New toys for my FED 2

 When I bought my FED 2 rangefinder camera, a wide angle lens went on my bucket list straight away, the Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8. The camera originally came to me with an Industar 26m 52mm f/2.8 lens fitted and I wasn't very happy with it. It was, and frankly still is, lumpy in use and needs a full strip and rebuild to put right. This is what happens when you pay £40 for a camera that works well, the lens is often overlooked.

I soon found a replacement on a Zorki 4K that winged it's way to me for another £40, a Jupiter 8 50mm f/2 that was in excellent condition. This time it was the camera that wasn't exactly at it's best. Given the fact a serviced FED 2 with Jupiter 8 lens can cost over £100, I reckon I got reasonable value for my money. 

As I grew to love the camera, a Jupiter 8 35mm wide angle lens was on my radar and it is a sought after item amongst the soviet camera community. Often costing well over £100 for just the lens, I played the waiting game and kept an eye out for a bargain.

A couple of years go by and I'm scrolling through a Vintage Camera group on the book of face. A member had posted their FED 2 with the Jupiter 12 lens and I mentioned that I was on the look out for the lens to put on my FED 2. The chap very kindly gave me a link to one for sale on the bay and it was within my financial reach. I checked it out, liked what I saw and bought it. A week later it arrived and I am now the proud owner of a Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8 wide angle lens for a very reasonable price.

The only problem I now had was getting the viewfinder that shows the full size of frame my photos shot using the lens were going to be. These things can cost a pretty penny too, but I managed to find one at the Vintage & Classic Camera Co. The good folks I bought Baldy the Baldax from. It didn't take long to arrive and all I had to do was give it a test run. I loaded a roll of Kentmere 400 into my FED 2 and waited for a sunny day to come my way.

I went for a wander around Wigan and captured some old favourites again. I also tried to capture different angles of others now that I could get closer to my subjects. I even wandered down to the Pier Quarter to see what I could find. By the time I got there, the sun was dipping below the buildings on the fine autumn afternoon. I captured a couple of shots and I headed back into town to capture another couple of shots before I lost the light and headed home.

I developed my roll of Kentmere 400 in Bellini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B, for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed my RAW files with Affinity Studio.

First impressions of this lens are good. Compositions where I had to step back with the Jupiter 8 50mm f/2 had me taking those few steps towards the composition with the Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8. That extra width really shows in my photos. I can get much closer before I start getting to the point where I need to stop and let the composition have space to fill the frame. 

The photos are nice and sharp too, which is something I had seen in other folks photos using the same set up. That viewfinder is pretty much on the money too. It sits a little higher than I would like courtesy of the adapter I bought so I could get it to fit. My Fed 2 has the sunken hot shoe and the adapter has raised the viewfinder up a few millimetres, but it doesn't affect the shots at all. Most of my shots were focused at infinity so parallax wasn't an issue. 

There's only one downside to this lens and that's the aperture ring. It's click-less and my lens hood screws into it. It's easily moved by my fat fingers when focusing so I had to be mindful to check I was still on my chosen aperture before framing up my composition and releasing the shutter. It's a daft thing to moan about and I shall get used to it. 

The only other lens I have experienced this with is my Industar 50-2. That lens also has a click-less aperture ring set in the body, not around the outside like every other lens I own. maybe it's just a quirky soviet design or are there other lenses out there similarly configured that I haven't found yet? 

Final thoughts? Considering it is a lens I have wanted for quite some time, it has not disappointed me. I could easily have been disappointed, but the Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8 lens made by the good folks at KMZ in Moscow all those years ago, is every bit as good as I imagined it would be. 

Here's a few favourites from my wander around Wigan, trying my Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8 lens for the first time. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Fed 2 - Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8 lens - Kentmere 400

Frugal Film Project 2025 - December

 My experience of the Frugal Film Project over the years has been very rewarding and occasionally frustrating. The 2025 edition was no exception and I come to the end of my year with a greater appreciation of the post WW2 German Camera Industry. I have also come to love Type 517 Cine Film for its versatility. For Decembers roll of Type 517 Cine Film shot with my Kodak Retina 1a, I kept it simple and stuck to what I know.

I have mentioned a few times about Type 517 being the ultimate barn find in film photography for many years. A refrigerated shipping container loaded with a cine film version of Ilford FP4 doesn't come around often, I doubt it will happen again in my lifetime. Kudos to the folks at Analogue Cameras for making the deal happen and bringing this to the market at a very affordable price. You can buy this film with confidence it is going to produce decent photos for you. 

As for my Kodak Retina 1a, what a bargain I got! I bought it in a bundle when I wanted something else and it turned out to be the best bonus ever! When Kodak wanted to expand into Europe between the wars, their decision to buy the Dr August Nagel Kamera Werk in Stuttgart was a very astute one indeed. By the time my Retina Ia was made in the 1950's, Kodak AG, at that point in West Germany, was producing quality cameras at an affordable price.
 
At 70 years old my Retina Ia is in fine fettle. The frame counter has never worked whilst in my ownership, but it hasn't bothered me all year, I just try to keep a mental note of where I'm up to, a task that sometimes is a tough one when I'm concentrating on getting a shot nailed down. The strength of my Kodak Retina Ia is its Schneider-Kreuznach 50mm f/2.8 lens. Matched to the Compur shutter with a decent range of shutter speeds and apertures, shooting an expired 100 iso film wasn't as daunting as it could have been. 

For this last roll of the year I just wandered around town and captured the day as I walked. I also winged it on the metering, trusting my Mk.1 eyeballs on a bright sunny Boxing Day afternoon. I tried to get different compositions, but there's always one or two that draw me to them time and again. That's fine by me. It didn't take me long to shoot my December roll of Type 517 Cine Film with my Kodak Retina Ia and I made my way home, happy that I had completed another year of the Frugal Film Project.

I developed my roll of Type 517 Cine Film in Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B for 12 minutes at 20 celcius. Once dry I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

My final roll of the year for the Frugal Film project 2025 turned out rather nicely. Being blessed with a sunny afternoon and a wander without having to worry about getting wet or being cold, or both was just what I needed to round out the year. With a dozen rolls of film used, I have found my personal sweet spot using Type 517 Cine Film in my Kodak Retina Ia. 

For me that's the take home from the Frugal Film Project each year. I have learned about a film I wasn't accustomed to in a camera that came in a bundle and turned out to be a great surprise that has earned a place in my regular rotation. Now we are into the new year I am getting stuck into Kentmere 400 with my Hanimex 35RAS point and shoot as we go around again for the Frugal Film Project 2026. 

If you want to try Type 517 Cine Film for yourself, you can buy it from Analogue Cameras right here in the UK using the link below. I am not sponsored by, nor do I get any kickback from Analogue Cameras this recommendation, I have learned that Type 517 Cine Film is a decent film and I still have a few rolls in my fridge to get through. 

Here's a few favourites from my December roll of Type 517 Cine Film shot with my Kodak Retina Ia for the Frugal Film Project 2025. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film project 2025 album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them. 

Frugal Film Project 2025 - December 
Analogue Cameras - Type 517 Cine Film 

Hanimex 35RAS – My Frugal Film Project 2026 Camera

 In the 1980’s compact 35mm point & shoot film cameras were getting fancy with auto shutter, auto aperture, auto focus, auto flash and auto wind/rewind. These features really defined the point & Shoot cameras of the era. They were at first the domain of the big companies and expensive, but as the tech matured brands like Hanimex made them affordable. 

It was with this in mind that I went hunting for a cheap 35mm point & shoot to use for the Frugal Film Project 2026. My first, and last, port of call was the Kosmo Foto website to see what they had in stock in the Cameraburo. This review is neither sponsored by, nor has any kickback from Kosmo Foto. I just like the guy.

