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