R. O'Dinal , May 17, 2004; 07:32 p.m.
Okay, I'm really a B&W film guy. But someone recently gave me a
Holga as a gift, and I figure I need to play around with it. I
process/print all my own B&W stuff, but I don't really want to
expend much time right now experimenting with B&W processing and
the 'unexpected' exposures with the Holga. I just want to shoot and
take the film to a lab. I plan on shooting some B&W (with lab
processing), but I also figure this might be a good time to start
experimenting with cross processing color film. I figure I'll just
stock up on a bunch of rolls; maybe get some expired film cheap from
the auction site. I've seen some nice examples of cross processing,
but have never tried it. I think I know the basics, but does anyone
have any specific tips for cross processing shots from a toy
camera....film recommendations? E6 to C41 or vis versa? Can you
bracket with a Holga? Any example images?
Rowland Mowrey 
, May 17, 2004; 09:26 p.m.
E6 film in C41 is more useful than C41 in E6. C41 in E6 yields low contrast positives with a reddish cast to highlights and a blue cast overall in darker areas. You can print them, but they are not really exceptional.
E6 in C41 gives very high contrast images with strange colors. They make nice slides and very striking prints. You can do a lot with the process to adjust contrast and d-max. Kodak recommends the use of Citrazinic acid to reduce contrast if you wish to.
IR Ektachrome in C41 is really interesting. It gives partially normal and partially reversed colors with a reversed tone scale. Very striking images.
Try it, you will like it. But, make sure you bracket your exposures well. The results vary from film to film and manufacturer to manufacturer. Crossover is bad in some films and not in others.
Samples available upon request.
Experiment.
Regards.
Ron Mowrey
Jean-Baptiste Queru , May 17, 2004; 10:37 p.m.
E6 film in C41 produces some high-contrast negatives, often preferred to C41 in E6 which produces low-contrast positives. It might depend on what your lab offers - mine only processed E6 in C41, not the opposite.
Typically, when cross-processing either way you want to overexpose by about 2 stops. Provia 400 might be a good start.
With a Holga, you bracket with ND filters. The front of a Holga is about the right size for 46mm filters.
Why don't you shoot B&W? Stick in some TMX, use in sunlight, develop normally, and everything will be just fine.
Eric ~ , May 17, 2004; 11:03 p.m.
Good recommendations. I like the Provia 400 choice too. If you have an ambient meter, Id find the closet asa that f8 1/100 (this is the Holga ap/shutter setting I think, but check) meters too, and then provide a film that gives a one and half to two stop over exposure. Id have a few choices of stock in slide film with me. And dont be shy about tungsten slide film under daylight either. Come back and post some results
Lee Osborne , May 19, 2004; 10:01 a.m.
I'm itching to try this in my Holga too. I've been recommended to use a 400-speed E6 film, which works out at about 160 when given the speed loss - pretty good for shooting on a bright day with the Holga's settings. Bear in mind, however, that everything about the Holga is very approximate and no two are alike. It's an amazingly crap camera, but brilliant fun to use. Don't take it too seriously, get in close to your subject, and have a laugh.
Lee
Rob Bernhard 
, May 19, 2004; 10:36 a.m.
<< C41 in E6 yields low contrast positives with a reddish cast to highlights and a blue cast overall in darker areas. >>
The one time I tried C41 in E6 cross-processing I didn't get a whole lot of red. Only a touch of it in the most extreme highlights (i.e. over-exposed sky turned sort of yellow/orange). Everything was just a lot of green and yellow with blues in the shadows.
Rowland Mowrey , May 21, 2004; 12:14 a.m.
C41 films in the E6 process retain their orange mask after processing and therefore should give a slightly reddish orange colored low contrast transparency. At least that is what I have gotten and what EK claims that you will get.
Since d-max is low, the shadows are not dense, but rather washed out and bluish. That is my experience in person and from the literature I have read.
Any way you look at it, it isn't a very good option.
Ron Mowrey
