Which Holga?

I have been looking all over the place and I've been finding a lot of conflicting information, so I really need a

live person to help me out here. I have a decent amount of basic information, but I need someone who actually has

some first hand experience to help me put it all together. Please tell me with model to get and give me a few

suggestions on modification. Tell me any way that I can get these options. Modification, buying a new part,

whatever. I want to keep the cool little defects like the light leaks and vingnetting.

I want the classic plastic lens, shooting in 6x6 on 120 film, the ability to do multiple exposures and adjustable

focus. These are these essentials for me. Basic stuff. With a model that has that, I want to maximize the degree

of control over how much light gets in and do a few other things. By hook or by crook, I want the camera to have

at least SOME of these features:

-Something with a "B" shutter speed setting and, of course for that it needs to be mounted to a tripod. Hopefully

I can get one that has this setting, or modify it to do that and attach my own tripod mount... or duct tape it to

the tripod or something, I don't know.

-Aperture control. I know that at most, Holgas have 2 settings, and one usually doesn't work so I'll probably end

up just adding a pinhole. If I do the pinhole the "B" shutter speed will be fairly important. Any other options here?

-Flash. I'm pretty interested in the color flash. What do I do for this one? Get the 120CFS (it has to have what

I'm looking for)? Get one with a hot shoe and find a color flash bulb?

-Improved focus. With the pinhole, the depth of field will be better. Is there anything else I can do for the

focus? Making modification? Buying a new part, get a new crappy plastic lens? (CAN you change the lens?)

-Cable Release (or something similar). Call me "Shaky-hands Mcgoo." I need a way to release the shutter with less

risk of shaking the camera. Plus, the shutter release being in the front weirds me out.

So yeah... this is a lot. I'm also going to make it a snazzy color and make sure there isn't TOO much light

leaking. (Of course there should be some though). Then I've got my dream Holga.

If you're going to help me, thanks a ton!

sounds like you are describing a 120 6 x 6 folding camera from the 1950's

You will have to give up much.

plastic fuzzy lens, light leaks, and vigetting.

You will gain real f stops, shutter speeds self timer. flash synch connector.

and a cable release socket.

You might even like it.

Just get a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. It's got a glass lens instead of plastic, but its a meniscus lens. You'll have

to scrounge up a few 620 spools for the take up side, but the supply side can work with 120 film. Just poke a cut

off section of a plastic drinking straw from your favorite fast food restaurant in the slot as a bushing for the

smaller 620 spindle on the supply side.

It's got one aperture and shutter speed (f/16 at 1/25), which is all the Holga really has anyway, and a B setting

for the shutter.

The flash sync is for flash bulbs, but if you're adventurous you can modify it to work with electronic flash. You

just take it apart and bend the contact to make when the shutter is fully open instead of beforehand. If you want

a colored flash, then tape a colored filter over a $2 flash unit you get from the same auction site. You'll have

to fabricate an electrical connection to go from a hot shoe on the flash to the two posts unless you get a flash

with a cable connector. Then you can just use a couple of banana pin plugs from radio shack to make the

connection to the camera.

You can buy 5 of these off that big auction site for the overprice of a Holga, and modify the daylights out of

them to do all kinds of interesting things. And I've *NEVER* bought one that didn't still work unless it was

crunched. They're too simple to break.

Even if you destroy the first two and loose the shutter spring on the third one while trying to learn how to get

them going, you still have two for the price of one.

Fear not to take apart a Hawkeye, just watch for the springs that fly off across the kitchen table.

MB

If I were you, I would get the Holga 120GN, with the glass lens, "bulb" setting, hot shoe and tripod screw.

<P>You'll have two masks (6x6 and 6x4.5) with the camera, though for best 6x6, you need neither. <P>Multiple

exposures, "panoramas," picture strips, 35mm, and all the rest are easy to do. <P>By "adjustable focus," I'm

guessing you mean the four focus settings (WSM, two child molestors get lucky, etc). They're all there and all

the invisible settings in between. <P>You can mod your own cable release on any Holga with a B setting. Do a

search on Flickr for a very easy how-to. <P>Most, if not all, Holga's only have one working aperture. If you want

to make it a pinhole, you'll have to remove the lens, which kind of defeats the purpose of being so picky about

lenses, flash, etc. <P>If, by improved focus, you mean sharp, then you won't be disappointed by the glass lens.

Available light is the most important factor. <P>If you want a colour flash, just buy a cheap secondhand flash

and stick colour gels or something similar on it. You can even buy a cheap flash cable that slides into the hot

shoe so you can wield Holga in one hand,

flash in the other, in the manner of Bruce Gilden.<P><center><img

src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/3051239413_95e47141de.jpg?v=0 "></center><P><center>Recent Holga pic |

Acro+ D-76 1:3@16.5 mins (toned)</center>

<p>Hi Elaine,<br /> Just to give you my two cents; I started with the original Holga 120S (no bulb setting) and now have been shooting with the Holga 120N (plastic lens, bulb setting, no flash) and have been getting consistently good results with this camera. It is the way to go if you are shooting available light. I'm sort of an anti-flash guy, but if you must have flash, then the Holga 120GFN is great with it's glass lens and flash.<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/2608226271_ae30417c98.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" /><br>

Shot with a Holga 120N using Ilford Delta 400 Pro film.</p>