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Holga Camera Photography

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Lomo Photography With Holga Cameras

The Holga is a cheap plastic camera that takes great pictures. If you're interested in lomography photography and don't want to spend a small fortune getting started, you can buy a Holga 120N for less than $30 delivered to your door. The Holga comes in many versions for both 35mm and 120 medium format film. Some of the most interesting are the Holga Pinhole, the Holga 120 3D Stereo Camera, and the Holga Instant Back. No matter what your taste, there is probably a Holga model to fit your fancy, so give at least one a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy shooting with a Holga as much as I do. Here's to having fun with photography...

The Holga 120 Camera

A cheap plastic camera that takes great pics...

The most basic Holga camera (and also the best Holga camera IMO) is the Holga 120. The base model is the 120N and you really can't get any more basic than this. The Holga 120N has a fixed aperture plastic lens (f10, 60mm), 1 shutter speed (1/100 second claimed), 4 focus zones, hot shoe flash mount, standard tripod mount (1/4 x 20), 6 x 4.5 and 6 x 6 plastic film masks (12 or 16 exposures per roll), a bulb exposure selector for extra long exposures - and that's it! It's hard to believe that such a simple camera can be such a wonderful tool, but the Holga is capable of taking some truly awesome photos. Check the Holga photo links scattered around this page and see for yourself. Other Holga 120 versions are the Holga 120FN with built-in flash and the Holga 120CFN with built-in color flash.

Holga 120 Photos

Who says you can't take great pictures with a toy camera?

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Check Out These Great Prices on the Holga 120

Usually qualifies for free shipping...

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Holga 120FN Pictures

Flickr pics taged with 120FN...

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Holga 120 CFN Pictures

Flickr pics tagged with 120CFN...

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Holga 120 Film

120 film can be tricky to find locally...

Holga cameras have a fairly small aperture and a fixed shutter speed of 1/100 second, so you'll need a fairly fast film unless you're shooting in really bright light. I like black and white, and Kodak 400 TMAX Professional works great in the Holga 120. For color film I like Fujicolor Pro 400H Color Negative Film. Fuji's Provia 400X Color Slide Film should work well for slides or even better cross processed - something I hope to try soon. Velvia 100 Color Slide Film should produce excellent results in bright sun, but I haven't tried my Holga with any ISO 100 film yet...

120 Medium Format Film from Amazon

Usually qualifies for free shipping on orders over $25...

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120 Film Processing

The Holga 135

A 35mm Holga...

If you love the idea of a Holga but don't want to mess around with 120 film then you'd need a 35mm Holga camera - and Holga's got you covered with their 135 model. The Holga 135 is the same as the 120N except it takes 35mm film. This makes the pictures you take different in a couple of ways. First, while the 60mm lens gives wide angle pictures with 120 film, it gives "normal view" pictures with the smaller 35mm film. Second, the smaller film eliminates the vignetting that is one of the charms of the Holga 120 (they've corrected this with the 135BC which adds an internal mask to emulate the vignetting). Finally, the smaller negative size means you don't get as much distortion across the image as you would with the lager 120 negatives. Still, the Holga 135 is a fun camera and gives most of the toy camera effect of the Holga 120, especially if you get the Holga 135BC.
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Holga 135 Pictures

Photos tagged with Holga 135BC...

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Great Prices on Holga 135

Check out the free shipping option...

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Holga Pinhole Cameras

The easiest way to get into pinhole photography...

The Holga Pinhole camera is the easiest way to get started with pinhole photography. You don't have to build your own pinhole camera first or convert and existing camera - just load your film and start taking pinhole photos. Holga makes pinhole cameras for both 35mm and 120 film. The 35mm version is limited to standard pictures, but the 120 pinhole camera is available in versions that take standard pictures, panoramas, and even 3-D Stereo pictures (the last requires a special viewer to look at the pictures in 3D).

Holga Pinhole Pictures

Pics tagged with Holga pinhole...

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Great Prices on Holga Pinhole Cameras

Even better with Free Shipping...

