Guest post. Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 I recently bought a modified Holga 120s because I've always been facinated by the photographs that these and (other toy cameras) take. I originally wanted a Diana camera, but I couldn't find one that was in my price range. I just finished sealing the light leaks with electrical tape and am ready to experiment with my first roll. Now I don't have any experience in a photo lab, but I heard that it's easier to send off my color 120mm film to get developed, anyway, and save b&w for the lab (although I don't have the desire to shoot too much b&w) I'm really kinda excited by the complete lack of guarantee that this meduim offers... Do any of you have experience with these type of cameras? Advice on shooting and developing? Or samples of your work even? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty_habiT Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 no idea.............. sixth!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl junkie Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 i tried to get my hands on a holga while back... lowsy lack of money... anyway, black and white is a good deal easier to develop, and takes way less time... but you can do both if you wanna... go to yer local community college and take a photo class... that should get you access to a darkroom for free (or damn cheap at least)... most photo classes start out only teaching you black and white, but once yer in there you could get someone else to show you how to do color... there's a lot more steps and equipment required with color developing, but you can have way more fun tweaking the devoloping and printing process in color than you can in black and white... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.T Boy Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 i dunno but i cant wait to get my hands on my girlfriends dark room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl junkie Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 ^^^ hee hee! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty_habiT Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 :slaps forehead: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podrido Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 fuck yooooz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Luv Roo Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 Since when is a Holga a toy camera? Aren't they bank money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest post. Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 I Luv Roo- From what I know, the Holga that I have is a really cheap Chinese camera that's entirely made out of plastic (including the lens) ... I haven't seen one for over $25 unless they have been modified. I guess I could be wrong... what camera are you talking about? Where is Drain Bamage when I need her?? Oh and thanks vinyl junkie, I appreciate your advice. I'm seriously clueless about this kind of stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Luv Roo Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 oh shit, the money ones that I was thinking of were the Hasselblaads. Sorry, you're right. I have a Lubitel medium format camera with the viewfinder on top -- I've taken pictures with it, but I still have to get the film developed to see if it works... I got it for free, so you never know. Cameras are so fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.T Boy Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 why dont you guys start up a photo graphy thread? i need some inspiraton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pilau Hands Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 http://www.ashleypomeroy.com/images/holgabox2.jpg'> http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood-Stage/7084/holga.jpg'> That looks like it could be a lot of fun. This may be more information than you really want...but I was interested. The drawback section is a bit of a bummer, but whatever. Nothing's perfect. Especially fun. haha it says "fortnight" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Holga 120S is made in China. It comes in a blue box with 'Made in China' written on the back. That's all I know about the background of the camera, and after looking on the internet it appears that I am as knowledgeable as the next man. The camera itself is extremely cheap (about $20 from eBay) and basic. It has three controls - a film advance knob, a shutter, and a manual focus control which ranges from three feet to infinity. There's a fourth control that supposedly switches the camera from f8 to f11, but it doesn't actually work. The camera is mass-produced and made out of plastic. It's quite rugged, like a child's toy, but not particularly precise. It allows stray light onto the film, the frame advance mechanism is quite loose (something which causes the film to 'buckle' slightly, pushing parts of the image out of focus), and, most striking of all, the lens is made of plastic, and is very inaccurate around the edges. What makes it interesting? Firstly, it uses medium-format film. Medium-format (or '120') film is physically larger than common 35mm film and captures more detail. Black and white 120 film is relatively easy to develop at home, and it has a much higher 'gadget factor' than 35mm - instead of lurking within a plastic container, it comes wrapped around a spool. Secondly, the poor build quality and dodgy lens can be positive attributes, provided you aren't looking for definitive image quality. The blurred, ill-formed edges and streaks of leaking light give the Holga's images an otherworldly, timeless quality - with black and white film, the images usually look like the opening titles of Bagpuss (you know, the bits with Emily). Lens flare manifests itself as an apocalyptic white splodge, whilst the manual winding control allows you to create ghostly double-exposures. Unless you are obsessed, it's not possible to create pin-sharp, perfectly-focussed, perfectly-exposed images with your Holga. This is extremely liberating. Instead of worrying about the technicalities of photography, you are forced to concentrate on the image itself. Thirdly, the Holga is easy to modify. In fact, it almost forces you to tinker with it - out of the box, it is set up to take 16 relatively conventional 6x4 images, but can easily be altered to take 12 6x6 images (with the Holga's trademark blurry edges). Further modifications involve taping the body up in order to keep light out, all the way to fitting a bulb release and adjustable aperture settings. Pre-modified examples can be bought from eBay, but as they are hand-made they are quite expensive. Which leads to the fourth and most important point in the Holga's favour - it's cheap. Professional medium-format cameras cost anything from £300 to a hefty four-figure sum. To buy a Holga from eBay and import it to Britain costs a twentieth of that figure. http://www.ashleypomeroy.com/images/holganegative.jpg'> The Holga has some drawbacks, however. Unless you have the equipment and time to do it yourself, 120 film is fiddlier to develop than 35mm film. High-street shops usually have to send the film off to a bigger lab, where it is developed by hand before being sent back. Jessops, for example, charge £7 per roll, and they take at least a fortnight to create a set of prints. Professional studios will develop the film in a day, but it will cost twice as much, and unless you are fairly certain of how to specify your requirements, the results might not be as attractive (they tend to reproduce your negative with as little processing as possible, whereas a mainstream store will automatically compensate for bad exposure). Compare this with an average of £5 for next-day delivery of 35mm film at your local Snappy Snaps, and don't forget that, if you use the Holga's 6x6 format, you will only have 12 images per roll (against 24 or 36 for 35mm film). If you mess up, it'll cost you. If nothing else, this stifles experimentation. With 35mm film most people can afford to take lots of pictures and weed out the boring ones. To produce the same amount of images as a typical roll of 35mm, your Holga will cost at least three times as much. The other drawback is that, unless you tinker with it, the Holga is seriously limited, if only because the shutter is fixed (at roughly 1/250th of a second). You are restricted to taking photographs in bright sunlight, outdoors. You can build up exposure time by simply taking several shots of the same image on a single frame (see the following example), but it's an inexact science. That said, Jessops worked wonders with the photograph above, which was taken on a rainy day. http://www.ashleypomeroy.com/images/holga2.jpg'> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pilau Hands Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 Ryan's Classic Cameras Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Rage- Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 I used a Holga 120s a few years back. They are dope, but take a while to learn how to develop. ALSO, the one I was using only ranged from $20 to 40 bucks... WTF? Sample of my work: http://www.shuttercity.com/public/AngryAlan/sinpoint%2Ejpg'> p.s.: I don't write Rage anymore. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl junkie Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 this is what i have: my new-ish camera... most reliable... pentax zx-m http://www.etronics.com/products/zxm.jpg'> my other 35 mm... first year nikomat... the first camera to have an internal light meter... at the moment the light meter doesn't werk...:o http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/jpn/d-archives/camera/nikomat/nikomat_fs/image/800_i.jpg'> my big bad tlr... yashica... actually a fairly cheap one as far as tlr cameras go, but yeah... http://www.xitek.com/bingqiku/yashica/tlr/image/yashica124g1.jpg'>http://www.xitek.com/bingqiku/yashica/tlr/image/yashica124g2.jpg'> my fancy fucker... mockba-5... nuff said... http://members.aol.com/morninglp/MOCKBA/Images/MOCKBA.jpg'> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl junkie Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 the only example of my stuff that i can find... taken on the nikomat...http://www.pked.net/files/vinyljunkie/bigunderpass.gif'> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest post. Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 I'd get a nice camera but-- I can't even touch expensive things without them breaking. :( I have the cheapest Nikon slr ever... maybe one day I'll put a good lens on it and start from there..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pilau Hands Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 http://www.nikonlinks.com/unklbil/fm10.gif'> This is my love child...Nikon FM10. It's my first fully manual and starter camera. For this class, I took the zoom lense off and put a fixed 50mm 1.8 on it. The lense on the nikomat is saucy. One day i hope for metal and glass instead of plastic (maybe a shiny 35 1.4), but right now my wallet can't bear the burden of having to buy a third lense in two months. So far i haven't shot anything but b/w. I think i've got developing more or less down, and i'm learning how to print Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest post. Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 ^^ hey I got that camera... sorry for calling it the cheapest nikon ever. I got it for free anyway. Now I am embarrassed. