The Holga is a Chinese toy plastic camera.  It’s very cheap, but it has two things going for it: 1) its flaws tend to produce interesting and unique pictures and b) it uses professional-grade medium format film.  For me, the fact that just getting *any* image out of the thing is a win (because there are so many reasons why you might not) was a big selling point too.  When expectations are low it’s easier to exceed them

So go buy a Holga.  It’s a ton of fun, you just kinda point it at stuff and see what happens.

The basic Holga specs out like this:

60mm prime lens
1/100 (or maybe 1/125) shutter speed
f/11

You can change the minimum focal length of the camera by turning the lens barrel.  I’ve not actually done this, but I read that it works. No matter what the camera doesn’t focus closer than 3 feet.

The list of issues

First off, the Holga tends to leak light.  It’s a good idea to tape up the seams where the back fits onto the camera body.  Also, the clips holding the back onto the camera body are pretty flimsy, so a little extra tape there or a rubber band around the whole thing is likely prudent.

Second off, the aperture selection switch doesn’t really do anything, except possibly mess up your shots.  The specs say that this switch allows you to switch between f/11 and f/8, but they put the smaller hole (f/11) in front of the larger hole, so using the larger hole has no effect.  f/11 it is.  Thing is, if you accidentally move the switch partially between the two apertures you end up putting the arm partially over the shutter, which is going to underexpose/add blotchy dark spot(s) to your shots.  I’ve just taped mine in one position.

The viewfinder is pretty pointless.  It’s likely better to just try to aim the camera in the general direction of your subject and hope.  Note that since the lens is 60mm there should be a little less scene in your shot than you might be thinking.  However I’ve not found this to be the case, in fact there seems to be more of it than I was thinking – so it doesn’t hurt to get closer.

Since the shutter speed is fixed at 1/100(ish) and the aperture is fixed at f/11 you have to watch your exposure pretty closely.  You can never expose less than 1/100(ish) but since the film advance is not coupled to the shutter release you can expose more than 1/100 by taking multiple exposures.  There is also a “Bulb” setting (on the newer Holga 120N) which allows you to hold the shutter open as long as you hold down the shutter lever.  What I end up doing is metering with my “Real” camera set at f/11 & 1/100 but with the ISO at 1/4 what’s in the camera (meaning if I have 400 speed film loaded (which I typically do) I set the camera to ISO 100.)  I then use whatever shutter speed it suggests (taking multiple exposures if needed).

Since, as mentioned, the film advance is not connected to the shutter release it’s very easy to take double (or more) exposures.  It’s best to get into a habit of advancing your film at a given point (for me it’s right after I take a shot) so you don’t accidentally double expose.  Note though that multiple exposures can be quite interesting looking.

Note the presence of some foam in both the film supply and take up compartments.  This is there to provide some tension for the film so it doesn’t roll “loosely” on the take-up reel.  Mine peeled off in the middle of a shoot.  If this happens to you, scrape any that’s left out, get a new chunk of foam (or use some cardboard) and tape that down securely.  Anything to provide some area for film to rub against.

How to start

1. Buy a Holga
2. Buy some 120 film
3. Open the back of the Holga and note the presence/absence of a plastic insert.  My camera came with two choices of insert, the rectangular or the square. I chose the square.  In one corner of the insert will be a number, 12 or 16.  This is the number of exposures you get from a roll of film.  12 for the square insert, 16 for the rectangular.  Put the insert you want to use in place.
4. Pull the take up reel out of the camera
5. Unpack a roll of film, drop it into the left part of the camera
6. Unfold the tab and roll some film onto the take up reel
7. Place the take up reel into the right-hand part of the camera
8. Using your thumb against the supply roll of film to provide a little pressure, turn the film advance knob a few times
9. Replace the back
10. slide the “Number of Exposures” window to the appropriate location (12 or 16)
11. Advance the film a bit
12. Tape up the camera
13. Advance the film until the number “1″ shows through the exposure window
14. Tape over the exposure window, leaving a little tab of tape (from folding the end back on itself a little) so you can pull the tape off the window when advancing film
15. NOTE: Gaffer tape or First Aid cloth tape work very well for this
16. Make sure the aperture selection switch is all the way to one side or another
17. Make sure the “shutter speed” switch (on the bottom of the camera for the 120 N) is where you want it to be (“Normal”(?) or “Bulb”).
18. You are ready to go.

Taking pictures

It’s an art.  Decide what your shutter speed should be.  If it’s broad daylight and your scene is uniformly lit, and you don’t think it’s too bright, just hit the button.  If you think it’s too dim then you should meter the scene and see what your shutter speed should be, or you can just wing it and guess.  Then set your camera on a tripod and hit the button the correct number of times.  For instance, if you want a 1/25 shutter speed, hit the button 4 times (100/4 = 25).  If you want a 1/2 shutter speed then you would have to hit the button 50 times (100/2 = 50).  Alternatively you could switch the “shutter speed” switch to “Bulb” and hold the shutter open for a time slice you approximate to 1/2 second.  Advance the film and look for the next thing.

When you’re done with the roll advance the film all the way and then take it out, lick the little strip, adhere it to the roll, drop it off at the lab and cross your fingers.