We want to start this Film Friday review off with a challenge. That challenge is to convince yourself that there are no bad films. The notion of a bad film is like the notion of bad weather - it generally reflects more on the speaker’s own attitudes and potential lack of preparedness than it does the weather itself. We look at film the same way. It is not a question of whether a film is good or bad, it is a question of what a film’s qualities are and how they should be used. What are its strengths, weakness, traits and quirks? And what will you do with them? We do not begin this Film Friday review of JCH Street Pan with a half-hidden apology for the film. Far from wanting to make excuses for it, we truly have enjoyed using it. However, JCH Street Pan 400 is a film with a learning curve and it may not be terribly forgiving for photographers inexperienced in its use. It is an easy film to mess up with on your first roll or two because you do not understand it and then write it off completely. But we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves…

JCH Street Pan 400 is the work of Bellamy Hunt of Japan Camera Hunter. Bellamy introduced the world to JCH Street Pan in 2016. He pointedly stated that Street Pan is not a repackaged film but rather a resurrected surveillance film that is produced in Belgium. These clues strongly point to Agfa Gavaert being Street Pan’s source and a likely relation to their Aviphot films. We have covered these close ties in other Film Friday reviews, most notably our review of Rollei Retro 400S. For more background on that head over to that review and give it a read. For the purpose of today’s review we are taking Bellamy at his word and treating JCH Street Pan as its own thing.

Street Pan is a super-panchromatic, black and white negative film that as of 2024 is produced in both 35mm and 120. The film has high contrast, deep shadows, bright highlights and what is described as “fine-graininess” which we have seen best explained as prominent grain in the midtones that gets finer in the highlights. The film gets it super-panchromatic designation from its extended red sensitivity. Street Pan is sensitive to wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum, going as far as 750-820nm into the near-infrared spectrum. This extended red sensitivity helps give Street Pan some unique qualities in how it can render scenes.

JCH Street Pan is a great film for atmosphere and drama, once you have learned its ins and outs.

Street Pan is a tricky film. It requires learning and familiarity to get the most out of it. In addition, there are many different ways to handle it. You can shoot it at its box speed of ISO 400 in which case you will get black, black shadows and crisp highlights. Used like this the film has a stark look that can verge on the photorealistic, especially if used in harsh lighting. You can also shoot it a bit slower, at ISO 200 or even ISO 100 and either process it normal or pull it a bit in development. This renders negatives with more tonality and more shadow detail. Or you can filter it with a red or infrared filter and go off in a completely other direction. A red filter will increase the film’s already high contrast but play to its red sensitivities, causing skin tones to glow. With an R72 infrared filter you can get a full Wood effect with Street Pan, making it as effective as Rollei Infrared. If all these possibilities seem a bit confusing or overwhelming then you are getting our point: the film is complicated and it is not an emulsion you are going to crack on your first roll. In fact, your first roll might be rather disappointing. It is the third, fourth or fifth roll that will really win you over.

JCH Street Pan shot at ISO 200 and pulled 1 stop. Even under these conditions the film has great contrast.

Another example of JCH Street Pan at ISO 200 and pulled 1 stop in development.

JCH Street Pan shot as an IR film with an R72 filter through a Reality So Subtle pinhole camera.

JCH Street Pan exposed normally at ISO 400 and developed normally.

Figure that there are three different ways you can use JCH Street Pan: normally at ISO 400, modified at a slower ISO with compensated development or as an IR film.

Most photographers approaching JCH are likely to go the first route. Street Pan works perfectly well at ISO 400 and standard development but we do have some tips for you. Used in this manner expect very high contrast with deep shadows that have little detail. This will be mitigated by using the film in softer light but if you are shooting in bright, direct, or harsh lighting realize that your results will be quite contrasty. Be mindful of where important details are and meter for them. If the shadows in these conditions are the important element, then meter for your shadows. If the best stuff is in the highlights, meter for your highlights. JCH Street Pan at ISO 400 is fairly unforgiving and requires more thoughtfulness and care in how you meter and expose your scenes. You are going to lose detail, either in your highlights or your shadows, and anticipating this and working with it is a big part of getting successful results from JCH when shot in this manner. The upshot is you will have crunchy, black shadows that present as a clean black, and midtones and highlights will really stand out against them. We have had some good success shooting JCH this way with nighttime cityscapes. It is also a great film to use on drab, overcast days for introducing some extra pop or adding drama to stormy weather.

The second approach is to overexpose your JCH Street Pan and underdevelop it. Or to just overexpose it. Or to just underdevelop it. Any of those variations is designed to tame Street Pan’s contrast, allow you more shadow detail and produce an overall more even image. Shot in this way, Street Pan is easier to work with and offers more latitude. Its grain and contrast are both slightly reduced while still preserving most of JCH’s “look”. This is a great way to shoot JCH and one of our favorite methods. But it does require a bit more attention on the part of the photographer. Resetting the film’s ISO and remembering to compensate its develop does add some complexity to the overall process and so sometimes this is not the easiest way to begin with this film for beginning or less experienced photographers. But if you are used to re-rating film speeds and with push/pull development, give this method a shot with Street Pan. We think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Finally, there is the infrared approach. Street Pan has extended red sensitivity into the near-infrared spectrum. This benefits the film even when it is shot unfiltered by offering better penetration of atmospheric haze and subtly shifting the tonality of certain subject matter, such as the lightening of skin tones. But you can filter it with an R72 infrared filter, give it 5-6 stops of exposure compensation and get some dramatic results. In this manner, JCH Street Pan behaves almost identically to Rollei Retro 400S or Rollei Infrared films. If you have any experience with those two emulsions it will directly carry over to Street Pan as well. As an infrared film, Street Pan is capable of the full “Wood effect” where green vegetation renders a snowy white, skies become a deep black and skin tones get dramatically lighter. Street Pan does not have to be loaded or unloaded in total darkness making it easy to handle as an infrared film. Give this a try!

JCH Street Pan shot in infrared with an R72 filter and pulled 1 stop in development. Once dialed in, this film can produce some cool images.

A couple of other general notes about JCH Street Pan 400. When we first started using it we felt like the published developing times were producing overdeveloped negatives. These “hot” negatives had way too much contrast. We started experimenting with reduced developing times and different developers. You are going to see a variety of info out there, some of it in agreement and some not. For example, we process JCH Street Pan in Ilford DD-X for 10:30 at 24° C. This is the same time we use for Rollei Retro 400S. That is what works for us but we got there through some experimentation.

JCH Street Pan has a clear polyester base. The film base is very thin and most of the time it dries nice and flat. The polyester base is supposed to be super archival so if that is important to you, points to JCH Street Pan. It also helps with scanning as you get very clean blacks and whites with excellent sharpness. The clear base also makes JCH Street Pan a good candidate for positive processing if you wanted to have monochrome slides.

On other note to offer based on our personal experience. We have on occasion experience quality control issues with the Rollei Retro and Infrared films, especially with the 120 format. This has occurred both in the form of backing paper mottling and many small black marks on the film itself. JCH Street Pan has never shown any of these issues. Despite the film’s potential close ties to the Rollei films, however it is produced seems to be avoiding these issues. So again, points to JCH Street Pan for consistency and reliability.

Hopefully all this info gives you the tools you need to have successful with this fun film. Seriously, remember how we started this review. The mantra “there are no bad films” is a great way to approach most any film stock and to help you remember that experience, creativeness, and diligence are often important ingredients to any creative process.

We keep JCH Street Pan in stock in both 35mm and 120. Click here to grab a roll today!

And now for a few more of our favorite JCH Street Pan images.

Film Friday - March 15th, 2024. JCH Street Pan 400