Well it’s the end of the old year and the start of a new one. Which means it’s time to look back at last year’s favourite shots from the Frugal Film Project and look ahead at what I’m doing this year for the project. It’s hard to believe that I’m going into my third year of the project, but I feel I’m hitting the groove and not feeling that I need to do more each month. I’m also glad that I can still continue to run the project and I have some interesting ideas for this year and a camera that breaks the theme from the past two.
Looking Back
There is nothing wrong with the Canon EOS 3000, it’s a fine camera, it’s good enough. But honestly I felt a little constrained when using the camera. It is small in the hand, the viewfinder is dark and I feel it is a little slow on the shutter release. The exposure meter and autofocus are both fast and accurate. But the real killer is the lens, that 28-80mm lens is the definition of a kit lens from the era. It has a limited sweet spot, terrible distortion even at distances that you should not get distortion and at 80mm the images are soft. Honestly, I should get the upgraded 28-105mm lens and toss this one in the garbage. The one thing that did surprise me is how much I got to like Arista EDU.Ultra 200, it goes to show that it does take a bit more effort to find the right developers. Now I do experiment a lot with different developers so that always helps with that process.
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Zone Imaging 510-Pyro (1+100) 7:30 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Adox Atomal 49 (1+1) 11:45 @ 20C (Constant Rotation)
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-125 – Adox HR-DEV (1+35) 10:45 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Ilford Perceptol (1+1) 7:30 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – LegacyPro Mic-X (Stock) 9:00 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 50mm 1:1.8 – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – LegacyPro Mic-X (1+1) 8:30 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Ilford Microphen (Stock) 6:00 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Ilford Ilfotec HC (1+63) 9:00 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 50mm 1:1.8 – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Zone Imaging 510-Pyro (1+100) 6:00 @ 21C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Diafine (Stock) 4:00 + 4:00 @ 20C
Canon EOS 3000 – Canon Lens EF 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II – Arista EDU.Ultra 200 @ ASA-200 – Adox XT-3 (1+1) 9:00 @ 20C
I have to say, while I did enjoy this year with the Frugal Film Project, by August I was starting to feel a bit stale with the whole process. Not out of dislike of the project but rather having done it two years in a row. I like to spread things out, switch up the style of the project as to avoid that staleness. But I also think it has to do with the camera itself. Not that the EOS 3000 is a bad camera, for what it is, it’s a good SLR, excellent metering, autofocus and features for an entry-level camera. But it also felt way too small in my hands and I was not a fan of the 28-80mm kit lens, I’m glad I got Canon’s elevated 28-105mm USM kit lens so that I can dump the whole thing to another photographer who could appreciate the kit more. If you want to see all the photos from this year, you can visit the dedicated album over on Flickr.
Looking Forward
So about half way through the year, I started to think about what I wanted to do with the Frugal Film Project for 2025. And I can honestly say that by August it was starting to feel a bit more of a chore than something I wanted to do. Of course I did fill up the last months of 2024 with some good content and subject matter that I had wanted to include in the project. But I could not see myself continuing for 2025, I didn’t know what I would add to make the project something fun and interesting. And one thing that any photography project should be is fun! So in that line I have made the choice to pause my participation for both 2025 and 2026. I think after being a part of the project for two years, a two year break would be the best idea.