Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact - June

 I went for a wander into Wigan town centre for Armed Forces Day at the end of the June, it was the perfect opportunity to continue my Frugal Film Project quest to document the daily life in town with my June roll of Kentmere 400 in my Hanimex 35RAS. Armed Forces day is a chance for everyone to appreciate the work our Armed Forces do and also raise a few quid for Veterans Charities. 

Our local unit of the Army Reserve, the Queen's Own Yeomanry were recruiting as were the Cadets of the Navy, Army and Royal Air Force and there were stalls set out for various charities. A friend of mine Jim, a proud Royal Navy veteran, was helping out at the Royal British Legion and Veteran's Association stalls. It was good to catch up with him as I hadn't seen him for a while. I had to get a portrait shot of him before I wandered off to look at the various displays.

A re-enactment group was displaying their collection of WW2 Jeeps and a WW2 British Army Ambulance alongside the various items they use including genuine WW2 rifles, de-activated of course. Kids loved it. They were allowed to sit in the Jeeps and wear the army helmets for photos. Older kids were allowed to handle the rifles, with supervision, for photos too and it was good to see so many families having an afternoon outing together.

This was one day when I wish I had loaded a 36 shot roll of Kentmere 400 as it didn't take me long to finish a 24 shot roll. I spent the rest of my time there chatting to Jim for a bit before heading home for a well earned brew.

I developed my June roll of Kentmere 400 B&W film using Bellini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B, for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry, which to be honest didn't take long at all in the heatwave we had that week. 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 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.

This Hanimex 35RAS keeps making me look stupid for flapping back in January. Yet again it performed flawlessly, much better than I did in fact. There's a couple of shots where I got a stray finger in the frame, but they were very much the minority. I am thankful it was a sunny afternoon for Armed Forces Day and our Veterans, and the kind of conditions my Hanimex 35RAS compact camera thrives in. 

I didn't have to do much with my photos to make them presentable and I really like the portrait of Jim. For a holiday snaps camera to produce a decent quality portrait, it shows you don't need to spend a small fortune to get good photos. Some basic knowledge and a steady hand goes a long way on a sunny day. 

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

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact