Holga

Holga
Maker Various
Type Box camera
Image sensor type Film
Image sensor size 56 mm × 56 mm (6x4.5cm or 6x6cm film format)
Recording medium 120 film
Lens 60 mm plastic meniscus
F-numbers f/8.0, f/11.0 (actual f/13)[1]
Focus Manual zone (four settings)[1]
Shutter speeds 1/100 or 1/125,[1] Bulb[1]

The Holga is a medium format 120 film camera, made in Hong Kong, known for its low-fidelity aesthetic.

The Holga's low-cost construction and simple meniscus lens often yields pictures that display vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other distortions. The camera's limitations have brought it a cult following among some photographers, and Holga photos have won awards and competitions in art and news photography.[2]

History

The Holga camera was designed by T. M. Lee in 1981.[3] It first appeared outside China in 1982 in Hong Kong.[4] At the time, 120 roll film in black-and-white was the most widely available film in mainland China. The Holga was intended to provide an inexpensive mass-market camera for working-class Chinese in order to record family portraits and events.[5] However, the rapid adoption of the 35mm film format, due to new foreign camera and film imports, virtually eliminated the consumer market for 120 roll film in China.[6] Seeking new markets, the manufacturer sought to distribute the Holga outside mainland China.[7]

Within a few years after the Holga's introduction to foreign markets, some photographers began using the Holga for its surrealistic, impressionistic scenes for landscape, still life, portrait, and especially street photography. These owners prized the Holga for its lack of precision, light leaks, and inexpensive qualities, which forced the photographer to concentrate on innovation and creative vision in place of increasingly expensive camera technology.[8] In this respect, the Holga became the successor to the Diana and other toy cameras previously used in such work. A Holga photograph by photojournalist David Burnett of former vice-president Al Gore during a 2000 campaign appearance earned a top prize in a 2001 White House News Photographers' Association Eyes of History award ceremony.[2]

Recently the Holga has experienced renewed consumer interest outside China due to the increasing popularity of toy cameras, and a continuing counterculture response to the increasing complexity of modern cameras.[9]

In late November 2015, Freestyle Photographic Supplies COO Gerald H. Karmele confirmed that Tokina had shutdown the factory that produced Holga cameras and related accessories, ending the production of these toy cameras. A revitalized, but saturated, toy camera market lead to waning sales and the cost to keep the factory open wasn't feasible. Holga cameras are still available from many camera stores with remaining stock of new or used Holgas.

Models

120

A developed image from a Holga 120N with black and white film.

110

Holga Micro-110

24×36mm

Digital Holga lenses

Lens and aperture settings

A sample Holga image showing its characteristic vignetting.

Most Holga cameras use a single-piece plastic meniscus lens with a focal length of 60 millimeters and utilize a zone-focus system that can adjust from about 1 meter (3 feet) to infinity. Like any simple meniscus lens, the Holga lens exhibits soft focus and chromatic aberration. Other Holga variants, denoted either by the letter 'G' in their model name, or the name WOCA, feature a simple glass lens, but are otherwise identical in construction. The manufacturer has since outsourced supply of the varying plastic and glass lenses to contractors in Japan and China

There is an aperture setting switch on the camera with two positions indicated by pictorial ideograms: sunny and cloudy, with a nominal value of f/11 and f/8, respectively. Due to a manufacturing oversight, this switch has no effect on pre-2009 production cameras, and the actual aperture is around f/13, giving the Holga just one aperture.[12][13] The problem is reported as having been fixed in cameras post-2009, providing two working aperture settings of f/13 and f/20,[14] and earlier cameras are modifiable to provide two usable settings.[15] Apertures of f/10 and f/13 work well for ISO200 speed films, while settings of f/13 and f/19 tend to suit faster films of around ISO400.[15]

Film format

The Holga was originally designed to accept either a 6×4.5 format or a 6×6 (square) format. However, once the camera went into production, vignetting (darkening of the corners of the finished photograph) occurred when the camera was modified to a 6×6 format. Hence, early Holgas had their film size switches tightly fixed to shoot only 6×4.5 format. Many owners removed both this restriction and the 6×4.5 film mask as well, finding the resultant vignetting a desirable effect.[6] Later Holgas such as the 120N come with two masks for both the 6×4.5 and 6×6 format. Holgas can even be modified to use 35mm film.[16]

The Holga has one shutter speed - approximately 1/100th of a second. The camera can shoot 16 exposures per 120 roll in 6x4.5 cm format or 12 exposures in 6x6 format. Film is advanced by a knob on the top of the camera, and frame numbers printed on the backing paper of the film can be viewed through a red window on the back of the Holga. The number of frames chosen is indicated by the black arrow.

Modifications and variants

120S prepared with tape in order to prevent too many light leaks

Holga cameras are often modified:

An example of a "sprocket hole" exposure when using 35mm film in a modified Holga 120.

Some modifications permit the use of other film formats:

Concept Holga D

In 2010, designer Saikat Biswas proposed a concept for a digital version of the Holga camera, called Holga D. It has a modernized case, but retains the simplicity of the original camera. However, there is no evidence of current plans to produce this device, or produce any other digital version.[26]

Accessories

Accessories exist that will do the same thing as a modified Holga without the need for physical modifications as well as accessories for special effects. Such accessories include:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Holga / Specifications
  2. 1 2 Schiesel, Seth (8 June 2005). "Which Camera Does This Pro Use? It Depends on the Shot". New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  3. "Analogue in a digital world: Interview with the Holga Inspire team". http://www.digitalcameraworld.com. Digital Camera World. Retrieved 24 March 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  4. Bates, Michelle (2006). Plastic Cameras: Toying With Creativity. New York: Focal Press. ISBN 978-0-240-80840-6.
  5. "Holga: History". Lomography.com.
  6. 1 2 The Holga Manual: The Holga History, Freestyle Photographic Supplies (2002), p. 3
  7. "Going Holga? - Holga meets West". PhotographicBlog.com.
  8. Holga History Lomography.com, retrieved 15 April 2010
  9. Holga History Lomography.com
  10. holgacamera.com, holga 120 PAN
  11. holgadirect.com, holga 135 PAN
  12. Hahn, Mark The Authoritative Guide to Holga Tune-Up And Modifications
  13. Even 2009 production 120N Holgas have been recorded as having no effective aperture switch.
  14. Williamson, Paul "The Holga's Aperture"
  15. 1 2 3 Hahn, Mark, The Authoritative Guide To Holga Tune-Up and Modifications
  16. "History of Holga". Scissor × Arm.
  17. "Mods". Holga Mods.
  18. "Holga Hacks: Aperture Mod".
  19. 1 2 "Holga Mods".
  20. Pawel Piejko, Gizmag. "Holga's TIM camera lets film fans experiment in 3D." 5 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  21. "35mm Film in Holga, Diana, Agfa Isoly, and Zero Image Film Advance Guide for Sprocket Hole Photography". Tools & Reference. Photon Detector.
  22. "FAQ". Holga Mods.
  23. "New". Holga Mods.
  24. "Fall with a 'melted' Holga on a Nikon D2X". Photo.net.
  25. "How To Make Your Holga Lens Mountable To Your SLR Camera (EOS, Nikon, Sony, &c.)". Howcast.
  26. Biswas, Saikat. "Holga . D". Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  27. CNET, Holga iPhone filter case takes retro photos


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