Frugal Film Project 2026 - Donkey - June

 As I had left it late to shoot my May rolls of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project 2026, thus it was that I also left my June contributions until the second half of the month too. I decided to combine two things for this walk, my roll of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project and a roll of GP3 100 for #620Day. I loaded up Donkey and headed out to see what I could find. 

My main focus of this walk was to shoot a roll of film for #620Day, but I can't just take one camera out with me. It's good to have a Plan B in case Plan A ends prematurely. I was documenting my day and also trying to find unique compositions to shoot for this blog. Solstice Weekend was hot with bright sunshine and wispy clouds and I hoped my yellow filter would bring some of that definition out in my photos. 

I tried to incorporate my Kodak Sterling II in a few shots, but with only 8 shots on my Kodak, I was free to expend a few with Donkey as I hunted for compositions. I enjoyed visiting the Horses, but they were too busy grazing to be bothered with this old fart and his clicky box thing. That's fine by me as I get a photo and they don't get disturbed. 

I headed onto the old spoil heap and visited the derelict car again and my favourite tree on there. I was heading to the new footpath and grabbed my final two shots with my Kodak 620 camera and carried on with Donkey. I found some foxgloves, some dappled pools of light and shadows of railings to keep me entertained as I made my way back towards home. It was when I got back to the horses that I took my final shot and could make my way home for a well earned brew.

I developed my roll of Kentmere 400 with 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 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio. 

The more I use this camera, the more I appreciate it. I enjoy giving my brain a good work out with my manual cameras, but for easy photography, you can't beat an Auto Focus, plastic fantastic SLR from the turn of the 21st century. It was the hey day of film and these things are what all the big manufacturers based their DSLR's on. 

I'm very happy with the photos I shot this month and need to keep exploring it's features and maybe ditch the yellow filter to let this camera shine brighter. Remember the price I paid for it? £10 and the filter cost me £6.99. I'm 6 months in. Donkey has more than paid for itself and will keep going for years to come. That's what I call Frugal. 

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

Frugal Film Project 2026 - SLR - June