first time with holga.....disaster

<< Photography is a hobby. Good job I can use a good camera, so I don't have to use a Holga. >>

 

<< I offered you a hand in peace and you offered me a slap in the face >>

 

Pathetic.

I love that photo of the stairs, shows how a good suject with proper exposure and composition can make a great shot. I'll go to my room now...

 

Cheers.

Please calm down, it's ok man!

 

Ok?

Ben,

 

When you stop insulting, I'll stop replying.

Hi Rob,

 

I looked through your portfolio and I liked very much the shot of the golfers in soft focus. I have a very slow dial up so I could not load all the images. Natural images and well done.

 

Cheers.

By the way I love Holgas. Gotta figure which camera to take to Paris with me - the Speed

Graphic or the Holga. I just got one with the bulb setting option - so hi tech:-) The stair

picture convinced me. Holga to Paris. With Polaroid 85 film... Wheeeee!

Thanks Ben. I posted the photo to show Dan what the Holga is capable of, considering its incredible limitations.

 

Beepy - please take more than the Holga to Paris!! But if you must take a Holga, go one further, and take two, one loaded with B&W and one with colour. I spent eight days in Paris with my Nikon FM2 and EM, with B&W in one and colour in the other, and I think it was the best thing I could have done. You don't always know what would look best in what film, so this way you always have a choice. Have a great trip!

 

Nancy<div></div>

i read this HOLGA thread with interest,

years ago when all most of us had were the 127-16 exp " candid" cameras, the quality was better,

ok so one had the lens slip to the side.

and the negatives were tiny, but we got decent photos, and never light leaks,

It's a real shame they don't make a SLIGHTY better

camera with fewer faults. I don't think it would put a crimp in "creativity"

 

reminds me of the hardware store in Hong Kong with a display of genuine peterson vise-grip pliers. and no chinese of other cheap Knock-offs that are sold frequently in stores in the usa.

the manager said " only americans would buy something that doesn't work!~" nuff said. are THEY laughing at us?

Very nice photo Nancy, I love Paris and the idea of using two cameras is a great one.

 

Cheers.

I have three Holgas that all respond differently. One of them seems fine with 100asa film in bright daylight where as the other two seem to need 400asa loaded to register anything! As far as I can work out no two Holgas are identical. Also one of mine leaks more than the others, even when taped up to stop the leaks. It seems to leak more the more I use it, particularly since leaving it in a hot car for a day. When I'm looking for the Holga characteristic light leaks I use that one and when I'm looking to use either 100 or 400asa film without leaks I use one of the others. I've also read that the two aperture settings make no difference at all unless it has been modified [something that the holga mods website offers].

 

Good reason to test your individual Holga before using it for anything important.

You need to test you Holga under different conditions before you try and use it for making creative images so that you have a complete understanding of its technical limitations.

 

As you already know, the camera has one shutter speed, and two f/stops. Since the working parameters of the piece of equipment are fixed, you can meter to find out how the exposure will be placed on B&W film, and develop to meet the placement.

 

If you're using color negative film, then you need to use 100 speed film outdoors (for most shots), and 400 or 800 speed indoors. If the conditions are outside of the capabilities of the film - then, you don't take photos - or you accept the results.

 

You can use 400 speed color film outdoors, but unless it's very cloudy - they'll be over exposed. Most color negative film doesn't mind being over exposed even by 2-1/2 stops, although the images will not be optimally exposed, they can still be worked with.

 

You just need to consider that it's a snapshot, or toy camera and making good images with it is, in fact, a real challenge because of the limitations of the equipment.

 

I recently shot a small commercial piece using a Holga outdoors with 100 UC. The images were exposed perfectly using the f/11 setting, and the client was quite pleased with the "retro" results.

thanks for all the great advice

Dan, here's something cool to try with the Holga. Since the Holga gives you the capability of having multiple exposures on the same frame, try this: frame the picture you want, then, holding the camera as still as possible, even squish it against your face, then press the shutter as many times as you want. I've taken a photo with 32 shutter releases, and the result is almost like a watercolour. Of course, the subject has to be something that will be enhanced by this method. I tried this with a Ferris wheel at the CNE, and the results are pretty cool. You can even rig up a kind of tripod mount, with a nut of the same diameter as your tripod screw, attached to the bottom of the Holga. This will obviously hold the Holga much more still than you can by hand. You should go to a search engine, and type in Holga Photography. You'll be surprised at the number of web sites dedicated to Holga photography, with all kinds of hints and tips and galleries.

 

Have fun!

 

Nancy<div></div>

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Nancy, those are CooooooooooooooooooooooooooL.

Thanks, Sandeha!

 

Nancy

Dan, don't forget that if you remove the 645 mask from the camera, it leaves holes on each side, where it clips on. If these are not taped, you will have leaks that will spoil every exposure. For 6X6 format, I cut the hole out to size in the mask and leave it in there. That serves two purposes: no rough edges to scratch the film and no holes to tape up. On the original Holga, the two f/stops are only for show. The lever to change them actually does nothing. Taping the seam around the back id a good idea, as is making a flap to cover the ruby window (especially important if the film is not wound tight). Color film is more forgiving in one respect - it is more easily corrected in printing. The computer controlled processing machines are generally very good about that. Black and white needs to be processed by you to be effective, as it takes some expeimentation to find out what works for you. Good luck and have fun with the thing. That's what it is all about.

I'll second Stephen Lewis on this one. When you get a new camera and want to try it out, don't do anything critical with it. I got a Holga and ran several rolls through it. Mostly B&W because I can develop that myself and thus don't have to print it.

 

I also bought a bunch of rolls of Fuji Superia 100 and I use that as my "test film" since it is the cheapest you can get (well outside of Arista EDU which is insanely cheap at $1.39 a roll but since that won't develop in HC-110 AFAIK, I haven't used it)

 

My best advice on the Holga is to first get yourself some film, preferably some cheap stuff. ;) Secondly, do the cardboard & foam mods should you need to. Finally get yourself a roll of gaffers tape. It's expensive but if you're careful like me you can peel it off and reuse it again and again (I'm nothing if not a tight wad) Use this first to seal off the two small holes found behind the mask, then seal up the back.

 

Most importantly, take your Holga out and shoot, shoot shoot! I don't use mine so much now since I have other cameras for MF and really got bored with Holga's "weird" look.

 

On the other hand, I have taken some interesting pics with it.

Sorry about the last one, too big ...<div></div>