Frugal Film Project 2026 - Donkey - March

March has been brightening up steadily during the first half of the month and I managed to get both rolls done before the end of the month as I took advantage of the increase in sunny days we have enjoyed here in Wigan. I was wondering what to photograph and decided a walk in the countryside was in order I was out and about with my Goodman Zone Z1 to see if I could remember how to use it as it's been a while, and I figured documenting my walk for the Project was the way to go this month.

Donkey has been behaving perfectly since I decided to use it for the Project this year and this walk was no different. I spent more time looking for compositions for my Goodman Zone and setting it up than I did for Donkey. This is the beauty of late model auto focus 35mm film cameras. 

Minolta put everything into the Dynax 4 as they knew the end was coming for their excellent film cameras amidst the digital revolution. They even based their first DSLR on the Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 500 series and could have ran with it for a few years, but then came the sale of the Minolta Camera Division to Sony who used their considerable financial resources to take the next step and blew the competition out of the water with their mirrorless cameras. It was years before the likes of Canon and Nikon could catch up. 

Using Donkey, by now getting close to 25 years old, is a joy and it has all the same features my Nikon DSLR's have minus the digital bits obviously. I easily switched between the slow measured pace of my Goodman Zone with the fast auto focus and superb metering of my Minolta Dynax 4. I photographed a couple of scenes with my Goodman Zone added to the compositions by stepping back and taking a photo with Donkey. 

I also kept a few compositions just for my Frugal Film Project offerings for March, just to mix things up a bit and not be photographing the same stuff with both cameras. I will talk about my Goodman Zone in another blog, but for now, Donkey did not let me down. If you get a chance to use an entry level Minolta 35mm film camera from the late 90's to early 2000's, do it. They are a joy to use and the proof is always in the quality of the photos we take.

I finished my film in my Goodman Zone well before I shot my last frame with Donkey. I concentrated on capturing some scenes as I made my way home. I only made one mistake, I wore the wrong coat. I had my winter jacket on and the warm spring sunshine soon had me wishing I had taken the thermal lining out before I set off. By the time I got home I had a sweat on and definitely needed a brew.

I developed my roll of Kentmere 400 shot with my Minolta Dynax 4 a few days later with Bellini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and hung it to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it later 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.

After my recent faux pas with exhausted chemicals, I made sure to mix fresh developer and fixer for this session and it shows. I didn't have to do much faffing about to get my photos looking decent. I really enjoyed my day out with my Goodman Zone and Donkey. Beautiful sunshine saw me using fast shutter speeds and the yellow filter helped to tame the highlights, be it out in the open or in the trees. It puts me in a great mood for whatever April has in store for me.

Here's s few favourites from my March roll of Kentmere 400 shot with Donkey for the Frugal Film Project 2026. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2026 SLR album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2026 - SLR - March 

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact - March

 The first week in March has seen a definite upwards trend in the temperature and sunshine. Yes, I said sunshine. The 3rd and 4th March was gloriously sunny here in not very dark, wet, cold, dull and gloomy Wigan. Naturally I had to have a lie down as the shock of a cloudless sky made me overdose on vitamin D, but not before I got a few rolls of film done and dusted, the first being my March roll of Kentmere 400 shot with my Hanimex 35RAS compact point and shoot camera.

In keeping with my aim to document daily life in Wigan town centre I started my walk in Mesnes Park and gradually made my way into the town centre. The Park is always popular, but especially so on a sunny afternoon. People were enjoying their day in the sun, either walking through or spending some time at the Pavillion cafe. The parks and gardens staff were busy planting this years spring blooms and continuing their excellent maintenance of the lawns and flower beds.

I made my way towards the town centre and photographed a few things on my way. The clock tower at the Thomas Linacre Centre, the Garden dedicated to  the NHS who cared for us so professionally during the pandemic is nice at any time of year, but spring is a special time and people can go and sit and remember loved ones who passed away during that time. 

