Blank roll. Suggestions?

[alex_kronish]

I got a Holga a few weeks ago and today I got back my first roll from my local

MotoPhoto's send out service. However, I must have done something wrong because

the negatives came out completely blank. I know it's not a processing error

because I can still see the frame numbers and the "fujifilm 800" written on the

bottom of the negatives, and the first half an inch or so is obviously exposed

from when I loaded the camera.

 

Any ideas as to what I did wrong? I didn't have a flash for half the roll but

for those shots it was either daytime or a well lit room.

 

I currently have a roll of standard CVS brand 35mm film in my Holga, and I hope

I loaded it correctly this time, but of course I won't know until I process it,

which I can easily do myself since I work for CVS and am kodak certified to run

the 1-hour machine.

[justinblake]

Make sure you have your aperture switch all the way one way or the other. Both settings are the same (unless you have a modded Holga) but if the switch is half way then your aperture will be blocked.

[alex_kronish]

I was under the impression that the aperture switch wasn't actually attached to anything but maybe I misunderstood when I read it. I'll check that out.

[evan_goulet]

May sound like a stupid question, but it has caught some people... Was the lens cap on?

[evan_goulet]

Read <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00NxDd">Here</a> too.

[shambrick007]

Was the leader attached to the take up spool?

[alex_kronish]

I threw the lens cap out.

 

And trust me, I would have noticed if the film was on the same side I loaded it on when I unloaded it. Mostly because if that happened, I wouldn't have seen the numbers through the back window.

[evan_goulet]

When you said that the first 1/2" was exposed... that usually doesn't happen with 120 film, unless you unrolled quite a bit of the paper so that a bit of film was exposed before closing the back. I usually close up the back once I get about three wraps of paper around the take-up spool.<P>The next things to look at are:<BR>1. Justin's suggestion about the aperture position<BR>2. Bad shutter - fire it with the camera back off while holding the lens up to a light source (I think your Holga should also have a bulb setting which will let you hold the shutter open for a test)<P>Those are about the only two other things I can think of that might cause non-exposure.

[alex_kronish]

Alright I'll give those a shot.

 

Current plans: investigate the aperture switch,

 

Investigate the shutter to see if it's stuck

[tyler_jean]

how exactly do you shoot 35mm in a holga?

[alex_kronish]

with alot of foam, some electrical tape, and a pitch black room to unload the film in.

 

The shutter isn't stuck, I can see light through the lens when I clicked the shutter. It's very hard to have the aperture switch be in the middle on my camera, so I doubt that's it, but it's the only possibility I have to go on.

[kristencalle]

tyler jean, how exactly do you shoot 35mm in a holga?

 

you can get backs dedicated to 35mm film. I have one, but am yet to run a film through it. unloading the film sounds like it will be fun though.