Developer for 1st roll of HP5 in a Holga

Cyrn · Feb 14, 2010

I have searched the forum for advice, before posting this and have come out of the process entirely aware of my shortcomings and not much wiser - there is sooo much advice on film/developer combinations that I am confused.

Can anyone tell me if what I am about to do is stupid?

I have just bought a Holga 120gn and run a HP5 film through it. According to various sources the apertures on the new Holgas are either f8 and f11 or they are f13 and f20. Knowing this and with a little guesswork, I shot off the roll in hazy sunshine. I am thinking of developing it in Diafine as, according to what I can glean, the "development to completion" process should give me something printable. I have never used Diafine before (I have only ever used Perceptol - it worked so I stuck with it) and would be grateful if anyone could tell me if my thinking is sound on this. If not, what alternatives do you suggest.

Finally, apologies if this is a daft newbie question - I am, after all, a daft newbie...

thebanana · Feb 14, 2010

I've used Diafine to develop film shot with my Holga, but have also had good luck with Rodinal at 1:50 dilution. There's no use in overthinking this, since you can't be sure of the shutter/aperture combo anyway. Most B&W film has enough latitude to ensure you get some printable negs regardless.

Cyrn · Feb 14, 2010

thebanana said:
I've used Diafine to develop film shot with my Holga, but have also had good luck with Rodinal at 1:50 dilution. There's no use in overthinking this, since you can't be sure of the shutter/aperture combo anyway. Most B&W film has enough latitude to ensure you get some printable negs regardless.

Thanks, that sounds encouraging.

HMFriedman · Feb 14, 2010

I'd start with XTol 1+2 for 13.5 minutes at 20C. I like my negatives a little flat because I find it easier to add contrast in the printing than to take it away.

Don't stress too much on the details with a Holga; the whole process is flawed enough to be very forgiving. Just go out and have fun! And shoot a lot because it will take some time to learn how your particular Holga "sees".

Be careful, though, they're addicting!

applesanity · Feb 14, 2010

The sunny/clouding setting on the Holga doesn't actually do anything. The Holga is somewhere between f/11 and f/13, shutter speed is 1/60.

brian steinberger · Feb 14, 2010

Hi, I've had good results with HP5 in a Holga and developing in ID-11 1:1 for 11 minutes.

noblebeast · Feb 14, 2010

I would say just stick with the Perceptol, since it's what you already know. Holgas, especially if they aren't 'flocked' with flat black paint on the inside, tend to really suck out the contrast. Depending on your taste in regard to the contrast of your negatives, you could try just extending the development time in perceptol - maybe 20 or 30 percent? I shoot Foma 400 in my Holga and develop in home-brew Xtol and add about 30 percent to development time and get negatives from most sunlight conditions that print to my taste without filters. I think there is at least one in my APUG gallery if you'd like to check it out. And if you click on the link for my Day of the Dead book the page has a photo called "Two Viewers" that was shot with a Holga on a very hazy day and developed per the foregoing.

Joe

Denverdad · Feb 15, 2010

Well that is the same strategy I used for for my first Holga shooting/developing experience - to use Diafine (except I was shooting TriX-400). And, it worked out great! Since then I have also used HC-110 and caffenol-C with good success.

Really, almost anything will work fine, but you should probably try to get a better handle on exactly what aperture(s) you have in the thing first. Once you know that you can work out exactly what lighting conditions will require the sunny setting versus the cloudy, and then you should have great success. Given the apparent sample variation among Holgas it is worthwile (and really not hard) to open it up and measure the aperture size(s), from which you can work out the actual f/#(s).

Just out of curiosity, are you sure yours has two actual apertures? I ask because I purchased my Holga fairly recently and can tell you that it did NOT have the two functioning apertures. (I have since performed my own aperture mod to get exactly the apertures I wanted) It is pretty easy to find out if you are not sure - just set the camera to the "B" setting, hold down the shutter and look into it while switching the aperture lever back and forth.

Kevin Caulfield · Feb 15, 2010

I agree with most of the above, especially to stick with what you know with Perceptol, and also not to overthink things too much, as the film latitude really is your friend.

noblebeast · Feb 15, 2010

As far as the apertures, unless the Holga folks have made a change in 3 years since I bought mine, the aperture switch is joke. If I remember correctly, the lens actually has a fixed aperture smaller than the one the switch puts in place. There are 'net pages that guide you through making the modification to actually achieve two different, usable, apertures. Dead Link Removed

I screwed up the little 'O' ring when I did mine, but the approximate f:11 that that stuck me with works fine. I got a set of the crappy colored filters (and the slip on filter holder) for extremely bright situations for which I wish to reduce the amount of light hitting the film, but as others have stated: the latitude of B&W film is your friend when shooting a Holga. And as the others have said: don't over-think when shooting your Holga - it's all about fun. Just click away and see what you get and enjoy the mystery that is the mighty Holga!

Joe

Cyrn · Feb 15, 2010

Wow! Thanks, folks, for all the advice. I think I'll stick to what I know as far as the development goes and I may well try a little mod of the aperture size if I think it needs it.

Gritycityflicks · Feb 16, 2010

I also recently started developing HP5 film at home from my new Holga (after some nice advice from a certain forum) The first few rolls I ran with a small bottle of Fotospeed (cant remember the code) at the suggested times and they came out fine. Now im working my way through a big bottle of HC 110 and that too seems to work great with dilution B 5min. I did a couple of rolls of neopan 400 in the HC 110 but was not too impressed with the resulting negs. But to be honest I think it may have been down to the lighting and filter that I used on them.
As a newbie my self I would just say go for it with what you have to use. Follow the sugested times and go from there. Im sure u will have some frames that are unusable but that is the way of the Holga. Its the beautiful one that makes the roll worth the price.

Also the Holga I bought dose seem to have a working aperture switch with a large hole close to the lens and a smaller hole that swings into place between that and the film. Maybe they got round to actually sorting it. Either way I always shoot on cloudy as more of my shots are under exposed rather than over

Ben

Cyrn · Feb 16, 2010

Gritycityflicks said:
Also the Holga I bought dose seem to have a working aperture switch with a large hole close to the lens and a smaller hole that swings into place between that and the film. Maybe they got round to actually sorting it. Either way I always shoot on cloudy as more of my shots are under exposed rather than over

Ben

I've had a good look inside mine and I agree that they must have sorted this out - the larger aperture is on the lens and the smaller one on the slidey thing between the lens and the film. As to what f-number they are in reality - I'll just have to experiment and see...

ricksplace · Feb 17, 2010

I tried to develop a roll of film in my holga. Damned thing leaked like a sieve.

Sorry. I just couldn't help myself.

hywel · Feb 17, 2010

It's a Holga, there's so much that can go wrong that choice of developer isn't going to be the critical thing. Try the Perceptol, see how it works for you, plug the light leaks, remember to take the lens cap off, remember to wind on after each picture, etc etc and then give it another go and adjust the development until you get it to work for you.

Having said which in hazy sun I find my Holga (an old one, with the one aperture) needs about ei 800 development for hp5 (and the c41 iso400 colour film is always a little under done as well). But that's just mine, I'm sure others are different. And I've also been known to adjust the development times depending on the light: properly cloudy day I give it a bit longer and a really sunny day I cut it back a bit. Which goes back to my trial and error theory. Hope yours works out well first time, Hywel

Developer for 1st roll of HP5 in a Holga

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