Balda Baldax - Ilford FP4+ 125

For our visit to Ribchester I decided to take Baldy the Baldax out to play, purely on the off-chance I finished my roll of Type 517 Cine Film for the Frugal Film Project. Of course I did finish that part of my plans for the day and thus baldy was retrieved from my bag ready to go. I had loaded it with a roll of Ilford FP4+ 125 and to cap things nicely, the sun finally broke through the haze, bathing us in all its spring glory. 

I started my roll at The White Bull, a lovely pub with what look like real Roman columns holding up the front porch and a model of a white Bull on top of it. This pub found fame when the popular British archaeology series "Time Team" visited Ribchester to search for the extent of the Roman settlement beyond what had already been found. It was the second episode of the first series and the whole town was involved as residents dug test pits in their gardens. You can find it on YouTube.

Ribchester isn't very large, it probably hasn't really grown much since it was founded all those centuries ago, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to photograph. Ribchester is full of sandstone buildings that are a couple of centuries old and there's been a lot of recycling of building materials over time.

There's also some new buildings that stand out, but they will weather in over the years ahead. In ten years you wouldn't know they hadn't been there long unless you knew what to look for. Ribchester is a conservation area thanks to its Roman roots which spread out in the local countryside, including an ancient road through a field that you can hike along.

Keith was indulging in photographing his favourite subject. Doors. To be fair there are some ornate doors around the town worthy of a photo and Keith made the most of them. I too got a couple of photos of doors as well as general photos of the buildings and details unique to each one. It didn't seem like we had been out for very long, but by 4 pm, we were both getting tired and made our way home, happy with what we had achieved.

I developed my roll of Ilford FP4+ 125 with BelliniFoto Euro HC for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 120 mediumformat film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

I haven't used dear Baldy the Baldax for a few weeks as I have been busy with my autofocus cameras, so it was nice to spend a day with no batteries or automation bar my Gossen Trisix selenium light meter. I haven't forgotten how to use them, but it still shows where I cocked up the odd composition and a couple of light leaks strayed into my photos.

I'm not too fussed about it because perfection just isn't happening with a camera that's over 90 years of age. I just wanted to enjoy using it again and I certainly did that. Here's a few favourites from my roll of Ilford FP4 shot with Baldy the Baldax on a fine afternoon in Ribchester. I have posted them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Balda Baldax - Ilford FP4+ 125

Kentmere 200 - A new film from Harman Technology, the home of Ilford Film.

 Harman Technology, manufacturers of Ilford and Kentmere Black & White film and Harman Phoenix colour film have been busy over the last couple of years. They brought us Phoenix, their first colour film manufactured totally in house at their factory here in the north west of England. Now they have announced a new B&W film with the recent release of Kentmere 200, a medium speed B&W film that rounds out and compliments their Kentmere range of B&W film.

Regular readers will know I enjoy using budget films and they don't come much more budget friendly than Kentmere. Those of us with very little disposable income need to find ways to enhance versatility and have been pushing Kentmere 100 and pulling Kentmere 400 to 200 iso for years. We don't need to do that anymore now that Harman have brought Kentmere 200 onto the market. I had to try some and purchased a few rolls around 3 milliseconds after it went live on the Analogue Wonderland website. (yeah I was slacking, it should have been 1 picosecond....)

Using any film for the first time can be a crap shoot, but I mitigated any chances of my ineptitude getting in the way of well exposed photos by choosing my camera wisely. I loading my first roll of Kentmere 200 into my Minolta X-700 and took advantage of it's excellent aperture priority mode.I also used my MD 50mm f/1.7 lens and a MD 2x teleconverter for long shots, and my Vivitar 28mm MC close focus wide angle lens to give me a decent range of focal lengths to play with. I headed out into my local countryside on a sunny afternoon to explore.

The Film Photography market has been steadily rising over the last decade and Harman have put a lot of effort into ensuring they are at the forefront of it. In recent years they have secured investment to expand their facilities at Mobberley to enable them to make more film. A statement of intent they are already acting upon.

