapping a high pricetag on it.

I believe that efforts like Ferrania are the future.

I certainly hope they are part of the future but at least I have Street Pan 400 to shoot. I am still waiting for Ferrania's product. Further, I have no idea what it will cost moving forward if it does come into production. All I have to compare with was New55 film which was not particularly inexpensive to continue to support either.

My film is not expired. Based on the package it remains current until 2019, which gives me a bit of time to get through it.

If there is a problem with re-introducing a discontinued film I can't see it. I can't count the number of posts I read about bringing back Plux X and Tech Pan; not to mention the big Kahuna, Kodachrome. And this just counts stuff that Kodak had dropped.

 

[BLKRCAT]

Granted New55 was a large format instant, which never was inexpensive even in its heydey.

I've voiced many times that taking money away from the remaining fresh film stocks isn't good for the future of current emulsions, however I can see where you are coming from in that if there are parties out there now who want to pick up where larger companies like kodak or fuji will leave off they should start now to build infrastructure and get products in peoples hands so they have something to continue with whenever that happens.

Either way I can't afford boutique films. At the moment I'm considering shooting tri-x a luxury since HP5 and other offerings out there are noticeably cheaper.

Enjoy the film.

 

[Nokton48]

Any new film out is a good thing. Whether you want it or not is personal choice.
Personally I enjoy tracking down and using obscure films. It is part of the fun.

 

[sepiareverb]

+1 Norton on using obscure films. Finding the ones that do what we want easily is always good.

Thanks for these first positives I've seen from jch Pioneer. I saw on Instagram some of the processed films still on the reel with JCH400 on the edge print, so seems new to me!

 

[Daryl J.]

Thank you for your mini review.

 

[Orbiter]

Thanks very much for sharing your experiences with this film. Very interesting post, and much appreciated.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

I love JCH and what they do, but I'd like to hear an explanation of how paying double for the same film is somehow helping the market.

Because it means there are options, something that is disappearing fast in the film world.

I'd like to hear an explanation of how a lack of options is going to help the market?

 

[Faintandfuzzy]

Because it means there are options, something that is disappearing fast in the film world.

I'd like to hear an explanation of how a lack of options is going to help the market?

If 10 companies buy film from Ilford and repackage it for double the cost, that isnt more options....that is ridiculous.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

If 10 companies buy film from Ilford and repackage it for double the cost, that isnt more options....that is ridiculous.

But that isn't providing more options. That's repackaging a film already available to photographers.

Regardless of what you might think about the price, Street Pan is a product which was not available to photographers until offered by Bellamy.

You don't have to like it, but it's still an option which wasn't there before.

 

[gnome chompski]

Thanks Pioneer. I just loaded my first roll, and of course it's super bright outside and high noon. Have a feeling I'm gonna have an über-contrasty roll to deal with. I'm a bit confused about the 10:30 HC-110 development recommendation for a 400 asa film but we will see!

 

[Huss]

Thanks for the images and the developing tips Pioneer, much appreciated.

 

[Hogarth Ferguson]

I'm not a 35mm shooter, but the images you posted makes me hope he has 120 film. I like the stuff. I like that right now we are seeing more options. I backed new55 simply because it was new film to back. I dont really plan on using it often. I like seeing new films come out when usually we are hearing about films getting discontinued.

I'd love to see e200 revived.

 

[Pioneer]

I'm not a 35mm shooter, but the images you posted makes me hope he has 120 film. I like the stuff. I like that right now we are seeing more options. I backed new55 simply because it was new film to back. I dont really plan on using it often. I like seeing new films come out when usually we are hearing about films getting discontinued.

I'd love to see e200 revived.

I was thinking the same about seeing this in 120. I do like the look in 35 so I will continue shooting.

I bought enough rolls to keep me going for awhile so it is a good thing that I like it.