There is also a new seating area where you can go a have a chat to whoever may be there. The benches are close together as a means of bringing people together and talking to aid their personal well being. I know how easily anyone can slide into poor mental health and it's tough to get through without any support. Sunshine and a few friends to chat to can make a big difference.

Construction of the new development continues at pace and the Tower Cranes are constantly busy moving materials around the site as the next stage of that building begins. I wandered around towards Uncle Joe's Mint balls, taking photos as I walked and guided by the smell of freshly made mint balls that lured me with it's unmistakeable aroma. I really enjoyed my walk and got a few rolls of film shot for future blogs, but it was definitely time to go home. I was done in and needed a nice cuppa tea to recover from a very productive afternoon of Film Photography. 

I developed my March 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 it 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.

First impression was my film was a little undercooked, then I remembered my Dilution B was overdue for changing. Bugger. However, it was easily sorted with Affinity Studio. My absent mindedness gets the better of me at times. I would have sworn at it in three languages in the early days of developing my own film, but my skills are a lot better now and I saved it thanks to having the right tools and knowledge. I just wish it didn't make my brain hurt to remember half of it, but hey, nobody said long term recovery from a brain fart was easy. 

Here's a few of my favourite compositions from my March roll of Kentmere 400 shot with my Hanimex 35RAS for the Frugal Film Project 2026. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact 

Olympus Trip 35

 Way back in the dark recesses of the 1970's, Olympus played an absolutely perfect marketing campaign when it unleashed legendary point and shoot camera upon the world, the Olympus Trip 35. Released in 1967 at a time when people had begun to afford luxuries after years of rebuilding the world economy post WW2, it was a simple to use camera that added a full frame 35mm option to the half frame Pen range of pocket cameras Olympus had sold during the 60's. 

Olympus, always the innovator decided that people needed a high quality, yet simple and effective, full frame 35mm film camera to capture special memories like family holidays and important events like weddings. This is where the marketing campaign won over the masses with renowned British portrait photographer, David Bailey.

You're at a wedding, located at a quintessential English church in the heart of the community. The wedding photographer is doing his job with a big old large format film camera whilst David Bailey nails shot after shot, quickly and effortlessly with an Olympus Trip 35. The Wedding Photographer, keen to talk shop, besmirches the compact camera whilst David Bailey talks of the key features of the camera. The wedding photographer's assistant tries to tell him the guy he's insulting is David Bailey. The punchline became one of the best known lines on television. "David Bailey, who's he?" 

It was a master stroke of advertising genius and spawned a series of adverts that entertained a generation. That ad campaign sold ten million Olympus cameras. TEN MILLION! It also ensured that David Bailey became a household name, forever associated with Olympus cameras and, well, if he could do it, so could you. I was a nipper when that ad campaign started appearing on telly and I always dreamt of owning an Olympus camera. I now have half a dozen or so....

The Olympus Trip had the tag line "So simple, anyone can use it!" and yes, it is very easy to use. You just set the focus distance based on the symbols on the side of the lens, set the aperture on A for automatic exposure, point it at your subject and press the shutter button. To advance the film you use a thumb wheel on the back of the camera. An array of selenium cells measure the light and decide the shutter speed and aperture for you. Those of you who want a little more control can set the aperture yourself, but the shutter speed is always automatic. 

True to their word, it really is so simple, anyone can use it. it's also small enough to fit in a pocket and has a 40mm lens that helps it become a great everyday camera. I have an Olympus 35RC with a similar lens that has occasionally been called a "Leica Killer". Would the Olympus Trip get anywhere near that kind of clarity? Would my ham fists make a pigs ear of using the worlds simplest camera? There's only one way to find out.

I had finished my roll of Kentmere 400 with Donkey on the first half of my walk and got stuck into using my Olympus Trip 35 on my way back home. With the bright thingy in the sky and fluffy clouds all around between the blue holes, it felt like a 1/250th F/11 kind of day. I set my aperture to F/11, my focal distance to landscapes and let my camera do the shutter speed. For shots in the woodland shade I set my aperture to f/5.6 and focal distance closer to the subject. All I had to do was release the shutter and wind the film on. Easy peasy! 