Kosmo Foto had several 35mm point & shoot cameras for sale with prices ranging from £7.50 to £80. Most were around the £30 - £50 mark and perfect for the Frugal Film Project budget of no more than $75/£75. I spotted a couple of Hanimex brand cameras and the first one I looked at had already been sold to some bloke in Canananada. (Alex Luyckx gets everywhere!)

My next choice was a Hanimex 35RAS that looked clean, had been film tested and was ready to go for £30. I took the plunge and bought it. When it arrived a few days later, I could see it had been looked after and all I had to do was fit 2 AA batteries, load a roll of Kentmere 400 35mm B&W film and go for a wander to remind myself of what photography was all about in the 1980’s.

When I fitted the batteries I gave my Hanimex 35RAS a few tests and it seemed to be working just fine. When I loaded my roll of Kentmere 400, I pulled the leader to the white mark, closed the back and heard the reassuring noise of the camera advancing the film to the first frame. I went for familiar compositions on my walk in my local countryside that covered various lighting conditions on a sunny afternoon.

From dark woodland paths to the full brightness of the sunshine along the dirt roads, my Hanimex 35RAS handled it with ease and it didn’t take long to shoot my roll of film and I headed home, eager to develop it and see exactly how it had performed. I developed my roll of Kentmere 400 in Bellini Euro HC at 1+31 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

This first roll told me all I needed to know about my Hanimex 35RAS and also gave me confidence I could use it for the Frugal Film Project 2026. My film looked decently exposed, as I processed each frame with Affinity Studio I didn’t need to make many adjustments to get them looking presentable. 

My Hanimex 35RAS may be a simple to use camera with a fixed 34mm lens and few automated features to make life easier, but it is far from being a disposable item. I was able to get some decent photos with it and all I had to do was point & shoot. The camera took care of the rest which suits me just fine. I have taken part in the Frugal Film Project for several years now, with cameras I really needed to use my skills to get consistent results. For 2026 I want an easy life and this camera gives me that for not a lot of cash. I'm using rechargeable batteries too.

Here’s a few favourites from my first roll of Kentmere 400 shot with my Hanimex 35RAS. I am very happy with my purchase and it's a pleasure to do business with Kosmo Foto. You can visit the website via the link below.  I have decided to stick with Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film project 2026 and look forward to sharing more photos with you as the year progresses. I have placed these and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them. 

Hanimex 35RAS - Kentmere 400 

2025 - A Review Of My Year

 2025 has been a decent year for me. I completed a few things this year that were very fulfilling for me both creatively and for my health.The number one highlight of 2025 was going on holiday with my wife and our youngest son. I also got to use cameras that have become firm favourites as well as old favourites that I have come to love using over the years. The only thing I need now is to decide where to start? 

Lets start with the camera I have used for The Frugal Film Project 2025, my Kodak Retina Ia, an absolute gem of a camera and my choice for my favourite camera of the year. I bought it from ebay in a bundle deal during in 2024. I needed a focus screen for my Zeiss Ikon Maximar and the Kodak was a part of the deal. Also in the bundle was another Maximar and a tiny little Ensign pocket camera. 

The Kodak Retina Ia is a simple viewfinder camera that uses 35mm film. The viewfinder isn't coupled to the lens as you would find with a rangefinder or an SLR, you have to zone focus, but it isn't difficult to get the hang of. The lens is a superb Schneider-Kreuznach Retina Xenar 50mm f/2.8 and it folds into the body of the camera when not in use. 

To help me gauge distance I bought a Watameter Rangefinder and added a yellow filter to the lens to help me tame the Black and White Type 517 Cine Film I used for the year. The downside to the camera is the frame counter doesn't work, so I will get that mended in 2026. Pierro likes a challenge, speaking of which...

Pierro gave my Olympus OM-1n a CLA in the summer of 2025 and it's like having a brand new camera, albeit one that's nearly 50 years old. When I bought it, I took a chance and paid less than £50 for it from ebay. I shot two rolls with it and then it jammed. The frame counter window had fallen into the camera and it was beyond my skills to mend it myself. Motorcycles, I can fix, cameras.... nope.

