120 mm film for Holga?

Hi

I am going to try 120mm film and I wonder which film would you recommend me.

 

I like saturated-contrasty color and for BW I like grained-contrasty one.

 

Sorry for asking this, I am comminf from the DSLR world and I wanted to try

120mm format, I don not have any idea of what film to buy.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Rgds/Gustavo

First it's 120 film, not 120mm film. The 120 is a number (35mm is 135, for example), not a physical dimension on the film.

 

Anyway, try Plus X or Tri-X for B&W, try any 100-400 color print film for color- see what's cheapest when you go to buy.

For the Holga, I buy whatever is in the discount short-dated/expired bin at the store.

I generally go with 400 speed film. I've had problems getting anything slower to work.

 

For color, go with print film. The lack of exposure control won't create any problems with print film but will cause problems with transparency film.

I've been happy with kodak 400UC for color in the holga. But I'm agreed, play around and see what you like. There's no place within 600 miles of me that has cheap outdated 120 (or much in the way of current 120), so I put an order together from B&H every once in a while and buy random rolls of 400 speed color film.

Ilford HP5, since you can easily push it to 800.

I always use the cheapest film I can find...Freestyle Photo and JandC have fine B&W films for less than two dollars a roll. If I know that all of my pictures will be shot in bright sun I use asa 200 or asa 160, otherwise the asa 400 seems to work best. The Holga is not a very good camera, and expensive high quality films do nothing for the Holga but cost more money. Check out the expired films at your local camera store. When using color film be sure to put a bit of black masking tape over the red film counter window, and open it only when advancing the film, or you will more than likely get some red streaks on your pictures from the light leaking through. The Kodak UC400 works nicely with the Holga. Also, I personally have a hard time reading the frame numbers on Ilford films through the red window.

Thanks for the answers!

One of my photography gurus from the place where I took my Holga film for developement said I should use at least 400 ISO (120) film in my Holga. Even faster film. I haven't tried a 3200 yet, but I must.<p>

 

I tape my Holga all around the back with duct tape once the film is loaded of course. When loading the film put a small wedge of cardboard under the film roll to help the film be wound tighter.</p><p>

 

I found a good website with a few good tips for using your <a href="http://www.photoslave.com/misc/holga/holga.html">Holga</a> </p><p>

 

Have fun. </p>

I like Porta NC and VC 400 for color negative film.

Tri-X is good too.

If it's saturation you want, try slide film, ASA 100.

I would recommend buying some out dated slide film though, it's too expensive otherwise!

It works!

Brian

Just a thought about grain: If it is "grainy" black & white pictures you are after, you might be dissapointed. While Tri-X and other asa400 films have a noticable grain on 35mm film, they are pretty smooth with the larger negative size of the 120 film. Maybe try the Fuji 1600 or TMax 3200 to get the grain you seek, but you might have to use an ND or red filter to keep from overexposing if you shoot in the bright daylight.

Portra 160IS0 120 film is great as is portra 400ISO. I like trying out different brands of B&W. Using portra 220 is nice as well - you just have to count 34-38 clicks to get to the next frame for shooting. I also like the ilford brands of B&W for the Holga. It is very cool to modify and use 35mm film.give it a try!

-vallery b