I was having fun, despite becoming increasingly fatigued after not having been for a long walk for a while. I was hunting for patterns on trees, gnarly branches and hoping to catch some shadows too. It seemed like I had only just started my walk back when I got to the Wash and my favourite tree there. I had to get its first pic of the year, it's the law! By the time I got to my other favourite tree at the pastures and said hello to the sheep, I was just about done and so was my film. I headed home for a well earned cup of tea.

I developed my roll of Ilford HP5 shot with my Olympus Trip 35 in Bellini Euro HC 1+31, dilution B, for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it 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. 

So, the moment of truth, how did my Olympus Trip 35 perform? Had I done a good job or did I manage to get it wrong? When I hung my film to dry I was rather pleased to see nice even exposures and was keen to process it further. I reversed my negatives with Affinity Studio and honestly didn't have to do much to them bar a few adjustments and remove some dust spots and scratches.

I am very happy with my first ever use of an Olympus Trip 35. I have a feeling it will excel with Kentmere 200 and Ilford FP4. I will also shoot a couple of rolls of ColorPlus with it as spring progresses and we head into Sakura season. A holiday snaps film in a fine happy snappers camera just has to be done. Here's a few photos from my roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 shot with my Olympus Trip 35. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Vintage & Classic Camera co. 
Olympus Trip 35

Films I plan on loading into my Olympus Trip

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Donkey - February

 It's been a grim year thus far in 2026. Bad weather was followed by bad weather and more bad weather here in darkest Wigan. I'm British, we are used to it raining a lot and by eck it's rained a lot this winter. Of course, this meant getting out and about with battery powered cameras was a little tricky, perilous even, but we did get the odd dry day between the storms so I could get out and about with Donkey, my Minolta Dynax 4, loaded with Kentmere 400 film. 

I headed out to my local countryside for the very first time in 2026. I made the most of it and I needed it. I was definitely suffering from cabin fever and was getting close to putting an axe through the bathroom door whilst proclaiming "Here's Johnny!" and "Honey, I'm home!"  (Good thing I didn't as my wife would have taken it from my hands and rammed where the sun doesn't shine!) 

Yeah, I can hear you saying "Jim, you went for a wander down the canal in January." You're right, I did. I also got a nice morning to shoot my February Compact shots for the Project, but a sustained period of non-rainy weather hasn't happened as I write this blog. I hope March is better.

On my walk I heard birds singing, I saw snowdrops doing what snowdrops do best and also saw the first new green leaves on the early Hawthorns. The clouds did eventually clear and gave me some nice light to work with once I emerged from the cover of the woodland. The photos I took are nothing special, mostly stuff I have photographed in the past and it satisfied my photography itch. Repetition is good exercise for my brain, which is why I enjoy the Frugal Film Project every year.

It was around the halfway point when my Minolta Dynax 4 declared my roll of Kentmere 400 was finished and kindly rewound it for me. Once again I was pulling double duty and had another camera with me to use during the second half of my walk for a future blog. It gave me something to do on the way 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 it 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. 

First impressions on hanging the film to dry were that I was quite optimistic for some good photos. Donkey had done his job well and produced nicely exposed negatives. The proof is always in the processing and it didn't take me long to get through my roll of Kentmere 400 in Affinity Studio.

I am quite pleased with how Donkey performed on the day. In the shadows or the bright light, I got some decent photos to share this month. After the washout we have endured I consider myself lucky to have been blessed with a decent day. I could so easily have had to scurry about in the rain, something I have done with Donkey, but would rather not have to do that again. The patient approach worked and I am thankful that Mother Nature blessed us with a couple of decent days for photography in February 2026.

Here's a few of my favourite photos shot with Donkey, my Minolta Dynax 4, on my February roll of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project 2026. As always I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2026 - SLR album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them. 

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Donkey - February