The JCH 2020 Roundup
Well, it has been one hell of a year, hasn’t it? We had some big plans for 2020 and went into the year with a great deal of excitement. Only for it to be thoroughly smacked down WWE style. All our major plans had to be shelved and we had to find other things to do (our Youtube Channel being one of them). But we did find other things to do and made sure we had lots of great content on the site for you all. So here is the JCH 2020 roundup.
GLAMB X JCH CHANCE IS ONCE PHOTOGRAPHERS GEAR
Yes, we teamed up with Tokyo brand Glamb to make a range of very cool photographers apparel. And then released them almost exactly as the pandemic hit! Not optimal, but they have been very popular including a feature in GQ!
FILM REVIEW: FUJIFILM NEOPAN 100 ACROS I VS. II
Some big news this year was the re-introduction of Fuji Acros. Though it controversially had a new formula. So we tested it out agains the old Acros to give you all an idea of how it matches up.
FILM NEWS: IS KODAK HAVING A MOMENT?
Then there was the big news that Kodak was going to get a big pile of cash to made the Hydroxycholroquine that was so hyped up as a ‘miracle cure’ and turned out to be a load of twaddle. So I guess Kodak has to give the money back?
CAMERA GEEKERY: HASSELBLAD XPAN II
Suddenly we found ourselves in lockdown without anything to do. So we decided it was time to do some more camera reviews. And this was the most popular by some margin. X Gon’ Give It To Ya!
JESSE’S VISUAL INTERVIEWS: TATSUO SUZUKI
In our ongoing series of Visual Interviews by Jesse Freeman we featured a lot of really great photographers, including this one featuring Tokyo native Tatsuo Suzuki.
FILM REVIEW: ARISTA.EDU ULTRA 400
With plenty of time on our hands and lots of film stocks in the fridge we decided to review some of film stocks we hadn’t had time to get through previously. And this one was really popular.
CAMERA GEEKERY: MS OPTICS APORIA 24MM F2 M MOUNT
Miyazaki san didn’t seem to be bothered by the pandemic at all and kept on churning out new lenses. The advantage of working alone in his basement workshop. The Aporia was the most popular of the 2020 releases.
DUBBLEFILM LAUNCHES SHOW A 35MM FILM CAMERA
Dubblefilm kept themselves busy and released their SHOW film camera to much fanfare.
SHOW US YOUR FILM: LOCKDOWN STASHES
People were in lockdown and with nothing to do we suggested they show us their film stashes. And we got some crackers.
FILM REVIEW: FERRANIA P30
Now this film review was something we had wanted to do for a while. So when we found a roll buried in the back of the fridge we knew it was time.
FILM REVIEW: KODAK DOUBLE-X
Double X film has an almost mythical status amongst photographers. So we had a crack at reviewing it.
IN YOUR BAG NO: 1670 – DIRK MARWEDE
The ongoing ‘In your bag’ series has continued, albeit at a less frequent pace. There have been some really great bags this year and Dirk’s was the most viewed. And for good reason, it is fantastic.
CAMERA GEEKERY: NIKON SP + NIKKOR 5CM F/1.1
We get some really great cameras coming through the JCH office. Usually they are gone before we get to play with them, but thanks to Covid-19 we got to hang on to some of them and review them. And this was one of the most popular.
CAMERA GEEKERY: MAMIYA AFD
Whilst we had lots of great cameras in, we kept on getting requests for reviews. And we listened, with this fantastic review of the Mamiya 645 AFD.
CAMERA GEEKERY: LIGHT LENS LAB 35MM F2
And it wasn’t just limited to cameras. We also reviewed lenses. Including this interesting and somewhat controversial lens from China.
JCH YOUTUBE CHANNEL: KITAMURA CAMERA SHINJUKU
2020 gave us the opportunity to resurrect the JCH Youtube Channel. And so far it has been far more successful than we could have imagined. Thanks to everyone for your support. We are going to keep on making great videos like this one.
CAMERA GEEKERY: THE WILDEST M6 YOU’VE EVER SEEN
We featured a really wild M6 that really divided people. Like it or hate it, it sure is an impressive piece of work.
CAMERA GEEKERY: FUJINON 50MM F1.2 LTM
We had the change to feature a really legendary piece of glass. This one is fantastic.
FILM REVIEW: TASMA T-42 400
Whilst searching for film stocks to review, we decided to try and feature some films that are not so well known. We found a roll of Tasma at the camera fair and knew we had to feature it.
HASSELBLAD – A PERSONAL REFLECTION
We are very lucky to have some wonderful readers on the site who are prepared to share their own thoughts on their favourite cameras. Dr. David Mitchell put together this fantastic and thoughtful piece for us.
FILM NEWS: JCH STREETPAN GETS A FACELIFT
And coming in at the end, the very end of the year, we revamped the packaging for JCH StreetPan. We think it looks awesome, how about you?
So there you are, The JCH 2020 Roundup. It has been a strange year and one that has been hard for everyone. We have struggled too, but have found new things to do with our time. Let’s hope that 2021 brings us some positivity. We will keep on bringing you great content too. If you would like to write for us you can too, we love to have people sharing their work on the site, just click here for more info.
Thank you to everyone for all of your support. We hope you have a happy holidays. And remember, stay safe, stay positive, be cool to one another and shoot some film!
JCH
Hi Bellamny, about a year or two ago you mentioned the development of a new compact camera. Any updates on that?
PS. Sorry for the name mispelling!
None, unfortunately. I ran out of money and investors are very hard to find. I really wanted to do it and put a lot of my own money into it, but I needed far more than I could ever put in. And now in the current economic climate there is little change of seeing any investors.
there are compact cameras (cheap plastic) being sold and with the rumor that leica may introduce a cheaper film M – whatever that will be, maybe one without rangefinder, like a Barnack I, based on M-A? Who knows. We’ll see how much it’s rumors and what will come out.
I see no substance in the Ricoh/Pentax film rumor, but with some luck they could introduce a ricoh/pentax P&S again, certainly not a bigger SLR.
Zenith? hmmmm