Some time ago I bought a Holga 120N on eBay. Holgas are cheap toy cameras made in Hong Kong, but they’ve gained a lot of popularity for the cool effects they give photos. Even David Burnett uses one. The 120N is one of the more basic models with a plastic meniscus lens and no flash (though it has a hot-shoe). It has a very basic continuous focus wheel, with four markers on it, two apertures, a tripod mount, and a 1/100(ish) shutter speed (though it also has a bulb mode). It shoots 120 format film, though I’m planning to 3D print an adaptor to allow me to use 35mm film in it.

I used one of my favourite film stocks to test out the camera—Ilford XP2 Super. It’s a black and white film that is processed using colour negative chemicals, so it has a lot of exposure latitude. I used the 6x6 insert; it also comes with a 6x4.5 insert which allows for more pictures, but the 6x6 shows more vignetting, something the Holga is known for. I shot my first roll on a walk to campus and back about a month ago, but didn’t get the roll back until today because the lab’s machine was down and shipping was slow due to the pandemic ¹. I was careful to tape up the camera with black electrical tape to limit light leaks, and I was quite impressed with the result. You have to uncover a little window when you advance the film to see what frame you’re at, so I thought there would still be bad light leaks, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve put my favourite photos from the roll below.

This is the Kingston Courthouse, and the photo is unedited. I like how it shows the Holga’s famous vignetting.

Across the street from the courthouse is my favourite pub in town, the Grad Club. It’s a great place to get a perfectly poured pint of Guinness, a post-exam scotch, or try new things like a beet burger or mead ². A while ago I even went to a play upstairs about the place. The Holga has a viewfinder that doesn’t help very much, and I’m not very used to it, so I ended up cropping a couple of the photos a bit, including this one. Cropping takes away some vignetting, but really helps with the composition in this case, and because it’s 120 film it doesn’t get too grainy.

This is probably my favourite picture on the roll, and is completely unedited. The patterns on the rocks really pop on the black and white film, and the vignetting frames them nicely. I might get a print of this at some point.

The focus is a bit off in this one, and I had to crop it, but I still like it.

This is the view out my office window, I stopped in to work on an assignment for a bit. Campus was closed due to the pandemic, so the office was peaceful.

This café is near where I live. I’ve only been in it once; it was good, but maybe a bit overpriced. I like the mural on their brick wall though, and I think it looks cool on black and white film.

I’ll be back out to take more pictures with the Holga soon if we get more sunny weather. Taking pictures with the Holga is a lot of fun, and the quality is pleasantly surprising. Camera Kingston has fixed their 120 processor, so hopefully it won’t be another month.

Stay safe :)