My Holga 135 Review

The Holga 135 is Holga's basic 35mm camera. No frills, just an f/8, 47mm plastic lens, one shutter speed (about 1/100 second), aperture control lever (sunny or cloudy; reportedly works better than the one on the 120), bulb mode, tripod mount, hot shoe flash mount, and cable release adapter. This is the most basic way to get into Holga 35mm picture taking, but there are a few things you need to know.

First, the Holga 120's 60mm lens gives nice, wide angle pictures with 120 film, but the 47mm lens and 35mm film the Holga 135 uses give you a much narrower picture angle. Second, the smaller 35mm film doesn't give as much variation in focus across the image so you lose some of that famous Holga dreaminess. Third, the base 135 camera doesn't give you the vignetting that Holga cameras are famous for. Even so, people seem to like the Holga 135 and there lots of other reviews and pictures on line for you to check out before deciding to buy...

Holga 135 Reviews on Amazon

The Holga 135BC is identical to the 135 except it has an internal mask that adds a vignetting or "bent corners" effect to your pictures. This gives back some of that Holga magic and really makes the pictures look a lot better. Even though it costs a few dollars more I highly recommend the Holga 135BC over the plain Holga 135...

Holga 135BC Reviews on Amazon

If you want to get started in pinhole photography, the Holga 135PC is the perfect camera for you. It's just a standard Holga 135 with a pinhole lens. What makes it really nice for pinhole photography is the tripod mount, bulb mode, and cable release adapters. Pinhole cameras require long exposure times, and these 3 features of the Holga 135PC make it easy to get your long exposures without photographer induced blurriness (i.e. camera movement).

Holga 135PC Reviews on Amazon