Kentmere 200 slots into a niche in the market once inhabited by Fomapan 200. Sadly, production problems with Fomapan 200, particuarly in 120 medium format had B&W film photographers like myself looking elsewhere to scratch that particular creative itch. I like Fomapan 200 in 35mm and this first roll of Kentmere 200 would give me something to compare directly to it rather than pushing or pulling other films. Kentmere 200 is also available in 120 and that itch will be scratched later in the year.

I was having fun on my walk and totally forgot I had bought 24 shot rolls of film instead of the usual 36 shot rolls I normally buy. It turned out ok though as my last couple of shots coincided with the half way mark of my walk and I finished my very first roll of Kentmere 200 at the stile to the footpath across the corn field. At least I think the farmer is growing corn this year, wheat isn't spaced out as much as this years crop. With my last shot taken, I switched cameras to start my Frugal Film Project 2025 obligation with my Kodak Retina 1a and headed off towards home.

A few days later I developed my roll of Kentmere 200 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 Photo 2.

With any new film, the manufacturer rightly uses their own proprietary developers to test their new product and the Film Community goes right ahead and starts experimenting with the developers and times their experience lead them towards. I went for 6 minutes based upon the time given by Harman for Ilfotec HC at 1+31, which, as far as I am aware, is near as darn it the same developer as Kodak HC110 and Bellini Euro HC. 

As more photographers get to experiment with this film using any of the healthy number of developers on the market, the knowledge base will grow, but for now I am happy to use Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B to develop Kentmere 200. I could see straight away I had made a good choice as the film looked decently exposed and as I digitised it and began editing the RAW files, I didn't have to do much to it at all, despite shooting the roll in the harshest light on the hottest day in May 2025, a harsh baptism of fire! I have three more rolls to play with and will be having a lot of fun with filters as I go along.

Here's a few favourites from my walk in my local countryside with my very first roll of Kentmere 200. They are compositions I have done to death, but familiar was the way to go with this brand new film. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them

Kentmere 200 

Frugal Film Project 2025 - May

 Spring has been hot and dry here in darkest Wigan and I wasn't feeling up to going out much after expending a lot of creative energy on Opaque, the new photo book from the Photozine Collective, and making the most of the glorious Cherry Blossom around town. That changed when a good rest made life a little more bearable and I went for a walk in my local countryside on a sunny Sunday afternoon in mid May. As always when I am out and about I was pulling double duty and shooting a brand new film with my Minolta X-700. I shot that roll first and will speak about it in a future blog.

I finished my other roll at the half way point of my walk and got started on my roll of Type 517 Cine Film in my Retina 1a. To be honest I was enjoying being out in the countryside, taking advantage of the dry spring we have had. The farmer had been busy planting this years crop, I think it's corn, and I enjoyed using the rows of crops as leading lines to the house and trees in the distance across the field. I was thinking of my hope for rain to help the crops grow tall and strong. We all love the nice weather, but to feed us all we need rain.

I soon arrived at the Stile which has been my nemesis this last few years. I don't like using it at the best of times, but with the sun being out, it made me be a little more bold and, after a few photos, I managed to navigate my way over it. This stile is a deceptive one as it drops down on the other side and has caught a few people out in the past. I took a couple from the other side and headed across the field where the horses were enjoying the shade at the bottom of the hill.

The pond at the top of this field was quite still on this day so I tried a couple of compositions using reflections with the trees and reeds etc. Then I headed onto the wash to visit my favourite tree on there. It's good to see the Silver Birch trees in full foliage again. I also took a couple of photos of the derelict car with it's new graffiti. It changes every time I see it and the local kids haven't got any better at painting and spelling, bless 'em.

It was almost time to head for home and I took a walk onwards to the next pond and the summerhouse that has been enthralling me with it's reflection on the water. I also took a shot of the Post Box and a lonely traffic cone because we have to, it's the law! I headed for the shops to pick up a couple of things before I turned for home. This Brit need milk for his cuppa tea and cornflakes and I had run out. I had also nearly run out of frames on this roll and had had enough inspiration for one day so I resolved to finish the last few frames later. I put my camera in my bag, got my shopping and went home for a well earned cuppa.

