Christopher Handisides , Mar 11, 2007; 04:57 a.m.
I seem to vaguely remember hearing something about the aperture setting on the
Holga being set up up, in effect, backwards. When you wanted a wider opening,
it slid a larger opening in front of the smaller opening that was already
there - thus making the whole effort utterly pointless. Was that fixed on the
Holga 120N, or is it universal across the board?
Vid Strpic , Mar 11, 2007; 07:44 a.m.
f/8, f/11 and f/16, if I remember well... it would be pain to find the bastard right now :( Sets pretty normally.
Ian Brunton , Mar 11, 2007; 08:56 a.m.
Todd Frederick , Mar 11, 2007; 08:56 p.m.
The Holga 120N has a sliding switch for bright sun (f/11) and low light (f/8) but the switch does absolutely nothing and is not attached to anything. Whoever said the Communist Chinese are truthful?
Any way, both positions are either f/8 or f/11, or f/11 or f/8, or something else altogether different... ;>)
Randy Smith of www.Holgamods.com has a fix for that if you really want it, but I just don't bother with the f/stop settings, use 400 film, and hope for the best (most are just fine!).
Please remember that these are Toy Cameras and are not high-tech in anyway. That's why you're using it!
Sample below with Holga 120N, 400ISO film, and lots of prayer.
Holga Photo
Christopher Handisides , Mar 12, 2007; 12:47 a.m.
I've run one roll through it, and the pictures either came out absolutely wonderful, or completely kaput. No gray area.
Todd Frederick , Mar 12, 2007; 09:30 p.m.
Is the photo you posted a Kaput or a Wonderful photo? It looks like a good Holga color photo, but I do notice the common "V" flare in the upper left area. I thought the 120N got rid of that by using the film inserts. Your photo could be adjusted a bit in Photoshop but it has potential as a Holga image. It takes patience and, remember, these are toy cameras. Not all will be "good" and you will need to work with it. Keep going.
Take a look at an article I wrote about the creative uses of Holga cameras which includes some Holga photos by professionals including the photojournalist David Burnett and art photographer Ted Orland:
(I have my article posted on another forum and evidently Photo.net will not allow other forums to be linked here! If that's the case I will e-mail the link to my article to you).
Also look here for other samples of high level Holga photography:
http://www.tedorland.com
http://www.davidburnett.com
Christopher Handisides , Mar 14, 2007; 01:12 a.m.
No I count that as a good example. Looks like a Holga photo, with all the attendant Holga quirks. The bad ones take a few seconds of examination to even tell that the emulsion on the neg isn't completely transparent.
Todd Frederick , Mar 14, 2007; 09:45 p.m.
Are you using 400 speed film and do you have relatively good light? Very low light does require a "B" exposure.
Train, Illford NPH400
