First steps with a Holga and medium format photography
I recently started experimenting with a Holga medium format camera. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s a plastic medium format toy camera that was produced in Hong Kong until 2015. Some have plastic rather than glass lenses. The images have a special quality, not particularly sharp, with pronounced vignetting. They also tend to have light leaks, unless the back of the camera is taped up.
The whole business is rather different from digital photography, and I’ve had to go online quite a lot for advice. Loading 120 mm film is a bit of a knack; I eventually figured out that you have to out it in an an angle, as it won’t go into the camera if you load it straight. You’re meant to put a bit of cardboard below the spool to ensure that the film winds smoothly and doesn’t get loose. At some point the foam in the camera in at the back of the spool which was meant to help secure it got detached. I just discarded it and so far it all seems fine.
Other things to remember with analogue viewfinder cameras are to ensure the lens cap is off before exposing, and to remember to advance the film before shooting unless you want adouble or multiple exposures.
In the digital age, analogue images are acquired on film which is then processed. Usually, the negatives are scanned and digitised, so the final product is a digital image, from which prints can be made if required. There are still those who make traditional prints in the darkroom from negatives, but this is now a specialised, rather artisanal process.
It’s all very different from digital photography. It’s been fun, and I’m quite pleased with the results so far.
The Tower of London. Fomapan 400 film
By the Royal Exchange in London. Fomapan 400 film.
Lloyd's building, London. Fomapan 400 film
The Monument, from Fish Street Hill, London. Lomography 400 film
The Mission Building in Limehouse, London. Formerly British Sailors' Society Mission, now housing luxury apartments. Lomography 400 film
