Holga Flash

i have a holga 120S. it does not have a flash, and i would like to have a strobe at least. i was looking at

the lomography.com site and saw the "holga strobe flash", but it says that you need a holga 120gn for

this. is this true? if so, what kind of flash can i buy for the 120s?

i have the Holga 120N....newer version of the S....and it has a hot shoe on it. Yeah, it actually is functional. So, any hot shoe mount flash will work just nicely. Or if you want it off cam (the flash), you can buy a hot shoe to sync cord adaptor, and depending on your flash, you can then just plug the snyc cord into your flash, if it has a sync cord plug, or if it is only hot shoe, you can put another adaptor on that end........clumsy, but it will work.

 

Now having said all that, I have "fired" the flash on my Holga and it does flash all the time........but I have never actually taken a pic with the set up.........so is it perfectly synced? I have no clue. I rarely use flash, prefer to push film if I need "light"

...oh, and I see the S has a hot shoe too..........your all set

ANY flash with a standard shoe connector can be used on your camera. And it's not like there is anything that can be damaged in your camera. Simply buy an old flash unit with auto mode (aperture computer) that allows bounce flash on that big internet auction site and you will be set. My personal recommendations for cheapie flashes are the old Metz mecablitz or Agfa Agfatronic series.

Seems like I had a problem with flash coverage. My flash is set up for 35mm minimum focal length on a 35mm camera, which has the frame in landscape- anyway, the flash didn't cover the bottom of the frame on the Holga when close up. So try to get a flash that covers maybe 28mm or 24mm or use a good diffuser.

I have this cheap flash that was built for 35mm cameras but had a pretty wide head on it so I put wax paper over it and it covers the frame with a lower guide #

 

Larry

Would my Canon Speedlite 430ex work, or is that a stupid idea?

I read that you set the flash to f8. I also read that the flash fires when the shutter is pressed AND when it is released, so wait a second or two because some flashes can be damaged this way.(I've read) I just sent off my first Holga roll to get developed and took a few flash pics with my sunpack 383. The flash DID NOT fire when I released the shutter though.

Ethan,

 

I used my 420EX with my Holgaroid this weekend. It kept over-exposing my subjects but it did work :)

Seems to me that I remember reading that the 120 S will actually fire the flash twice... once when the shutter is depressed, and once when it is released. Is this true? If so, could it cause issues with a flash trying to fire too quickly?

Evan,

 

Yes, that is possible. For me it doesn't always happen (which is strange). Regardless though, my technique is to depress the shutter and to wait a few seconds and then release the shutter. So far, no problems.