It seems every time I try and do a 127 day in Nottingham, the weather is awful. The 7th of December 2025 was no different, dull skies and occasional rain. I decided to go anyway as I was meeting a friend to return a camera I had been playing with.

For a change, I took the train. It was a wise choice, cheap, direct, and it gave me time to load my cameras along the way. I opted for the Yashica 44 with cut-down 120 film, and a Minolta 16 II loaded with some cut-offs from previous cut-downs.

I shot the Yashica first, loaded with Rollei 400, which I pushed to 800 due to the weather. I knew it would increase the contrast, but wow, developed in Pyro, the results were wild.

I love the results and submitted one for the gallery, which at the time of writing isn’t up yet, but which would you choose?

Then my friend and I had lunch and watched Formula 1. It was the first time I ever watched a whole race from start to finish. I can’t say I found it exciting, even though it did mean a British driver became the champion. I much prefer football, especially the Cups. For instance, yesterday Macclesfield beat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup, and I was in floods of tears. It was so exciting. Or Scotland qualifying for the World Cup. For me, there is nothing like it.

Anyway, back to the films. The Minolta 16 shots were taken with Kentmere 400 and also pushed to 800. Once processed, they did not show the same level of contrast, but due to their size, they had a lot more grain. When cutting down to 120 to 127, the 16mm cut-off is much longer than can fit in a 16mm cartridge. You can fill 2 cartridges from one piece. That is good, as mine are often fogged.

Here are the good-ish shots from two such cartridges. I took the camera to many different places, including Beverley and Fleetwood, keeping it in my bag. I had a couple of shots left to finish in Nottingham.

I see it as ‘free film’ as it is something I would have thrown away before acquiring a 16mm camera. I don’t think I would ever buy 16mm film, as the results aren’t worth the expense for me. But for free film, they are ok. I find it fun to try it and see what I get.

It’s only a couple more weeks to the next 127 day. I think for the next one, I will use 35mm in the Yashica, as that is quite easy to do.