something's wrong with my holga's shutter

i have a holga 120FN with a bulb setting and a "normal" setting,

which operates the shutter at about 1/100 sec . . . recently, i put

a polaroid back on it, and the 1/100 setting stopped working

normally and started working like the bulb setting. i'm not sure the

polaroid back has anything to do with it, but the setting stopped

working when i put the new back on it. does anyone know anything

about this?

What happens when you flip the switch between normal and bulb on the camera with the polaroid back on? Is there resistance? Does it move at all?

You might want to contact Polaroid to see if they know of any problems. They're tech support was very helpful when I emailed them.

I had a misbehaving shutter once...

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You followed the Polaroid back instructions and popped out the reducing ring aperture by

disassembling the body?

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When you do that the wires leading to the hot shoe kinda start wandering around on their

own after reassembly. Open up the Holga and look inside as you press and release the

shutter. I fixed without disassembly by moving the stupid wire out of the way with a

jeweler's screwdriver.

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It can't have anything to do with the Polaroid back.

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You installed the lens modifier and the replacement frame inside to allow bigger image on

Polaroid?

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Hey - while you're figuring that out - take that Polaroid back off, make a pinhole (see

<a href="http://www.photo.net/shared/community-member?

user_id=16020">instructions for making a pinhole on my community homepage</a>),

tape it to the BACK of a piece of cardboard (cut a generous hole in the cardboard), and

then tape the entire thing to the Polaroid back itself. You will have a VERY wide angle

pinhole camera.

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I could swear I ripped this idea off from S. Liu on photo.net.

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Anyway, check out the pinhole images in <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?

folder_id=520012">my latest folder</a> done with the Polaroid back alone. It was WAY

too much fun! I used the Polaroid 85 film and cleaned the negs in various bathrooms and

"scanned" them with my Canon Rebel XT off a light table.

Sorry not helping you, but noting for myself... I used black gaffer's tape (black duct tape

kinda) to make everything lite tite. I used tape as the shutter - was too sticky at first so

linted up by putting it on my t-shirt a few times...

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This is seriously wide angle - I used the side of a corrugated cardboard box and made a 1/2"

hole to which I attached the pinhole (thin brass) on side nearest film... The cardboard edge

shoed up in the exposure. I had to make a hole like 1.25" in diameter.

there's no new resistance in the switch . . . i contacted polaroid's customer service, maybe they'll be able to help me out.

also, i heard that the shutter spring wears out after awhile and the shutter stops working and you can't do anything about it. except that i've only had my holga for three months . . .

Let me ask again... did you disassemble the Holga when installing the Polaroid back? To

remove the aperture reducer washer? Per Polaroid instructions?

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The Polaroid back alone does absolutely nothing to the camera - why would it affect the

shutter at all?

um, instructions? what instructions? i didn't get any . . .

i installed the lens modifier. but i didn't disassemble the camera and i don't know anything about the reducing ring aperture. i didn't install the 6x6 mask that the polaroid back came with, though . . . i figured i could just use the 6x6 mask that came with the holga, because i wasn't making any progress in installing the new one without using some pressure and i was afraid that i was doing it wrong (no instructions) and that the plastic would break . . .

also, my holga doesn't have a hot shoe. it has a built-in flash, and a compartment for batteries which i sincerely despise.

and when i examine the shutter with the back off, what exactly am i looking for?

your polaroid pinholes = very cool. i'm a sucker for extreme wide-angle distortion, but i never got past empty tubes of Quaker oatmeal.

sorry . . . didn't see your second/third response before responding to your earlier one.

again, no instructions and what's a aperture reducer washer?

i don't think the polaroid back has anything to do with it, either. but i don't know anything about holgas and the only reason i mentioned anything about the polaroid back is because the shutter stopped working right after i installed it.

thanks for your help.

Ah - no instructions... Here is <a href="http://www.polaroid.com/media/com/pdfs/

products_internal/PR032_holder_instruct_49f9.pdf">the basic manual</a>. Here are <a

href="http://www.polaroid.com/media/com/pdfs/products_internal/

PR032_holga_brochure_4_page_7cab.pdf">the instructions to increase light input:-)</a>.

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Well... maybe it is just broken. But anyway, if I recall, when my shutter didn't work (stuck

open - but intermittently for me) I took back off and looked through back and kept

clicking shuter and when it hung I saw a wire bunched up with the shutter. You have

internal flash - still wires, worth a look?

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You have the Bulb one though? I just got that - maybe that fails in new and mysterious

ways. Wonderful. Well at least the instructions above roughly tell you how to disassemble

it.

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That bulb setting is probably the death knell of the Holga - it's gotten way too

complicated. :-)

<< Let me ask again... did you disassemble the Holga when installing the Polaroid back? To remove the aperture reducer washer? Per Polaroid instructions? >>

This certainly isn't a requirement to use the Polaroid back.

I, however, went the "easy" route and purchased a 120S from holgamods.com who does the aperture mod for you. :)

3 months of use sounds too short for a Holga, even with their terrible QC. But if you're shooting a lot, maybe it is.

Things I would try:

1) Try shooting without the batteries and mask in (just shoot in day light).

2) Try holding the button to switch between normal shooting and bulb to the "normal" setting. See if maybe it's just wiggling loose when you're shooting.

3) post some examples. Are you sure it's a shutter problem? Could you jsut be over-exposing the film or over-developing it? If you're new to the polaroid world, perhaps it's just that you still have more of the learning curve to climb?

Good luck.