Holga / Lomographic Cameras & Photography

[astatine]

^ I don't know why I didn't think of ebay! Thanks ellonasty! Karma for you

What's the difference between Ns and CFNs and GNs, though? I'm getting confused by the variety on offer Are the accessory packs important?

 

[fourboltmain]

Well, N's are regular Holgas, no flash. A GN is a WOCA, which is a Holga with a glass lens. The glass lens kills the Holga effects, but is far sharper. An FN is a flash Holga, and a CFN is a colored flash Holga.

You also have the S series, but those were made a couple years ago and they have no tripod mount or bulb setting.

The accessory packs are not neceesary at all, just more gimmicks.

 

[astatine]

So that limits my choices down to either one with or without flash...which is better?

 

[ngolf]

those look very cool

how hard to get / process is 120 film?

is it a lot more expensive than 35mm?

 

[xxjean]

My friend ordered the Holga 120 SF (the camera with flash) for me, and it came, of course, with the flash not working. I took apart that camera so many times trying to figure out what was wrong, and I e-mailed lomo.com and, of course, they didn't reply!!

to ngolf:
Processing 120 film is so hard in the suburb I live in (and it's so expensive too! around 25 dollars to develop 15 pictures?!), but my parents swear sending my film to China is cheaper. It just takes a while longer to come back.
Ask someone to buy you the film from Asia, because it's a zillion times cheaper, and you can buy it in bulk instead of splurging in America for 8 dollars for one roll of film!

 

[xxjean]

http://www.jlharris.net/holga/faq.html
The most useful website of Holgas ever!

 

[fourboltmain]

I get film locally, usually Ilford HP5 for b&w or Kodak 400VC for color. I get it developed and I scan the negatives at home. I use a Canoscan 8400F, and I can get 4000 x 4000 pixel pictures all day with it. Even larger if I want! But I only got the scanner because I knew I'd use the hell out of it, it was $150 and well worth it. That's about 10 rolls printed cost wise.

As far as flash or no flash, I prefer no flash because the Holga flash is horrendous. The non flash models have a hot shoe on them so you can use any kind of crappy flash you want.

Examples of my Holga love affair are at www.fourboltmain.blogspot.com but I really haven't put much up.

 

[fourboltmain]

Oh, try to look on eBay for bulk film. You can get all kinds of expired 120 film for fairly cheap.

 

[astatine]

^^ thanks for all the help fourboltmain! your pics look great
and thanks to xxjean too, for the useful link!

I think I might have to do a little research as to whether there're any labs in my area that could process the film though...

 

[.francesca]

you can buy bricks or at least bulk film from www.bhphotovideo.com, 35mm, 120mm, all for pretty cheap. you shouldn't have to send your film to china from the US to get it processed - it isn't THAT obsolete yet do research and figure it out - it's just as easy to process as simple 35mm film (though the mechanics are different - but that's a horse of another color) so you won't be able to just take it to walmart, for example, but i swear you don't have to send it to china.

 

[misssakura]

So I was researching buying a holga on lomography because all their packaging and site looks so neat, but after reading this thread i'm a bit concerned. I want a colour flash holga I think because I don't have an external flash, and I want to use filters, so should I just totally avoid lomography? It's a shame because it seems like a nice site, albeit a bit more expensive than I was expecting

 

[fourboltmain]

Go to B&H Photo, .francesca linked it above. They're priced good and the shipping is fast.

 

[misssakura]

I decided not to go with B&H because the shipping to New Zealand is $39 USD which is quite expensive. I looked at some holgas within NZ but the thing is that it's a very backwards country and neg scanning/processing is super expensive along with the film so I don't think it's worth my time getting a holga sadly. I had a big long discussion with my teacher last night and he reckons I should just get my 300D fixed and achieve the same results for cheaper within photoshop...

*shrug*

 

[icarlo]

You can also get it at www.lomography.com

I adore my holgas. I have a few. Each one has different quirks. It rules...

 

[icarlo]

Here are some pics I took with my holgas...

 

[fourboltmain]

Lovely! I really like the dog and the foot.

 

[misssakura]

Do you guys have your own negative scanners, do you get it done professionally or do you just scan prints? If so, what are the costs of that?

 

[fourboltmain]

Look at post #27 up there. ^

I think a new scanner came out, the Canoscan 8600 or something, and that put mine to about $125 at some places.

 

[Steam]

Nice pictures, icarlo! How did you get this degree of saturation? Did you cross-process?

 

[icarlo]

Nice pictures, icarlo! How did you get this degree of saturation? Did you cross-process?

Thanks Steam! actually I did cross process all the color ones except the first one I think.