Yesterday (Monday 2nd) I received a parcel in the post from Hong Kong. It was the Holga camera I’d ordered via eBay only 3 (working) days prior!
The Holga is a dirt-cheap ‘toy’ camera made in China and designed in the early ‘Eighties (hence its, er, robust looks). The camera seems to have a real cult status among enthusiast photographers, with European distribution handled by the Lomographic Society, but it is also used by many professional photographers for its distinctive qualities.
It’s those distinctive qualities that attracted me to the Holga. A poor-quality plastic lens, vignetting, light leaks and the possibility of multiple-exposures were all things that I found really interesting, especially when compared to standard digital photography. The camera lends itself to experimentation, and being so cheap and easy to replace, virtually encourages modification (with plenty of help in doing so available online).
The camera also uses medium-format 120 film. Once the default consumer film, it was pushed out of favour by 35mm film, but produces large, square negatives ideal for big prints. The Holga can produce twelve 6cm squared exposures, or sixteen 6 x 4.5cm portrait frames from a roll of film. Thankfully, plenty of labs still process 120 film at a reasonable price.
I’m really looking forward to experimenting with both colour and black and white film. I’ll be sure to share the results!
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