Corner Double Exposure

Me by Jon Stanley Austin

Grand Traverse Bay by Matt Callow

The Girl in Red by algernon_doomsbury

What's this double exposure!?

So you have an pre-2009 Holga, and you've started noticing a weird artefact in your images. It looks a bit like a double exposure, but it only seems to effect the bottom right corner.

This is happening as the shutter is returning back to its original position. Because the shutter arm is a little too narrow, it lets a bit of light come through on its return path. There is a simple trick to stop this happening: press the shutter as normal, then before releasing, cup your hand over the lens and release the shutter. That should stop any stray light from entering. Flickr member Godi managed to figure that out, as documented in this thread, so the credit goes to him!

Permanently fixing the problem

Disassemble your Holga (make sure you leave the yellow wire intact) to get to the shutter. Now cut a small piece of plastic or card and stick it onto the arm of the shutter, as shown in step 3. Don't glue it just yet, you'll need to fire the shutter to make sure the card doesn't stop the arm from working. Once you are sure it's the right size, super glue it in place then leave it to dry for a few minutes. Now put your Holga back together and enjoy!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4