![]() I will also use Delta 3200 rated 1600 and pull development a bit, to get a different, Delta look, with rich blacks and bright highlights. At that level, and with most developers, shadows will be blocked a bit but again that’s part of the Holga look so don’t worry about that, as a 1 1/2 stop push for Tri-X is nothing. On a very cloudy day, with no shadows and shooting Tri-X, I will make believe I’m working 1250 ISO and develop accordingly. I personally try to plan ahead and shoot a roll or two based on the weather and fairly consistent light. Two stops of underexposure, in certain situations, may make those Holga shots still very moody and usable so don’t be overly concerned. If you shoot part of the roll when light calls for 800ISO, some of your negatives will look underexposed. If they are all over the place (light-wise), well, obviously your negatives will reflect that. You have 12 frames to shoot so it’s easy to commit those to some sort of consistency over an outing, in terms of exposure. When you develop your film based on 200ISO, and assuming your technique is correct, your negatives should be lovely. Flip the little switch to the left on the camera and you have f8 at the same speed. ![]() Magic! Sun behind the clouds a bit? No problem. Chances are that you will see a corresponding speed of 1/125. Tri-X box speed is 400ISO but you will lose one stop with a yellow filter (two with orange) so set your meter and take a reading. Slap one of those wonderful plastic yellow or orange filters on the lens and you’re ready. You are out on a beautiful sunny day, with a few clouds and you do want to bring those out a bit (if you wish). First of all, you’re working medium format here, so grain is not much of an issue, unless you’re pushing hard and printing very large. Light leaks: if you are lucky, you get one that doesn’t have any (mine is okay, almost) but you will likely need some black electrical tape to minimize potential surprises (which could also be interesting, and that’s the beauty of this camera).įilm: let’s take the classic black & white emulsion, Kodak Tri-X. If you want more control over your results (although that is a relative terms with Holga, since surprises are to be expected) then you will have to work a little harder for your prized images. There is a way to be a little lazier with Holga but I will touch on that later. You will need a cheap (or expensive) incident light meter and work backwards after deciding which film you will use, to determine how you are exposing. Don’t know what the heck that means? Well, get off your lazy digital butt and figure it out. It is just another one of those mysteries that keep Holga fanatics up at night, dreaming of their next shot. It is (supposedly) around 1/100, but it could be 1/60 or 1/125. ![]() Shutter speed is up for debate and may be off slightly from one example to the other so you will need to experiment a bit. It is amazing that there is even a shutter and that it actually works (who knows for how long but who cares). And yes, there are things you can screw up with Holga, but she won’t hold them against you.įirst of all, well, it’s a cheap piece of plastic, made in China, with a simple meniscus lens. This is photography in its simplest form and your eyes/vision is what truly matters most. You can’t hide behind Photoshop layers and all sorts of digital gimmicks. If the resulting image sucks, it’s because YOU screwed up. It’s you, and that wondrous piece of plastic, all alone. No menus, or a multitude of shutter speeds, apertures, dials, frame lines, beeps, flashing lights, batteries, NOTHING. There is nothing there to bug you down or to distract. What you do get for $25-50 is an invaluable brain exercise in composition, exposure, light, pre-visualization, and most of all creativity. After spending another $1000 on the latest, and soon to be obsolete digital toy, you can afford to spend $50 to learn, -experience, re-discover, something about basic photography. I mean we’re talking about $25 to $50 for this camera for goodness sake. After all, you have no excuse whatsoever…and no place to hide when you shoot with Holga and a roll of film. You may be able to get some approximations by doing extensive post processing but, I can assure you that, by the time you’re finished, you’d have realized that you might as well shoot the real thing with real film. Wrong!! No digital filter comes close to replicating images taken with a real Holga, for a variety of reasons. I always get a chuckle when I play with digital filters looking to emulate images taken with this iconic, inexpensive, plastic camera: add some vignette, bump up the blacks and…voila.
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