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drain bamage Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 hey post! congratulations on the purchase of your new holga! i have one too; i'm not sure if you saw it or not when you were down here. but holgas are alot of fun. the are very light weight and easy to carry around but you do have to be careful with the light leaks by always keeping it taped up with some sort of opaque (sp?) tape. but as far as the benefits of haveing a 120 film is that bigger negatives allow you to make better quality prints; especially if you want to go big. large negatives are also cool for certain types of alternative processing, like direct prints. there is lots of stuff to explore. and what makes holgas fun too is that sometimes you get that fuzzy out of focus look that is cool if you like that artsy-fartsy look..(like me :) have fun girl. and hit me an e-mail if you have questions......there is also a couple tricks you can do like take out a plastic part to make the negative larger . also sometimes the film is too loose on the roll, and i now a secret to keeping that tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Durden Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 http://www.carmans.com/ebay/go/elan7/elan728.jpg'> my baby. http://ebay1.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_6f3e76aff7bfdbb3564809d4eaa3371a/i-1.JPG'> got this for my birthday back in march with the specific use of taking flicks and whatnot because i dont want to be using my time to develop flicks over and over. i carry it pretty much everywhere, i love this camera. http://www.fotango.com/p/eba00247179f00000002.jpg'> ^shot with the sony. http://www.fotango.com/p/eba00247179f00000022.jpg'> ^canon. http://www.fotango.com/p/eba00247179f00000001.jpg'> ^sony. i'll post more later probably, i have an assload of stuff to develop. that holga stuff is nice, i think im gonna pick one of those up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubejinxed Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 i have a camera, but i do not know how to make it work except on auto. please someone help me out here. i don't even know if this camera is any good, it was given to me... http://www.unifot.hr/stranice/n65/n65_silver_a.gif'> I am a camera idiot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl junkie Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 hey ubejinxed... talk to me... my aim is: que slop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drain bamage Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 ubejinxed that looks like a nice lense. learning the manuel functions can work to your advantage. if you want, aim me too: bedazzler76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Rage- Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 Tyler. I always like your shots. Nice stuff. You'd love a Holga 120 if you got one. Larger format cameras are fun to use. Check em out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!@#$% Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 how hard is it to home-make a camera? i thought a friend of mine used to do this.. i could be wrong, but cameras are fairly simple pieces of machinery..is it possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smart Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 !#@... it's easy as hell to make a camera, do a google search for "pin hole cameras"... maybe throw in the word homemade... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Rage- Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 Shit.. you can make a camera from the 35mm film canister. It's that easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smart Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 ^ I used small match boxes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Durden Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 Originally posted by -Rage- Tyler. I always like your shots. Nice stuff. You'd love a Holga 120 if you got one. Larger format cameras are fun to use. Check em out. thanks alot. im now in the "studio" class on campus and we're shooting with some real nice hassleblads. i just really hate shooting posed portraits in a studio setting and i cant really sign them out because theyre easily 4-5 grand a piece. plus, im always more into the weird type shots....and i do like that i get alot sharper image with the hassy's usually because of the larger negative. but yeah. im looking at prices now on the holgas on ebay and i can afford to toss away 25 bucks if the thing really pisses me off. but it looks fun, so we'll see. off-hand does anyone know if they have any kind of metering system? can i set f-stops at all or is it basically a manual focus pinhole camera? !@#$%, as far as pinhole cameras go, i've made several back in high school and they came out nicely, i really like the effects i got from it. all you really need to make it in my experience is black construction paper, oak tag, rubber cement, a small piece of sheet metal or tin, and rubber bands. if you want i might be able to go back and get the templates from my teacher and send you them or something. or just look online like smart said, im sure youll find something. unbejinxed, the n65 is actually a real good camera to start with as is the canon rebel 2000. read the instruction manual carefully. once you figure out how fstops and shutter speeds work together its real easy to figure out everything else. i used to shoot nikon when i started out so if you have any questions i guess ill throw my aim up here too: DrkstBld damn, i wrote alot and now im late for class. later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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