Holga Camera Photography
Welcome To Holga Camera Photography
Having Fun With Cheap Plastic Cameras
The Holga is a cheap plastic camera that takes great pictures. If you're interested in lomography photography and don't want to spend a small fortune getting started, you can buy a Holga 120N for less than $30 delivered to your door. The Holga comes in many versions for both 35mm and 120 medium format film. Some of the most interesting are the Holga Pinhole, the Holga 120 3D Stereo Camera, and the Holga Instant Back. No matter what your taste, there is probably a Holga model to fit your fancy, so give at least one a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy shooting with a Holga as much as I do. Here's to having fun with photography...
(Photo is my own)
The Holga 120 Camera
A cheap plastic camera that takes great pics...
The most basic Holga camera (and also the best Holga camera IMO) is the Holga 120. The base model is the 120N and you really can't get any more basic than this. The Holga 120N has a fixed aperture plastic lens (f10, 60mm), 1 shutter speed (1/100 second claimed), 4 focus zones, hot shoe flash mount, standard tripod mount (1/4 x 20), 6 x 4.5 and 6 x 6 plastic film masks (12 or 16 exposures per roll), a bulb exposure selector for extra long exposures - and that's it! It's hard to believe that such a simple camera can be such a wonderful tool, but the Holga is capable of taking some truly awesome photos. Check the Holga photo links scattered around this page and see for yourself. Other Holga 120 versions are the Holga 120FN with built-in flash and the Holga 120CFN with built-in color flash.
The Holga 120 - Possibly the Most Fun You Can Have With a Camera
Holga 120 + BW Film = Awesome Results
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What Film Should You Use In Your Holga 120N?
Holga cameras have a small aperture and a fixed shutter speed of 1/100 second, so you'll need a fast film unless you're shooting in really bright light. I like black and white, and Kodak 400 TMAX Professional works great in the Holga 120. For color film I like Fujicolor Pro 400H Color Negative Film. Fuji's Provia 400X Color Slide Film should work well for slides or even better cross processed - something I hope to try soon. Velvia 100 Color Slide Film should produce great results in bright sun, but I haven't tried my Holga with any ISO 100 film yet...
Lenses For Your Holga
Add-on lenses for your Holga 120N, 120 FN, or 120 CFN...
If you get bored shooting pictures through the built-in plastic lens, Holga used to offer a range of add-on lenses for their 120 cameras that really expanded your creative opportunities. My favorite is the Holga fisheye lens, and unfortunately for me it's the only one I bought when these lenses were still available.
Besides the fisheye lens, they offered a 3 lens set that included close up, macro, and telephoto lenses, and the Holga Split Image Filter Lens Set that included a 4 facet lens with center focus, a 3 facet vertical lens, and a 3 facet pyramid lens. Although these lenses are no longer available new, you might have some luck finding them used. If you decide to try to track some down, I wish you happy hunting...
Holga Pinhole Cameras
Pinhole Photography the Holga Way
The traditional way of getting started in pinhole photography is to make a homemade pinhole camera or modify an existing camera lens into a pinhole lens. Holga offers 2 pinhole cameras that make that first step unnecessary. With a Holga Pinhole camera, all you have to do is load your film and start taking pinhole photos. Holga makes pinhole cameras for both 35mm and 120 film.
The Holga 135PC takes pinhole photographs using 35mm film, and unfortunately is no longer available. The Holga 120WPC uses 120 medium format film and takes both standard (6 x 9) and panoramic (6 x 12) photographs.
The Holga Instant Back
Having fun with a Holgaroid...
Another Holga product that is unfortunately no longer available is the Holga Instant Back. I'm still beating myself up for not getting one when I could. The Holga Instant Back was (is?) a really cool piece that converted the Holga 120 to use Polaroid instant film. With the instant Back, you could take old school lomographic film pictures, but with the instant gratification of Polaroid instant film. What more could you want? Well, maybe for Holga to start making them again...
Other Toy Cameras
An embarrasment of riches...
When it comes to toy cameras, the Holga 120 is just the tip of the iceberg. Holga makes several lomography cameras besides the 120, including a very cool dual-lens camera that takes "stereo photos." If you want something besides a Holga, you can get a Diana F+ (it's going to be my next camera), an LC-A, or pick from many other toy cameras that are available today.