I decided to have a little play and developed my roll of Type 517 Cine Film with Bellini Euro HC  1+31 for 12 minutes at 20 celcius instead of 14 1/2 minutes 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 Photo 2.

Sunny days is where this film thrives, but I have a habit of getting my Mk1 eyeball metering wrong and it shows in this months roll. I over exposed most of my shots, but the ones I got right were bang on. I lose focus and things just slip my mind, it happens to everyone, but especially me since my stroke. Thankfully this film has a wide dynamic range and I was able to salvage it with Affinity Photo 2. 

That dynamic range means that this film has got my attention and it has grown on me over the first half of 2025. I want to experiment with filters and I think it's time to hunt some down on the bay. I also need to give myself a kick up the ass to make a better effort at getting my exposures right rather than hoping I can save them later. One thing I do know for sure is this Kodak Retina 1a is a little gem, the diamond in the bundle I bought last year and I reckon everyone should give one of these cameras a try at some point, even if it is just the once.

It was a joy to get back to my vintage cameras after spending a bit of time with my all singing and dancing electronic auto everything cameras of the last few weeks. It's nice to have the toys with all the bells and whistles, but a simple camera is much more fun. Here's a few favourites from my May roll of Type 517 Cine Film shot my Kodak Retina 1a for the Frugal Film Project 2025. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project album on Flickr for you to visit via the link below. I hope you enjoy them. 

Frugal Film Project 2025 

Olympus OM10 - Santacolor 100

 For Christmas 2024 I had a plan. The good folks at Kamerastore gave me a free roll of Santacolor 100 film for filling out a questionnaire and my plan was to shoot it at Christmas with my OM-1n. Then it went pear shaped. My OM-1n has developed a shutter problem, as I found out after loading my Santacolor film and taking a couple of photos with it. Fortunately I was able to rewind the film and my OM-10 was pressed into service. I loaded my Santacolor into my OM-10 and promptly forgot about it until January.  D'OH! 

I have heard and read a lot about Santacolor over the last couple of years as various blogs and vlogs have covered it extensively. Santacolor originated as Kodak aerial surveillance film with a nominal 100 iso rating. I first saw it on sale at Kamerstore as their own in house brand and it has also been re-spooled by several retailers with their own branding on it. It is noted for rendering bright reds and with that in mind I headed into town.

Wigan has a lot of buildings with ornate terracotta brick facades, they were intended to convey the wealth of the various benefactors who made their money from the Coal, Cotton and Iron industries in the area. Wigan had enough natural resources to make it worthwhile mining coal and building cotton mills as the Industrial Revolution began to gather pace here in the north west of England. It was said you could dig a hole anywhere in Wigan and hit coal. The Iron Works was built because of the abundance of coal to fuel the furnaces.

I wandered about the town centre happy snapping as I explored the bright reds of the various buildings. I tried to capture a few shots of Wigan folk going about their day along the main shopping street too. I also made a point of getting a shot of the famous Uncle Joe's Mint Balls sign. I know how it looks in colour having shot it on ColorPlus and Gold in the past, but it is nice to see how the three compare against each other.

I really enjoyed myself exploring colour for a change and soon finished my roll of Santacolor 100. I rewound my film, happy with what I had photographed and hopeful of how it would turn out. I put my OM10 back in my bag and continued on my photowalk around town with a roll of Rollei Superpan 200 in my OM-2. You can read that blog via the link below.

I entrusted developing of my roll of Santacolor 100 to the good folks at Analogue Wonderland. I sent it with my three rolls of ColorPlus and used my Club AW Wonderpoints to bring the price down. Join Club AW, they have regular members only deals and discounts and those all important Wonderpoints to collect.

First impression of Santacolor 100 35mm colour film is this was a fun film to shoot, despite my false start with my OM-1 and I might just go for it again some day. Check for availability at your local film retailer or buy it straight from Kamerastore using the link below.

