Getting more contrast from a Holga camera?

[diver1]

<p>I'm quite new at using a Holga camera, I've just shot a roll of Ilford HP5 plus and I find the contrast is not as high as many sample pics I've seen on the net, I hear that painting the frame mask flat black can help to get more contrast, can anyone here confirm if that's valid? thanks.</p>

[john_a5]

<p>I think most take the mask out, don't they--at least the insert? Certainly, if you paint the inside flat black, there will be less of a chance of light bouncing around. Also, being sure you have taped up all of the light leaks will help as well. (At least in the older Holgas, there were two little light leak holes inside the body after you took out the insert and those needed to be taped over as well--on the top of the interior cavity)I shot a lot of Holga work but generally scanned it, so contrast wasn't a big issue--I also shot a lot of cross processed film, further alleviating the contrast issue but creating the opposite very often.</p>

<p>On the Holgas without shutter control, the biggest issue was over exposure as there is no sunny 16 setting on the camera, you will always over expose if you shoot in sunny conditions otherwise, I would suggest pushing the film--plus development--to increase contrast if nothing else works. Scanning and adjusting is probably the most practical solution.</p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>I was looking for film and saw on the site listing holga iso 400 film<br>

would iso 100 film be more correct?<br>

I think most owners of simple cameras think film is like the octane of gasoline<br>

more is better. faster is better. Unless what I have read is wrong,<br>

the cameras are like 1950-s cameras, when even iso 100 film was really fast.<br>

and iso 64 was normal</p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>OR Plan b. use a 1950's 6 x 6 foldinhg camera with a 4 element lens and tell them is is really a holga</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Most of the sample JPEGs online purporting to represent typical Holga or Lomo photos appear to have been heavily tweaked in digital editing. Been there, done that with my own flatbed scans of my prints.</p>

<p>Several years ago when the Holga trend was just starting a local fine art photographer exhibited large prints from his Holga. He extended development of the film to get contrastier, grainier negatives, and used lots of magenta filtration when printing on variable contrast paper. That's the best way to control contrast with a simple camera like a Holga or any simple film camera with limited exposure control.</p>

<p>Try a slower film like FP4+ and push process - increase developing time around 25%. This will help boost contrast without the overexposure problems we occasionally encounter when trying to use ISO 400 films in simple cameras. When I use Tri-X or HP5+ in my Agfa Isolette I usually need to soup in Diafine to prevent excessive contrast and blown highlights for daylight photos. The shutter speed tops out at 1/200th and even at f/32 it can be tricky to use ISO 400 film in daylight.</p>

<p>If you don't print conventionally using an optical enlarger and variable contrast paper, you'll need to scan the negatives and tweak them in digital editing to get the desired contrast. Even simple photos editors like Picasa and Snapseed can mimic the Holga look with digital photos, and enhance the contrast and vignetting of b&w film negatives.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>If you fix everything wrong with a Holga or Diana, you might as well shoot with a Rollei or some such quality camera.</p>

[dana_bartholomew]

<p>I must respectfully disagree with some of the comments here. Though it's been a couple of years since I shot my Holga S (the original cheapee light sieve), I found that Tri-X souped in D76 gave a sufficiently contrasty image. I'll include a few frames, which have been *very* mildly tweaked for contrast in Picasa (in the spirit of Holga, a free download from Google):<br>

<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8004/7533032076_0de9d6ebd9_c.jpg" alt="" width="599" height="800" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7533032356_0437bed051_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="631" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8152/7533035858_bea9093d21_c.jpg" alt="" width="628" height="800" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8008/7533036122_423cfc1468_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="627" /></p>

[dana_bartholomew]

<p>One more:<br>

<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8022/7533207784_5266b2bae3_c.jpg" alt="" width="638" height="800" /></p>

[Two23]

<p>You can tape a yellow filter over the lens to bring exposure down one stop, and it will also increase contrast a bit.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

[Ian Taylor]

<p>I bought a bunch of Holgas when they were $15 each. I found one I liked and stuck with it. I only shot in good light and used Portra VC.<br /> <br /> <a title="holga by ian_taylor_photography, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/33/37233969_62d9a77f27_z.jpg?zz=1" alt="holga" width="640" height="613" /></a></p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Just extend the development time and that'll boost the contrast.</p>