converting holga to 4x5"

Rock Poper · Jun 12, 2005

hi

i am trying to connect one of my holgas to a 4x5" back, and i want to know if it is possible to take apart the lens and change the focal length or image circle by fiddling with the lens elements...

sorry, i'm new to large format and i also don't know much about lenses

paul

gma · Jun 12, 2005

Alex Hawley · Jun 12, 2005

I'm not sure a Holga lens has elements. Not sure why you want to try this project. I doubt the Holga has enough lens coverage anyway. If you want to have fun with it, get the polaroid back; no conversion required. If you want to start LF inexpensively, get a Graphic press camera. But don't try to weld the two together into one.

MattCarey · Jun 12, 2005

Check this out

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=&pid=5957

Matt

jjstafford · Jun 12, 2005

Buy ony old crappy 4x5, do not learn how to use it, break the lens and voila! Big Holga!

Mongo · Jun 12, 2005

jjstafford said:
Buy ony old crappy 4x5, do not learn how to use it, break the lens and voila! Big Holga!

You forgot, "Make sure the film holder isn't quite seated correctly, so you get light leaks."

Rock Poper · Jun 12, 2005

well i'm not so much looking for cheap as i am looking for strange

but thanks for the help

rock

BradS · Jun 12, 2005

Rock Poper said:
well i'm not so much looking for cheap as i am looking for strange

but thanks for the help

rock

Oh...strange. Well, then just about any old LF camera will do. I guarantee, if you take a LF camera out in public, you'll get all kinds of strange....looks and questions that is...The bigger and older, the better. Try a restored Kodak 2d - not strange at all to us but, to the general public....it's down right certifiable. Try it and be sure to share your stories here in the lounge.

removed account4 · Jun 12, 2005

Rock Poper said:
well i'm not so much looking for cheap as i am looking for strange

but thanks for the help

rock

you can look for an olde sears demar or cyclone 4x5 box camera - they will take 4x5 film holders (+plates) and use a meniscus lens -
you can also remove the element and use a plastic copy machine lens, you might be happy ...

my personal favorite is to use a speed graphic ( has a focal plane shutter) and use the a single cell lens that was harvested off of a junk folder. or you can also do the plungercam//loupe thang

-john

Mongo · Jun 12, 2005

I've harvested a few lenses from old Kodak folding cameras that took 122 film. The lenses cover 4x5, but have a wonderful soft glow to them. You might give this a try. Getting a folder with a Rapid Rectilinear lens in the 160-170mm range usually costs less than having the camera shipped to you. (I bought the cameras to make panoramic roll film cameras out of them using other lenses...having these wonderful old lenses included was quite a nice bonus.)

Rock Poper · Jun 13, 2005

the idea behind Holga's for me really is the crappy vignetting - by projecting this onto a 4x5 holder, i was hoping to get to see either the full circle in all its dispersed glory (by keeping the distance between the rear lens element and the film plane the same as for a standard holga 6x6) - or probably more interesting is extending this distance to enlarge with image circle over the 4" axis at least and get much better close focus - a macro 4x5 Holga ...

just for the stupidity of it - and the learning.. would be nice to see a diagram of a Holga before I break one in half tho

jjstafford · Jun 13, 2005

Rock Poper said:
just for the stupidity of it - and the learning.. would be nice to see a diagram of a Holga before I break one in half tho

It would be more cost effective to break the Holga.

Jeremy · Jun 13, 2005

You could get a crown graphic and just mount the holga lens onto a lens board. It won't have a shutter, but the speed graphics won't collapse enough to let you use one at infinity.

I have a 3x4 crown graphic and have mounted a holga lens onto it.

Will S · Jun 13, 2005

old lenses

See this page:

http://www.cosmonet.org/camera/old_45_lens_e.html

I think the old Kodak 1A pocket folder has a lens that will cover 4x5 or close.

Best,

Will

Rock Poper · Jun 13, 2005

theres a crown graphic 4x5 for sale here in NZ for approx $300 US - (unsure of the lens type) - however to get a a holga costs us around $30 US - the building of the 'bit' that connects the back to the holga lens mounting is the *fun* bit...

Sapphirephoenix2 · Aug 2, 2009

I did that. I chopped off a holga lens and put it on a type of lens board with a 4x5 back. All my images are circular. I cropped etc but there on my website
Dead Link Removed

enjoy.

wildbill · Aug 2, 2009

taking the holga apart isn't a big deal as far as getting the lens off. it unscrews once you take the set screw out from the inside. putting the lens on a lens board is your best bet. you could put the whole assembly on a lens board to keep the shutter intact as well.

converting holga to 4x5"

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