Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 1 October 2025
Beach hut
Category: 35mm
A bus change and a cemetery
Following our trip to Mahón, as seen in yesterday’s post, we had to change buses when we got back to Ciutadella. Our bus wasn’t due for a while, so I took a few minutes to have a quick look at the municipal cemetery, which was right across the road from the bus terminal.
My wife was a little anxious that the bus would arrive and we would miss it, so it was a very brief visit. I also only had a couple of shots remaining on the roll of film in my camera, so it didn’t take long to use those up, with one shot of the entrance, and another of a curved row of vaults* within.
It’s interesting to note the differences between cemeteries in hot, southern European countries like Spain, and those in colder, wetter countries like the UK. The architecture, and methods of interment are very different in both.
* I’m not sure of the correct terminology.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 30 September 2025
A last minute trip to Mahón
During our holiday in Menorca we decided one day to take a trip to the nearby city of Ciutadela. However, after arriving, my wife didn’t seem that impressed by the place (I’m not sure why, as I quite liked it, and would return on my own later in the week). So we decided to get a bus to Mahón (or Maó as it appears on all the road signage), the island’s capital.
Menorca isn’t a huge island, and it only took about an hour on the bus to get there. The pictures in today’s post are those I took while there.
The blues in the skies look a little strange in some shots. No matter how much I feel like I’ve got a good handle on scanning colour negatives, I still get caught out by it sometimes, often for not discernible reason.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 30 September 2025
Under the arch to the yellow door
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 30 September 2025
Born obelisk
In the central Born Square, this obelisk is in honour to the people of Ciutadella who lost their lives trying to defend the city against the Turks in July 1558.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 30 September 2025
Far d’Artrutx
All taken the same evening as yesterday’s picture, these four shots show the Far d’Artutx lighthouse at the south-western point of Menorca.
The light was dropping and I was shooting 100asa film (which I’d rated at 80asa) so I had to use a slower shutter-speed to get a wide enough aperture for the camera to allow me to get the pictures. Some of them are slightly soft as a result, although not to the extent that they are ruined or anything.
The last one of the four, and my favourite, is pretty sharp though. It looks almost like a moonlit scene, although the effect is a result of the sun lighting up some high cumulus through a gap in the lower clouds.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 29 September 2025
A scimitar reflection
One evening on our holiday we walked to the nearby lighthouse (pictures coming tomorrow!). It had rained heavily earlier and the sky was still full of impressive clouds. On the edge of this road lay a large scimitar, or crescent shaped puddle, and I grabbed a quick photo of this couple reflected in its surface.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 29 September 2025
Cala n Bosch
Last year my wife and I spent a week in Menorca at the resort of Cala n Bosch, right on the south-western tip of the island and I shot a couple of rolls of film (my, still reliable, expired Superia 100) during the holiday.
This first set were taken on the first day or two as we wandered around the place – while the biggest “resort” on the island (not counting the two main cities, and other inland towns) – Cala n Bosch is still a relatively small place and easy to wander around (it’s actually two areas, if you count the adjoining Cap d’Artrutx). There’s a marina area with a bunch of restaurants, bars, and shops, but the rest of the resort consists of hotels, apartment complexes, and villas. Oh, and a lighthouse.
There will be more pictures to come, both from the resort, and also shots I took when exploring other parts of Menorca.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 27 & 28 September 2025
Bulk-rolled Rother Valley swans
The first of these two pictures featured in my favourite shots of 2025 post, but the second hasn’t been shown before.
As mentioned yesterday, these shots are taken from a short roll loaded from my recently acquired bulk loader. I chose Fomapan 400, in a shorter 17m roll for this first time out, mostly because it’s pretty cheap compared with something like HP5+ and wouldn’t be a bankruptcy risk if I somehow messed things up but, also, partially because I’m curious about trying different development methods with Fomapan 400 – a film which I often find to be underexposed or very contrasty when I’ve shot it a box speed before but which gave me some good results when I tried semi-stand development with some 120 reel film.
I tried the semi-stand approach on two occasions with the 120 variant, the first time with great results, but with the second giving me some noticeable bromide drag. I’m unsure why the results were different as I used the same methodology on both occasions, but they were.
For this roll of 35mm Foma 400 I used 1-hour semi-stand again (in Rodinal 1+100), but instead of 30secs of inversions at the start, plus a single inversion at 30 minutes, this time I gave the tank a single, gentle inversion at the 15, 30, and 45 minute marks. For this roll, at least, there are no signs of bromide drag, so I’ll try the same method on my next attempt.
The results are very grainy, but I expected this and it’s not something I mind – it adds some grit to the images – but the tonality is good (though this might also be partly due to shooting it at 320asa instead of the 400asa box speed) without the heavy contrast I’ve seen in the past when using regular development in Ilfotec DD-X.
But, anyway, the first roll of self-loaded film was mostly a success (it did come off the spool at the end, requiring me to remove it from the camera in a changing bag) and I have another, longer roll waiting to be shot in my F80. I’m looking forward to the results from that too.
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
Taken on 20 December 2025
Botanical gardens entrance
The last of this batch of pictures of the Botanical Gardens and, indeed, the last of the shots from the test of the Minolta X-300.
I’ve used it again since when testing a short roll of film (another test) that I loaded in the bulk loader that I was very kindly given by fellow blogger, Andy (see his site here). I’ll maybe post some of those soon, although one of them was used for my December picture in my 12 favourite photos of 2025 post.
I’ve since loaded another, full, roll (although I’m not quite sure how many usable frames it will have – I’m hoping for 36 though!)
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Ilford Type-517. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 14.5mins @ 20°.
Taken on 25 October 2025
Steel City Snapper photography 