I bet you’ve been seeing this coming for a while now… or not because no one actually reads this, but that’s not the point. I’m trying to connect here folks, gimme a break, m’kay?
The Frugal Film Project, Buy a cheap film camera, buy some relatively cheap film (there is no such thing as cheap film in 2026), shoot one roll each month for a year. I can do that, right? Hell yes, I can. Except of course that I tried it last year and failed. I started in May and made it through four months. In September I did not get a single shot in, never mind a whole roll. Oh well.
Now, one year later, let’s try again. There’s a twist this time though. Last year I decided to use my little Soviet TLR, a Lomo Lubitel 166 Universal that I bought for a little less than $50 on eBay and much to my surprise it actually worked. I also decided to use Kentmere 400 film only to realize as I was packing up to shoot the first roll that I didn’t actually have any of that film so I changed my mind and went with Kodak Gold 200. How’s that for thinking on my feet, eh?
The twist this year is that I am actually going to try and do this twice. I am going to follow last year’s plan of the Lubitel and Gold, but I am also going to try to follow last year’s original plan of the Lubitel and Kentmere, though I don’t have any Kentmere 400 right now (deja-vu all over again) so we’re going with Kentmere 100. Let’s call the Gold roll Frugal Film Project 2A, and the Kentmere roll Frugal Film Project 2B. I have a roll of project 2A from May 1st and project 2B from May 5th. Both rolls have been developed and all 12 shots from each roll came out okay. We’re off to a good start. Two of them, actually!
Here’s the first roll. These were taken at the ocean.
We start at a little spot off the road where you can see some fishing and charter boats. This is not actually the ocean, of course. Is it a bay? A little harbor? I’m not nautical enough to know the proper term. Also, dig that friggin weird line through the photo. My first roll or two that I shot in this camera last year had that on a few shots but then it went away. Now it’s back. Hooray.
Next we go to Hampton Beach and we see my biggest issue with this camera. Not only is it almost impossible to focus on the little focusing screen, but for some reason I cannot keep the friggin’ images level. I don’t think I lean this much when I stand still but who knows. Do I have one leg significantly longer than the other? What is the actual deal?
On the road to Plum Island, stopping to look at planes. Some day I am going to hang out here and shoot some planes actually taking off. Someday.
Check out the amateur’s shadow. Friggin’ hack.
Next we have Plum Island itself. This is the mouth of the Merrimack River, where it dumps into the ocean, and the Plum Island Lighthouse.
And there you have it. The Frugal Film Project take two, roll A. I am such a nerd.
Now we move on to take two, roll B. We leave color film behind and move on to the magical mystery tour that is black and white. We also travel from the ocean to Boston, where I sort of expect to take most of these pics in the future. This was a walk along Newbury Street, a little stretch of Mass Ave near Berkeley College of Music, and then on Comm Ave.
So maybe I finished the roll before I made it over to Comm Ave. Sorry about that.
Right then, two rolls of medium format, 120 film shot on a cheap camera by a cheap, talentless red head. Two instances of month one of the Frugal Film Project. I haven’t figured out where I will go for June’s pics. I’d guess that at least one of the rolls will be in Boston again. We will all just have to wait and see together.
Inside the Red Head's Head 