Frugal Film Project 2023 - June

 We have reached the half way point for the Frugal Film Project 2023 and I have some doubts that my beloved Agfa Isolette I is going to last the rest of the year. It has been a great addition to my kit and gave me a start with medium format, but age is catching up with it rapidly. Made in the 1950's, the Agfa Isolette I was an affordabe camera of the time that could be used as a point and shoot or you could get creative with it and use it like any other camera with the aid of a rangefinder and a hand held light meter.

Whilst I am comfortable with using all my toys, I have mostly been using it as a point and shoot. I just set the distance to the red number 30, the aperture to the red dot at f/11 and choose one of the three shutter speeds to suit the conditions. This month I was shooting at 1/200th of a second at f/22, courtesy of the Gossen Trisix light meter my friend Owen gave to me back in 2017, to allow for the bright sunlight we have enjoyed for the last few weeks.

I wanted to go further afield this month and a visit to my daughter in Yorkshire gave me the perfect excuse to photograph a location I have not visited before. Wath Lake at Wath On Dearne which is on the site of a former Colliery in the heart of the South Yorkshire coalfields. This part of the White Rose County is full of former mining communities that were devastated by the closure of the mines in the area during the late 1980's and early 90's.

In the 1990's the site was cleared and contamination removed prior to landscaping works to turn it into a recreational area with a boating lake and miles of footpaths and nature trails. For this visit we concentrated on the lake cos it's a fair old hike when your not so nimble anymore. The boating lake is used by local schools and colleges for Kayaking and Dragon Boats and the weather was perfect for boating on the day I visited, bright sunshine with a breeze to take the edge off the heat. There was a couple of model sailboats being put through their paces on the lake too.

As my daughter and I made our way around the lake shore, she pointed out a few things of interest. I dutifully took photos of the "Wath Dinosaur", a concrete sculpture in the lake that was more high and dry than usual as the hot weather had evaporated a few feet off the top. A bit further round was one of the Pit Head Winding Wheels, half buried in the ground as a monument to the former colliery where it served for many years. There is also a area on a peninsular with a monument to the Coke Works where Coal was transformed into Coke to feed the local steel industry in Sheffield and Rotherham.

It didn't take me long to start feeling tired, we headed home and I found some Power Lines to photograph on the way. I'm a sucker for a good power line shot and I tried my best to frame up a couple of decent compositions. It was an enjoyable morning walk, but by the time we got back to her house, the sun was high in the sky and we were a bit frazzled. I spent the rest of the day resting and enjoying the rest of my stay with my daughter.

A couple of days later I developed my Kentmere 400 120 medium format film in a fresh mix of Kodak HC110 dilution B (1+31) for 6 minutes at 20 celcius. It took a bit of doing as the water from my kitchen tap was 22 celcius, I had to cool it down in my fridge before mixing my developer. It's the joys of summer really and it wasn't long before I hung my film to dry in my bathroom. I scanned my film using my Nokia 5.3 phone camera, A5 led light pad and Pixl-Latr and processed the photos with Affinity Photo 2.

One thing that stood out immediately was the light leaks that had blighted a few of my photos. I was able to deal with most, but there are four that I simply couldn't use. This is the hazard of using vintage folding cameras, the bellows deteriorate eventually and must be replaced or the camera is just another ornament. I am left with a decision I hoped I would not have to make. I have to withdraw my Agfa isolette I from the Frugal Film Project 2023.

It's for the best really as it is only going to get worse if I put more film through it. I got half a year out of it, 72 photos doesn't seem a lot, but when you're 70 years old it's more than it could handle in its current condition. The camera was a gift from my dear friends Budgie and Helene and I will get it rebuilt so I can use it again, it has earned it. Hopefully it will outlast me and give one of my grandchildren a few years of the same joy I have had with it. I just need to find someone in the UK who can replace bellows on an Agfa isolette I and also need to choose another cheap camera so I can at least finish the year.

Here's a few of my final photos for the Frugal Film Project 2023 taken using my Agfa Isolette I on Kentmere 400 120 medium format film. As always I have placed them in an album on Flickr for you to enjoy via the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2023

Horrendous light leaks