Pierro has serviced a few cameras for me and I value his skills. I booked a slot and sent it before the appointed time. To save a camera for the future is a very rewarding thing to do. I have an OM-1n that will undoubtedly outlast me and give it's next custodian many more years of service long after I am gone. I couldn't be happier with it.

I went on a little voyage of discovery earlier in 2025 with a look at cheap auto focus SLR's from the heyday of film. A Minolta Dynax 4 and a Canon EOS 300. I bought the Minolta from a dear friend for £10 and the Canon was a gift from another dear chum. I had to buy a lens for the Canon which cost me around £50 and put it firmly in the middle of my test. I pitted both cameras against my semi pro grade Nikon F801S and shot a roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 B&W and a roll of Kodak ColorPlus in each. 

I found that  you don't need to spend much on a camera to get well exposed and focused photos. When folk say film photography is expensive, it's only as expensive as the amount you're willing and able to spend. If you are a pauper like me, a tenner gets you a great camera and lens that will give you years of service.  

It was an exercise that taught me that buying the best you can afford is purely subjective. I had as much fun with my cheapest camera as I did with my intermediate and expensive cameras. I learned that Minolta made exceedingly good auto-focus cameras as well as the manual focus ones I enjoy too. That brand has a well earned place in my regular rotation. 

Taking part in producing two books with The Photozine Collective has again been a great experience. Opaque was our winter exploration of B&W film and Vivid was our first foray into colour film. My fellow contributors excelled themselves yet again. Photographers are always looking for inspiration and a collaboration project is a great way to find it. We do it to raise money for Asthma and Lung UK in memory of our friend John Whitmore, who inspired us to start this venture a few years ago. 

By far my favourite experience of 2025 was going on a well deserved holiday with my wife and son, a cruise around the Scenic Scottish Islands aboard the Fred Olsen Cruise Lines M.S. Bolette and it did us all the world of good. I used to think being on board a ship was a bit like prison with a chance of drowning, but now I want to go on another one. 

Sea air, great food and a chance to surprise a dear friend I haven't seen for many years was just what we needed in 2025. I got to photograph Fingal's Cave, an item on my photography bucket list and  got to spend time ashore in Kirkwall on Orkney and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. Both are places we have never visited before. We enjoyed it so much we have booked another cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary in 2027. 

That's me done for 2025 as I take my Christmas break and relax with my family. 2025 has had its share of ups and downs, but has been very rewarding. I'm looking forward to 2026, starting with another round of The Frugal Film Project in January. I have bought my camera for the project, tested it and will introduce it next week. I'm also hoping to be involved with The Photozine Collective again. We have no idea at this point what theme we are doing, but all we be revealed in due course.

With 2025 almost behind us, I look forward to more Photography Shenanigans in the year ahead. I wish you, my dear reader, a very Happy Christmas. Whatever way you choose to celebrate the end of the year, I hope 2026 brings you health and happiness. And more cameras, and a train set, and a flying car..... 

Jim

My Birthday Present

My birthday came around quick, or so it seems anyway. I have had a busy year with my photography so time has appeared to have flown by. Last year my youngest son bought me a Fuji Instax camera that I have enjoyed using through the year. This year he surprised me with a Nikon Coolpix L810 Compact Bridge Camera. 

I thanked him for his thoughtful gift and admitted that bridge cameras have never really caught my eye until now. To be honest I wasn't expecting it and it really cheered me up. Having never used one, nor even seen one up close, I headed to the Nikon website for the manual and to see if it needed any firmware updates. 

The Nikon L810 was unleashed upon the photography community in 2012 and positioned as a happy medium between a well featured compact and a basic DSLR. It boasts a 16 megapixel CCD sensor, lens shift vibration reduction, a 3 inch led screen and motion detection. 

