Tag Archives: Fujica ST-705

Film Photography Projects, Intersections, Personal Vision, The Story

Frugal Film Project 2020: The Plan

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I’ve been an provisional participant in 2019; started in June.  My Camera was a Goodwill purchased Canonet QL and the film was Kodak Color Plus 200.  A fine film, but I found that I was tired of shooting color.  Up to this point I’ve been primarily a B&W photographer.  When I want color, I use my Portra 400.  Also the camera has limitations (i.e. only one lens), so I felt constricted.  Finally the light meter died and I needed to find a ‘new’ old camera.

By Project Definition I am supposed to use the cheapest camera and film.  I did see that one of the 2019 participants was using Ilford HP5.  It’s a film I have recently become ‘friends’ with.  AND I can develop it myself, so that brings the price down considerably.  And Currently it’s selling for $4.99 per roll.  So we’ve solved the 2020 film problem: Ilford HP5.

A new change is that we can switch cameras on a quarterly basis.  So of my options below the question is which do I start with?  And am I going to change up cameras during the process?

Now, I have four inexpensive camera options.  What could be cheaper than a camera (or in this case two) that were given to me by a neighbor.  My freebie choices: the Fujica ST-705 with a normal and zoom lens; and the Yashica Electro 25 GSN, a rangefinder that has telephoto and wide angle lens add-ons (i.e. they screw on over the attached lens).

Fujica_ST_705

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Both cameras work and are in good condition.  Which would you choose?  But hold on, another camera has entered the Mix.  I was rearranging the storage of my 35mm cameras and found that my Minolta SRT-202 had a partially exposed roll.  So I decided to finish that roll and add the SRT-202 into the Frugal Film Mix.  Shown here with my Fisheye Lens.  And that’s the factor weighing heavily in it’s favor.  I would have the versatility of all my Minolta lens options. The actual value of the camera is borderline for the project.  But we’ll see.

Minolta_SRT_202_Posted

For October,and November I have posted examples from the Yashica and Minolta.   I had decided to give the Fujica away, but my husband said that he would like to try it out.  It’s a lovely camera camera, and seems like it’s going to stay in the Family.  So it may make an appearance for one quarter of Frugal Film.

Now a forth option appeared when I made a film purchase from the Film Photography Project.  There was a ‘new’ plastic camera, the Debonair, for $19.99.  At that price I had to buy it:

 

I had thought to post a survey on Twitter in November for my followers to vote on which camera to use.  But after signing on officially for 2020 and corresponding with the Frugal Film Founder Sherry,  I learned that the rules will be changing slightly.  So I would have more flexibility. I’ll post the new rules in January…….

Film Photography Projects, Intersections, Social Commentary, The Story

Exploring Expired Film

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Recently I’ve had developed some expired film ‘given’ to me by a neighbor.  Here’s the backstory, they were moving and knew that I had an interest in film cameras.  I was given two cameras that contained partially exposed rolls of film:  A Canon Sure Shot point and shoot and a Fujica ST-705.

I told them that I would finish exposing the rolls and have them developed.  To preserve their privacy I will only share the images that I exposed to complete the rolls.  It was also at least 30 year old film not stored under the best conditions. Kudos to Old School Photo Lab for pulling these images out of very dense negatives through scanning.  The images were almost impossible to discern even using the brightest light table.

Interesting results.  First the Canon Sure Shot:  All of the Kodak GC 400 film shifted blue, but many images were salvageable when converted to B&W.  I bumped up the contrast 100-200%:

Below a comparison of the original to the B&W:

 

Next the Fujica ST-705.  Really a neat camera; lightweight and easy to figure out.  This contained some version of Kodacolor film which somewhat maintained it’s color but became very grainy and dark:

 

So where Am I going with Expired film?  It never really interested me before.  I was always in pursuit of the sharp, crisp image.  But lately I’ve drifted into pinholes and a renewed interest in plastic cameras,  which offer very different photographic characteristics.  Also recently a friend gave us a treasure trove of expired films:

Expired_Films

I gave some away to my Emulsive Secret Santa last year, who expressed an interest in expired films.  But I kept the more interesting ones….I was also given a Minox “Spy” Camera with an expired roll that I am shooting now:

Spy_Camera_Gear

In another twist I was reorganizing my 35 mm camera storage and found my Minolta SRT-202 with half a roll of unexposed T-MAX.  When did I last use  THAT camera? 4-5 years ago?  Certainly expired now.  So I have Expired films to play with…….more coming on the horizon.