questions about holga...

Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 222 Location: kansas city

i've been thinking about purchasing a holga or similar camera and have a few questions.

i found an argus arogflex on ebay that seems interesting; if anyone has info on this particular camera that would be great.

does all 120 film come in 12 exposure rolls?

this is the question that i would like answered most; since the camera doesn't have batteries, do you have to rewind the film manually and does it wind back into the cannister?

do most camera shops develop 120 film?

i noticed that robncircus scans his negatives; does that require a special scanner or does a regular scanner work?

okay i think that's about it. thanks to all that help out!

Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 2:33 am

does all 120 film come in 12 exposure rolls?

All 120 film is the same size, but different cameras expose different sized bits of it with each shot. A camera that takes a square exposure (like the Holga) is going to get more on the roll than a camera that takes a rectangular exposure.

this is the question that i would like answered most; since the camera doesn't have batteries, do you have to rewind the film manually and does it wind back into the cannister?

The Holga is totally manual. 120 film doesn't have a cannister. It's film with paper on the back that comes wrapped around a spool. You pop in the spool with the film on it, stretch it across the back of the camera, and onto another empty spool. Sort of like a scroll.

Check this link out: http://www.freestylephoto.biz/pdf/HolgaManual.pdf

do most camera shops develop 120 film?

If it's a higher end place, generally yes. If they can't do it on site, they can send it out to a lab that can. Your corner drugstore typically can't.

i noticed that robncircus scans his negatives; does that require a special scanner or does a regular scanner work?

A lot of flatbed scanners now days are capable of scanning negatives. Mine (a Canon 8400F) has a tray that you load the negatives in. You put that on the glass, and then remove a white backing plate on the lid. Behind that plate is a shines light through the negative onto the glass as it's being scanned. One caveat though, of the scanners that can do negatives, most only do 35mm.

Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 131 Location: Boulder, Colorado

You might want to pick up a couple of spare, empty 120 spools so you can actually load your first roll....lol

Also, when hunting funky old cameras...remember....120 can be "re-rolled" onto 620 spools for some of those old cameras....and you don't have to tape them up as much as the Holga!