Here's a few favourites from my roll of Santacolor 100 shot with my OM-10 and Zuiko lenses. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Olympus OM10 - Santacolor 100
Olympus OM-2 - Rollei Superpan 200 
Santacolor 100 35mm 36 exp colour film
Analogue Wonderland

Cheap Camera Shootout - Nikon F801S - Kodak ColorPlus

The Cherry Blossom came early this year. A dry and warm March coupled with a bright start to April gave the local cherry trees all the encouragement they needed to burst into colour and what a display they provided for us. I'm glad I was using my Nikon F801S with it's high shutter speeds as I tried to isolate a number of what can only be described as bright balls of colour.

I have been photographing the local cherry trees for a few years now and have come to enjoy my Sakura Hanami each year. It never fails to make me smile, even last year when we didn't get much in the way of sunshine during Sakura season, I was still smiling. When the Japanese people decided to start their Hanami several centuries ago, they were on to a good thing and I have to agree with them.

As I have come to appreciate it more, I am also finding myself choosing my shots a little better. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the riot of pink that boldly announces the start of Spring. We get a few distinct displays each year starting with Snowdrops followed by Crocus, Daffodils and Hawthorne, then the Sakura says "Hold My Saké!"

I was spoilt for choice this year as the sun was bright and the Blossom was displaying almost every shade of pink, from subtle shades of almost white pink to full on in your face PINK! It really is an amazing display of colour and I will never tire of it. It didn't take me long to get through my roll of Kodak ColorPlus, I rewound my film and headed off home for a well earned drink.

As with my other rolls of Kodak ColorPlus in this series, I sent them to Analogue Wonderland for processing. A few days later I received an email saying my scans were ready for me to download and I could get my first look at this years Sakura to see if my Hanami was as good as I remembered it.

Oh boy was it ever!

This is why I like Kodak ColorPlus so much, it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It just produces great colour time and again and makes my memories special. Remember, Kodak made a name from helping us capture our memories on film and these Kodak Moments epitomise that philosophy. I can smell the blossom every time I look at these photos and probably will for many years to come.

This is the end of this particular Cheap Camera Shootout and I have had a lot of fun with it. I might do another in the future, but for now I have learned a lot about the capability of my cheap entry level autofocus 35mm SLR's and my semi pro Nikon F801S. The Canon EOS300 and Minolta Dynax 4 were disgracefully cheap and have given me great photos with minimal effort. Their autofocus systems are fast, reasonably quiet and very accurate, as are their built in light meters. 

If you are thinking of giving film a go, you can't go wrong with them and there are some great lenses available for both Canon EF Mount and Minolta/Sony A mount, yes Sony! Sony A mount lenses are derived from Minolta A mount equivalents and are dirt cheap. A little more money gets you a decent Nikon and access to the huge range of both manual focus and autofocus F mount lenses. I love my Nikon F801s and it's coming on holiday with me later in the year along with my Nikon D610. Two cameras, three lenses, a few rolls of film and a couple of SD cards. Happy days.

Here's a few favourites from my roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 shot with my Nikon F801S and 35-70mm lens. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr for you to visit via the link below. Also a reminder that "Opaque", the new publication from the Photozine Collective is now on sale via the link below. This is a limited edition run with all profits going to Asthma + Lung UK in memory of John Whitmore who inspired us. I hope you enjoy them.

Nikon F801S - Kodak ColorPlus
Opaque - from the Photozine Collective

Opaque - A Peek At My contribution.

Time really does fly when you're having fun. After the success of our previous offerings, Lucid and Ambiguous, the Photozine Collective decided to put another zine together using the theme "Opaque." Again we aim to raise money for Asthma & Lung UK in honour of our dear departed friend John Whitmore who inspired us to continue his work.

John liked to challenge us through his work with the Sunny 16 Podcast. One thing I discovered early on with my contribution, Opaque wasn't an easy theme to interpret for this year's zine. Taken literally Opaque is an absence of light, but I wanted to do something different. However, that's easier said than done and I struggled from the start.