The built in lens is a super zoom that ranges from 4mm to 104mm which is equivalent to 23mm to 585mm in focal length on a full frame sensor, which is no mean feat in such a tiny package. It also has a built in flash and 720p HD video too. The hand grip is a "cunningly disguised" battery compartment that takes four AA batteries and it is also where I found the SD memory card slot. 

I installed four Duracell AA batteries, a 16GB SDHC card and closed the compartment. I switched it on and it came to life straight away. It was on it's default settings so I spent a little time exploring the simple menu. On paper it looks like a point and shoot camera, so how about we go for a wander and see how it performs in the wild.

I took a wander along the farm road and captured various photos, some familiar and others I spotted along the way. Peak autumn has well and truly left us here in Wigan and what is remaining of the colour hasn't got long left. I was hoping the CCD sensor in my Nikon Coolpix L810 would bring out that colour to share it's last hurrah with us. 

As it often happens at this time of year, the heavens opened and it started to rain about halfway through my walk. With the camera not being weather sealed, I put it back in my bag and headed home to dry off and have a brew. 

A couple of days later the sun decided to shine brightly and I headed off to the farm again to give my Nikon Coolpix L810 another outing. The sun may have been shining brightly with hardly a cloud in the sky, but the cold wind from the north had the temperature hovering around freezing point. 

It was a great test of the camera and it performed admirably. I could probably use it at lower temperatures, but zero celcius is about as cold as my aching bones can handle these days. I soon got the photos I wanted and headed home again for another well earned cup of tea.

When sorting through the jpegs from my new camera, I was pleased to see that Nikon had fitted a decent lens to the Coolpix L810. I was also pleased to not have to do too much to them in Affinity Studio. A few tweaks here and there was enough to get them looking presentable. The lack of RAW files didn't worry me, nor did the auto focus hunting as it tried to zero in on my chosen composition. I did miss having a viewfinder, but we can't have all of the cake and eat it.

Is it the best camera? Nope, but it's not supposed to be. It's a point and shoot with a few things I have in my DSLR. The scene modes helped me get my photos with their automatic shutter speed and apertures and are easily selected via the handy button on the back of the camera. The 26x zoom is quick and I soon got used to framing up my compositions with it. The macro setting sometimes fought against the zoom and autofocus, but I figured it out. 

Overall, I enjoyed using my Nikon Coolpix L810 for the first time. It was a nice surprise gift and to be fair will probably be with me when I go out in future. Here's a few photos from my Nikon Coolpix L810 taken on a dark, wet, cold, dull and gloomy day in Wigan. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Nikon Coolpix L810 - Part 1 
Nikon Coolpix L810 - Part 2

Rollei Retro 400S - Agfa Isolette I

 Have you ever had one of those days when you find a camera in a bag and there's several shots already done? This happened to me in early November when I was sorting a bag for my OM cameras and I found my Agfa Isolette I in a bag and I had taken 8 photos with it. For the life of me I couldn't remember using it, which is a hazard you face when you have had a stroke, no matter how mild it may have been.

I totally and utterly forgot when I started this film! With it being in a bag with my Nikon D90, you would think that would trigger a memory. It did, but not the one I really wanted so I finished the final four frames whilst out and about with my OM-1n and OM-2.

I had to know what was on it. I developed the roll in Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B for 6 1/2 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my roll of Rollei Retro 400S with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

I took one look at my freshly developed film and the penny dropped. I had nipped out to the Post Office to send my colour film for developing and after finishing that task, I took a few photos with my Isolette. I totally forgot about it! I get that sometimes and it bugs the crap out of me for a bit, but we get there in the end. Don't say I'm losing my marbles, I know they are in my pocket...

I shot eight frames in town on a bright day and had started to lose the light that I had enjoyed for an hour or so and headed home. I shot the final frames around the local farms and I got a little action as the Farmer was grading the dirt track road. I grabbed a shot with my Isolette and my film was done!

Here's a few faves from my roll of Rollei Retro 400S shot with my Agfa Isolette I. As always I have placed them and more in a album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Rollei Retro 400S - Agfa Isolette I