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
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