Leica M6 TTL Camera and JCH StreetPan 400 Film

When I first got the Leica M6 TTL camera, I knew that I wanted to try out a black and white film in it.

It was winter time so ideally, I wanted to use an ISO 400 film. I had liked the effects of the JCH film in other cameras I had used it in and thought I would try it first.

All the photos were taken using a Leica 50mm Summicron Lens.

I went to my usual spot where I like to test out new (to me) camera’s which was my local cemetery.

I like the peace and quiet there so I can fully focus on the camera and get used to how to use it.

I must admit when I first went to use the Leica, I did struggle getting used to to using a Rangefinder again.

For a couple of years, all I had been mainly using, was SLR’s and it had been a while since I had used a rangefinder camera.

I was slightly nervous whether the light meter would work and knew until I had the film developed, I wouldn’t know.

I decided to get the film developed at my local lab instead of developing it myself.

There are a few that came out quite dark and some, blurry, whilst I got to grips with using a rangefinder again:

You may also see a black line going through some of the photos. This got me into a major panic that there was a fault with my camera.

I checked online about this fault but couldn’t see any problems with the camera that had possibly caused this.

I knew that I would have to see when I got further films developed if they would have this problem.

Since getting further films developed, I’m pleased to report that it doesn’t appear to be a camera fault and I’ve discovered this line tends to appear in my photos when I get the film processed in an hour rather than waiting a couple of days. I’m not sure why that is at my local lab? perhaps it’s to do with the quicker time of drying them?

Unfortunately I don’t quite know enough about film developing to know the answer but perhaps someone reading this blog may be able to shed some light on the reason?

Here are a couple where I was quite impressed with the detail:


Overall, I think some of the photos came out ok for my first attempt at using this camera. Although I can’t deny it, I felt somewhat deflated after seeing the black lines in some of the photos.

Also, I realised that I perhaps made the wrong film choice when trying out this camera for the first time. The JCH film is very grainy and contrasty and I don’t think the way I shot it, showed the full potential of what this camera and lens combo could do.

I look forward to blogging in the next few weeks about other films I’ve since used in the Leica and my verdict on using them.

11 thoughts on “Leica M6 TTL Camera and JCH StreetPan 400 Film

  1. The second batch look much better, though very contrasty. Maybe it looks good when used for street photography, as the name suggests. Still, a good black and white film should be adaptable to any situation.
    I can’t help you with the black lines, etc,. but perhaps you could show the lab the problem and see what they say.
    I got some black and white film back a few days ago and all the crappy photos are my fault . . . . 😦

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I shot a roll a couple of years ago and it was a bit of a love / hate thing. The shots taken outside in bright light looked great. Contrasty in a good way and finely grained . The shots I took indoors or in poorer light were the complete opposite with next to no shadow detail and tons of grain.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. The black lines are probably dust on the scanner’s image sensor. I had problems with them from time to time when I got things scanned at the lab. They said that the thinner the negative the more likely it was to happen (which makes sense with your underexposed shots), and also depends how often your local lab is cleaning their scanner.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Hi Natalie,

    Great to know that I’m not the only one who uses their local cemetery for camera / lens / film tests! I’ve got a few favourite statues at my local, but there’s always something new to see and photograph, and the residents never complain!

    Liked by 2 people

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