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.

Rollei Fantastic 5!

Recently on Instagram, I came across a camera shop called @macodirect who are based in Germany.

They announced they had put together a pack of different types of Rollei black and white films which came complete with a Japan Camera Hunter film case.

I really love the Rollei films, ever since I started using them in 35mm photography.

The great news is that these packs are available in both 35mm and 120mm options.

The pack contains the following five Rollei black and white films:

• 1 x Rollei RPX 25
• 1 x Rollei RPX 100
• 1 x Rollei RPX 400
• 1 x Rollei Superpan 200
• 1 x Rollei Retro 400S

I also really liked the orange colour of the case they had chosen to pack the films in.

I have used the Rollei RPX 400 and Rollei Retro 400S in the past with great results, but I had never used the other three before so thought this would be a great way to try them out.

I’d also been considering buying a plastic case of this type for 120mm film. This is because I normally have a couple of rolls I need to put in for developing at a time and wanted something sturdy to store the used film in when travelling to my local lab for processing.

The 120mm pack retails at €34.50 (around £30.00) and the 35mm pack retails at €32.60 (around £28.00).

Since I’m based in the UK, I knew that the postage wouldn’t be cheap and I wasn’t wrong as that cost an additional £10.

However, even with the postage cost of £10, I worked out that I would still be making a saving of approximately £8 than if I had bought all the films and the case separately in the UK. I therefore decided to purchase one of the 120mm packs.

It arrived quite quickly and I’m really looking forward to using all the films in my Hasselblad 500 C/M camera.

If you’re interested in purchasing a pack or happen to live in Germany so will be lucky enough to pay less postage, their website is:

https://www.macodirect.de/en/film/black-white-films/