The #FrugalFilmProject and how I came to end up with two Agfa Clacks, 19 May 2023

So on and off ( mostly off) I have been participating in this years Frugal Film Project on Facebook. I rarely take part in Facebook challenges, but this one has been around for a few years and I always find it interesting to see what people are posting each month. So this time I thought

Trichromes: The May 2023 entry for the #FrugalFilmProject.

After the April ‘fat’ roll for panoramas, I was a little nervous about exposing another film through the Agfa Clack. My idea to add a metal spring to the take-up spool was a failure, but I needed to enter a film for the following month and I had already decided to try trichromes, so I

My New Favourite Digicam: The Pentax X70 Bridge Camera, 15 May 2023

I picked up another of those dodgy digital cameras, the type that back in the day cost upwards of 400€ but nowadays you can pick up for chump change. This time it’s the Pentax X70. It’s what they used to call a ‘bridge’ camera – it looks like an SLR but the lens is fixed

The Ricoh Auto Half E2: It’s clockwork, 08 May 2023

I was browsing the Kamerastore website recently, as you do, and came across an unusual looking camera, the Ricoh Auto Half E2. In the photograph on the site there was a large wheel on the bottom. At first I thought that this was something that the Kamerastore had used to balance the camera, but then

Another cheap camera. This time it’s a 10€ Lomo LC-A, 08 May 2023

While I was learning about the Ricoh Auto Half E2, the very next entry on the Kamerastore website was a Lomo LC-A. This was also ‘not passed’ according to the description on the page because the ASA wheel had broken off and terminals in the battery chamber were corroded. But it was 10€, so if

Tiny 35mm cameras: The Minox 35GT, 05 May 2023

Although I have a good number of 120 roll film cameras, I don’t have many 35mm cameras to fall back on. There’s my precious Ikkosha Start 35k, and the malfunctioning Canon Epoca, and the Lomo LC-A,  but that’s about it.  I’ve always had a hankering for a Minox, those little miniature cameras that just fold

Panoramas: The April entry for the #FrugalFilmProject 2023

I had decided that the April theme for the Frugal Film Project was to be panoramas, specifically ‘Agfaramas’ made in a similar way to Holgaramas but using the Agfa Clack (Clackaramas?): Taking an image, winding the film on to nearly the following frame, turning the camera slightly then taking another image, and so forth. This

Textures and more with the Konica Minolta Z6, 27 April 2023

I was out looking for Textures for the #CameraChallenge with the Gameboy but took the Konica Minolta Z6 with me too. Although I got some nice Textures, I thought I would check out the IR sensitivity of the Konica. The 16:9 framing is mine and it’s a little blurry because I was holding the camera

A few snaps with the Canon Powershot G5, 27 April 2023

Picked up a brick the other day, the Canon Powershot G5 from 2003. This heavy beastie was 15€ from Kamerastore and is supposed to be a little glitchy but it’s been fine so far (probably explains the price as these earlier G-series can be quite pricey). Anyhow, I took it out yesterday and really enjoyed

Picked up a mystery 6MP digital camera for 3€, 22 April 2023

The CEX website is an excellent resource for cheap digicams from the dawn of the 21st century and occasionally they have some real bargains so I always keep an eye out.  Last week they were advertising a ‘generic 6MP camera’ for 3€. I like these particularly as you are never sure what you are going

The #FrugalFilmProject, March 2023: Second and third films with the Agfa Clack

After a difficult February I returned to the Frugal Film Project with renewed vigour in March. I had a film to finish in the Holga so took the opportunity to take the Agfa Clack to Aveiro at the same time. I took two films. The first I used to make a Pep Ventosa-like multiple exposure,

Testing an old 6MP digital camera I picked up for 3€, 14 March 2023

The CEX website is an excellent resource for cheap digicams from the dawn of the 21st century and occasionally they have some real bargains so I always keep an eye out.  Last week they were advertising a ‘generic 6MP camera’ for 3€. I like these particularly as you are never sure what you are going

Some Street Photography in Oiã with the PlayStation Portable, 25 February 2023

For the past few weeks I have been participating in the Midnight Slate photography challenge. Each week the organisers of the Challenge set a theme and ask participants to send in photographs about that theme. This week the theme was ‘street’ and it coincided with Caraval, the annual street festival. This would have presented myriad

The #FrugalFilmProject, January 2023: My first film with the Agfa Clack

Although ordered in good time, my Fomapan Retro films didn’t arrive until very late in January and I thought that I might miss the deadline for taking the first film. However,  on 31 January I thought that I would load up the Clack and take a test roll. Loading the camera was a joy, and

Participating in the #FrugalFilmProject with the Agfa Clack

This year I am planning to take part in the Frugal Film Project (FPP). The FPP was the idea of Sherry Christensen a few years ago. The idea is to use the cheapest film you can find and a cheap camera and use that combination for the whole year. The camera should not cost more

Three Cameras from 2022: My favourite experiences this year

With the encouragement of Stephen Dowling of Kosmo Photo, a group of camera bloggers were asked to write about three cameras they discovered in 2022 and what each one meant to them. Well, I thought, why should they have all the fun? So I came up with the three cameras that I most enjoyed using

Lo-Fi: Revisiting the images from the Bolta spool with expired Konica VX100 (c.2004)

Back in July I made a Bolta spool for the Ikkosha Start 35k with a 12 exposure cassette of Konica VX100 (expired 2004). After several failed attempts to produce a decent colour inversion I gave up and made a blog post with the images in black and white. Recently, some users on Twitter were talking

Testing the Lomography DigitaLiza Max with images from the Lomo LC-A, 23 November 2022

On my first outing with the Lomo LC-A I used one of the expired (c. 2002) Konica VX100 films set at 50ASA. Although I obtained some images, the negatives were very thin, so I thought I would double check with a new and unexpired roll of XP2. I took a series of images with the

Lo-Fi panoramas with the Sony Mavica MVC-FD81, 09 November 2022

Practising for the #ShittyCamaraChallenge #1990sCameraChallenge I thought it might be nice to see whether I could stitch together a couple of images from the Sony Mavica.  Images were straight out of the camera and stitched together with the phone app Bimostitch.

Lo-Fi: The Sony Mavica MVC-FD81, 04 November 2022

As well as the MVC-FD51 for the #ShittyCamaraChallenge #1990sCameraChallenge I now have an MVC-FD81. Although it was launched in 1998, the same year as the MVC-FD51, it features an enhanced resolution of 1MP and a faster floppy disk drive than its predecessor. Like the MVC-FD51 it was fun to use. I took a short walk