Holga

HomeingPigeon said:

I was thinking about getting a holga camera. I see that they use film and I was wondering how much film costs and how the cameras work. I have heard some people say that you have to manually push the film for each picture? Anything about the holga camera would be awesome.

Thanks

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They use 120 size roll film. There is a knob you turn to advance the film after you take each picture. the negative are 6cm x6 cm in size (about 2 inches square) Cost is about $2 per roll with maybe 12 exposures per roll. You will need to develop the film. Buy a $35 "daylight tank" or send it out. I prefer to process it myself. No darkroom printing. I scan the negs. Processing it yourself allows you to control contrast (Like using "levels" in Photoshop)

One hint. Buy more than one camera. You will go through them. Buy some black tape to seal the doors and get an assortment of film
"freestyle" in Hollywood Calif. They have "everything" .http://www.freestylephoto.biz/holga.php
If you have a chance go there in person. They have a huge stock of darkroom supplies and chemical
and paper and comercial photo gear (like Speedotron lights and so on.) They sell mostly to serious
photo students and comercial studio photographers. They'll have a Holga and a Hasselblad in the same place
I didn't buy the Holga I got some other Russian cameras. One is a $50 TLR. It wants to be a Roliflex. For for $50
and "made in USSR" it ain't.

Lots of time they have old past-date film in the freezer they sell cheap.

Don't worry about cost, camera, film and processing are all very well within the budget of the
typical high school student

Holgas are best known for their "artsy" photos. Often you get an overlapping of frames because the film hardly advances well on its own. Likewise, the holgas are known for their light leaks contributing to the artsy lure. I have a holga with a flash (I know I'm a baller) and a Diana. There was no reason for buying both a Holga and a Diana other than I could say I own both and because I had once intended to make my Holga into a pinhole camera. I still use both from time to time and I now send the film out for processing. It's a waste of money but still very fun.

120 is the length of the film strip in centimeters. It's medium format.

I would shoot for a 120 CFN with the multicolor flash with about 8 rolls of film (4 color, and 4 B/W). That would run you about 40.00 for the camera and 24.00 for the film. The 8 rolls should hold you for a few week as long as you dont go out and shoot all willy nilly. I recommend shooting one roll of each, and then see what comes out. Then use that experience for another 2 rolls. Once you see those, you should begin to know what it going to work and what isnt, so shoot away. Then order more film, cause youre going to love it.

Eventually get round to try good slide film (Fugi Velvia is a good one I hear) and also try finding a local shop willing to cross process your film for awesome color outcomes.

Night shots with the bulb mode is also something to experiment with, obviously youll need a tripod for that. Just get a cheap 20.00 one at your local Walmart.

Most important ... experiment, thats what a Holga is all about, well that and having fun!

HomeingPigeon said:

I wonder how you guessed that I am a highschool student. You guessed right on the dot which is amazing. I didn't think that most people could tell that. You are like some pschyic mind reader person.

This is way off topic but I just had to say it.

That was just suprising that you could guess that most highschool students dont have to much money. If any.

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You can do some wonderful work with a Holga, but it's a very unforgiving beast. I shot over a hundred rolls (black and white) for my intermediate class as a freshman. If you can learn to print with the trash negs a Holga gives you, then you can print anything. It's like whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

these are some of the prints I turned in for my final, each are about 9x9".

I use my holga a bit but a lot of the shots are pretty bleh. You need to have quite a lot of light if you want decent shots. (IMO anyway)

So I've got myself a Rolleiflex which is around 4 - 5 times as much as a Holga but I really like it for Medium format film.

Also remember that you only get 12/16 shots with 120 film rather than 24/36 with 35mm (common) film. This will add up should you take lots of shots and process etc.

Some labs charge more for 120 than 35mm too. All just a heads up.

Very fun camera but.

M@lew said:

Some labs charge more for 120 than 35mm too. All just a heads up.

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It's an extra investment in equipment for the lab so it's normal they charge extra. Also there is a little more chemicals used in the process of development. And finally the printing is less automated than 35 mm printing.

HP,

I'd google or check the yellow pages for small, independent labs in your area -- I recently started shooting medium format and found a nice place with good rates that was convenient to my office. If you are looking to work with images digitally, get quotes for processing to develop only for C-41 (color), Black and White, and E6 (Color slide film -- gives you a positive image instead of a negative). Then look into a reasonably priced flatbed scanner with support for 6cm negatives -- the Epson 4490 gets good marks here, and is around $180 ($150 after mail-in rebate). I actually just ordered one, but don't have it yet to show example scans. I had been working on a friend's Nikon Super Coolscan 8000 before that, but it's way out of my price range, and I wanted something at home to work with scans for web resolution.