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Holga Lenses

Add-on lenses for your Holga 120N, 120 FN, or 120 CFN...

If you get bored shooting pictures through the built-in plastic lens, Holga offers a wide range of add-on lenses for their 120 cameras that really expand your creative opportunities. My favorite is the Holga fisheye lens and they have other interesting choices as well, including close up, macro, and telephoto lenses. One of the most interesting is the Holga Split Image Filter Lens Set (see all Camera Filters) that includes 3 filters - a 4 facet lens with center focus, 3 facet vertical lens, and 3 facet pyramid lens. The best part is you can but all the Holga lenses for less than the cost of a single lens for your DSLR camera. So grab a few and have some fun...

Holga Fisheye Photos

Pics taken with the Holga fisheye lens...

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Holga Lenses For Sale

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Holga Accessories

Accessories for your Holga 120N, 120 FN, or 120CFN...

Besides lenses, there are many accessories you can get for your Holga. I like shooting in low light and double exposures, so the first thing I got was a cable release. With a cable release and tripod, it's easy to get long exposures and multiple exposures without the camera moving and ruining the shot. Several different filters are available (if you're shooting black and white try a deep red filter) and a color flash. You can also get a 35mm film adapter if you have trouble finding a shop that processes 120 film. The nice thing is they all cost way less than accessories for a DSLR...

Holga Accessories For Sale

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The Holga Instant Back

Having fun with a Holgaroid...

You can double your retro-photography fun with a Holga Instant Back that converts your Holga 120 to use Polaroid instant film. With the instant Back, you can take old school lomographic film pictures and have instant gratification. What more could you want? Well, maybe a lower price - the Holga Instant back is a little on the (ahem) high end of the cost scale. If you can afford it, though, it sure looks like a lot of fun...

Holga 120 Instant Back For Sale

Convert your 120 into a Holgaroid...

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Holga Cameras and Accesories on eBay

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Other Toy Cameras

An embarrasment of riches...

When it comes to toy cameras, the Holga 120 is just the tip of the iceberg. Holga makes several lomography cameras besides the 120, including a very cool dual-lens camera that takes "stereo photos." If you want something besides a Holga, you can get a Diana F+ (it's going to be my next camera), an LC-A, or pick from many other toy cameras that are available today.

More About Toy Cameras

There's more to Lomography Photography than the Holga 120...

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Blogging About Lomography

What others are writing about toy camera photography...

Lomography's New Contest Will Kick You Clear to Virginia
What was the state of Virginia doing throwing a party yesterday at the Lomography Gallery Store? It was offbeat to say the least, with an '80s yacht rock tribute band (Three Sheets To The Wind), Virginian craft beers and, um, head sweatbands as party ...
Lomography Spinner 360 Motorizer Was Probably Designed With That 70′s Show in ...
Yesterday, Lomography introduced their new Spinner 360 Motorizer unit. For those of you not familiar; the Spinner 360 essentially takes panoramic images on 35mm film by letting the user simply spin the camera around on a handle.
Sweepstakes: Get in a Portlandia Frame of Mind
The fine folks at Warby Parker, Tretorn and Lomography are here to help you represent the Portlandia Frame of Mind in your town. Head over here to enter the sweepstakes for your chance to win big and let everyone know that you're a fan of Fred Armisen ...
The best cameras for Beirut shutterbugs of all ages and tastes
?Youth and students especially are very into Lomography, which are film cameras that come in cute shapes and sizes.? The cameras, which are made by an Austrian company, have fans worldwide, many of whom maintain that Lomography, or ?LOMO,? is about ...
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Other Lomography Photography Resources

Lots of stuff out there, here are some of my favorites...

Lomography
The most comprehensive site on lomography and toy cameras.
kaituba
Excellent series of video tutorials on the Holga 120 and other toy cameras.
Holga Camera Photography
This page has many awesome pictures taken with a Holga camera.

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by

glockr

Just an amateur photographer having a blast since I discovered Holga camera photography. If you're tired of trying to keep up with the latest and greatest... more »

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