The film we were all using was Rollei Retro 400S b&w film and it's a film I am familiar with having shot a few rolls over the last year or two. It has decent contrast and as a 400 iso speed it should have given me decent exposures in the dead of winter. How wrong was I! I got through 4 rolls of film without getting a decent photo. It just wasn't coming together and I almost threw in the towel and dropped out.

On the last day I loaded a roll of Rollei Retro 400S 35mm into my OM-2 and put it in aperture priority. I also loaded a roll of 120 medium format Rollei Retro 400S into Baldy the Baldax to give me options. I wasn't expecting to have anything as I just couldn't see the wood for the trees, and then it hit me... The Opacity of Time!

I have no idea where it came from, but I took that as a sign from John and the idea grew. I thought about how the trees mark time and wondered if they too live in the moment, not knowing what the next moment will bring. It's also a good tribute to John as he loved photographing trees.

I wasn't alone with my struggle as we all found this to be a serious challenge, which makes this book all the more special. Here's a couple of my photos that I shot for Opaque using my Olympus OM-2 and dear Baldy the Baldax. If you want to see all the photos and added prose from 16 talented film photographers and myself, you can buy Opaque for £9 plus postage from our Ko-Fi site below. A few of our contributors appeared on the Sunny 16 Podcast to talk about their work for Opaque and you can listen to it via the link below. We all hope you enjoy it.

Opaque - Buy One Now! 
Sunny 16 Podcast - Opaque

Cheap Camera Shooutout - Minolta Dynax 4 - Kodak ColorPlus

 Next in line in the Cheap Camera Shootout for a roll of Kodak ColorPlus is my Minolta Dynax 4, an ebay bargain from a friend and a superb entry level 35mm SLR. A beginner to film would probably want to shoot colour film and be able to get decent quality photos, I know I did when I returned to film in 2017. I loaded a roll of the greatest colour film ever made into my Dynax 4 and hopped onto a bus into town.

I headed straight to Wigan Parish Church to make the most of the Cherry Blossom that was in full bloom on the trees in the church gardens. The blossom was making its appearance a little earlier this year. April really did start with plenty of sunshine, which always brings the blossom out, and I was able to use the strength of the cameras electronics to use fast shutter speeds as I photographed nature's finest display of colour.

The Minolta Dynax 4 has a fastest shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second and I used it on a few close ups with a wider aperture for a shallow depth of field. These are things to think about when taking a photo, there's always something that needs to be the focus of the composition and I isolate it with a shallow depth of field.

A wide aperture and fast shutter speed does that and using aperture priority takes a little bit of thinking out of the equation for me. The camera selects the shutter speed based upon the aperture I choose and the light meter reading. With this camera, that little bit of automation is bang on and ensures the blossom is in focus whilst the background falls away into a blur.

I always seem to miss photographing the Cherry Blossom at Wigan Parish Church so catching it at peak flower was a fortunate opportunity I really wasn't going to pass by. The sun was high and bright and the blossom truly bloomed for me. I took full advantage of the blossom on the cherry trees and also the blossom on the young apple trees in the Church Gardens. There was also a couple of Poppies too and I soon finished a full roll of film and headed off for a bit of shopping before heading home.

I sent my roll of Kodak ColorPlus to Analogue Wonderland for development and a few days later had the scans downloaded ready for my first good look at the photos I shot with my Minolta Dynax 4.

Again, I was not disappointed!

The colour that Kodak ColorPlus produces is indicative of a film that punches way above it's weight class. I have enjoyed other Kodak colour films, both stills and cinema, but I will always come back to ColorPlus. Kodak made their name from making memories and the colours from ColorPlus are true to life, which for me makes those memories especially vivid. 

Here's a few favourites from my roll of Kodak ColorPlus shot with my Minolta Dynax 4. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr for you to visit using the link below. Also a reminder that "Opaque", the new publication from the Photozine Collective is now on sale via the link below. This is a limited edition run with all profits going to Asthma + Lung UK in memory of John Whitmore who inspired us to do this. I hope you enjoy them.

Minolta Dynax 4 - Kodak ColorPlus 200
Opaque - from the Photozine Collective