Film can vary in prices, and you can do different things with different types. True black and white can be "push processed," allowing you to shoot at a higher speed than it is rated for. Ilford Delta 3200 is an example of a very high-speed film that acheives its 3200 rating by being pushed "one-stop" -- natively it is around 1600 iso.

For an idea on the different types of film you can get, take a look here --

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/category/7224/Film_120_220_Sheet_Film.html

You'll want to look at items in the "120 & 220" links. Stick with 120 for the Holga, it won't accept 220 rolls (220 is the same size vertically, but has a much longer strip on the roll).

If you have access to a darkroom, black and white can be developed easily if you are patient and willing to take the time to learn. Using a daylight tank can be a little more difficult for a beginner, as you are required to load it in the dark (if you have a closet that fits the bill that would be nice, but most folks are stuck using a glove bag, which is, in the words of Run DMC, tricky for a beginner).

You mentioned you were in HS -- is there a photo club, or perhaps a class room with a darkroom? We had one in my school, but that was ten years ago.

Hope this helps...

Jim

HomeingPigeon said:

I live in harrisburg PA. I cant find a specialty print shop. All I can find is CVS and Wal-Mart .

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Try harder young Skywalker...

http://www.carlislecamera.com/digital_processing/120_220_services.php

FWIW, I'd suggest a Seagull rather than a light leaky Holga, as you can apparently get pretty good results with one of the Seagulls:

http://www.adorama.com/ZZS104.html

Long-term I really like the old Mamiya C330, but that's a heftier investment.

I live in harrisburg PA. I cant find a specialty print shop. All I can find is CVS and Wal-Mart .

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I'm originally from your neck of the woods (well, maybe shoulder, down in Chester county), so I understand the distances and such you deal with when living in lovely, rural PA.

A quick google search did come up with this link -- http://www.harrisburgcameraclub.com/hcc/home.asp -- I bet the folks in the club would be able to point you in the right direction for processing. Looks like their meetings are in Camp Hill.

I had the lens off my Holga ripped off and fitted to a Nikon F mount. So I use a digiHolga now!

princealfie said:

I had the lens off my Holga ripped off and fitted to a Nikon F mount. So I use a digiHolga now!

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):

princealfie said:

I had the lens off my Holga ripped off and fitted to a Nikon F mount. So I use a digiHolga now!

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pictures please

both of the camera and of the results.

HomeingPigeon said:

I will think about getting more than one. I was looking on ebay and they sell there for around 40.00 dollars. How much would you pay for the camera. Since I have only used digital cameras i dont know where you buy film. So where do you buy film? I see that i want 120 film. Does that mean the iso is 120?

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screw ebay, go to B+H for the camera and the film

http://www.bhphotovideo.com

tho i do find it funny that i bought my holgas (i have 3 or 4) for about $15 each a few years ago. looks like they got more popular since then.

and for what its worth, i use a holga all the time for commercial graphic design work. (as well as a seagul and a canon DSLR depending on what i am doing.)

I am a Holga user, I develop my own black and white film at home. I pay £1.45 per roll, which equates to around the $3 dollar mark.

It depends a great deal on what kind of aesthetic you are going for.

I love the rustic, antique look that I can get as it suits a huge body of work that I am producing at the moment.

I am very fond of medium format and film in general, and I use a number of old cameras, including twin lens reflex and box cameras from the 1930s.

You can't beat the surprise and excitement you get from developing, and being more involved in the magic side of photography.

I have 3 Holgas, none of them fail to wind on properly, and the shutter functions properly on each model. I have a plastic lens, a glass lens, and flash model.

teleromeo said:

pictures please

both of the camera and of the results.

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http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/2697

enjoy folks!

I've got a Holga 120CF. It's currently got some very out of date 35mm slide film in, IIRC.

Along similar lines I'm frankensteining a Lomography Fisheye lens and the internals of a cheap digi camera into the body of a third camera.

HomeingPigeon said:

I live in harrisburg PA. I cant find a specialty print shop. All I can find is CVS and Wal-Mart .

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That is why Al Gore invented the Internet Right? There is not much reason to need a local place. Yes you pay postage but with gas at $3.19 per gal. postage is cheap.