Types of Holga
So you want in on the Holga action? I don't blame you. Firstly you'll need to pick yourself a nice new Holga. There are several different species of Holga, which one you choose is entirely up to you. The main differences between each camera are its inclusion of a flash and its lens material
- Holga 120S - This is the original Holga that started it all. Plastic lens, 6x4.5 mask and hot shoe for your flashes. This model has now been replaced with the 120N
- Holga 120N - Improved design. Comes with plastic lens, tripod mount, bulb exposure mode, and 6x6 mask. Also rumoured to have less light leaks.
- Holga 120FN - Same as 120N, but with a built in flash.
- Holga 120CFN - Same as 120N, but featuring a built in colour flash. Comes with 4 colour options - white, blue, red, and yellow.
- Holga 120GN, 120GFN & 120GCFN - Same as the above, but with a cheap glass lens. Slightly sharper images, but Holga purists may prefer the plastic lenses.
- Woca 120G - Looks like a 120S but with a glass lens. Shutterbug has more information on this discontinued model. Has now been replaced by the Holga 120GN.
If you have your own flash, or wish to buy one, my advice is to go for a 120N. It's the cheapest model and you get the added bonus of a hot
Which Holga should I choose?
The Holga that I recommend to most people is the Holga 120N (or 120GN). There are a couple of reasons why I think this is a great first Holga; firstly, it is the cheapest, so if you get it and then find you don't like it, you wont lose out much. Secondly, it is the most flexible - it has a hot shoe so you can use any flash you want. Also if the batteries run out of your flash half way through a roll it's not the end of the world!
Is there a 35mm equivalent?
Not one that takes square pictures and is truly similar to the Holga. However, recently there has been a few Chinese retailers selling a camera called the Holga 135BC. Preliminary reports are that it's a quite good full-frame 35mm equivalent. There is plenty of vignetting, and soft focus. For the lowdown on this camera check out moominseans review: part one, and part two. It seems the only place to buy it right now is eBay.
New models
There has been a wave of new Holga models. Here is a list of the newly released models:
- Holga 135BC - takes 35mm film, plastic lensed. BC means 'Black Corners' which are as a result of artificial vignetting.
- Holga 135PC - pinhole version of the 135BC, only without the artificial vignetting.
- Holga 120TLR - bizarre Twin-Lens Reflex Holga. In theory the viewfinder should be more accurate than the standard one, but I remain unconvinced. Comes with a built-in colour wheel flash.
- Holga 120GTLR - glass lensed version of the 120TLR.
- Holga 120WPC - wide pinhole camera. Shoots in 6x9 or 6x12.
- Holga 1203D - twin lenses, side by side. For taking '3D' images.
