Fitting a ground glass to a holga?

jstraw · Apr 10, 2007

I'd like to fit a ground glass to the the film plane of my Holga for checking focusing distances. Has anyone here ever done that?

Amund · Apr 10, 2007

jstraw said:
I'd like to fit a ground glass to the the film plane of my Holga for checking focusing distances. Has anyone here ever done that?

To risk actually getting sharp shots from the Holga? Are you out of your mind???

nicolai · Apr 10, 2007

Yeah, I took the screen from my Hassy and taped it to the mask to figure out the focal length for a macro Holga I built. Works sweet. You can also use the frosted plastic from the cover of a spindle of CD-Rs or DVD-Rs, or you can even use waxed paper in a pinch.

Frank R · Apr 10, 2007

Just put a few strips of frosted scotch tape across the rear opening. This link shows the tape on a piece of glass:

http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/homemade4x5/homemade4x5.html

I remember another site where the person skipped the glass on a medium format camera and just taped across the opening with a few pieces. I can't find it at the moment. More accurate too.

gr82bart · Apr 10, 2007

Aw Michael,

First the ground glass. Next: http://www.holgadigital.com/blog_2/about.html

It's a slippery slope. Hang your head in shame.

Regards, Art.

Akki14 · Apr 10, 2007

I've just used a strip of waxed paper fitted into two empty film spools for checking focal distances on my newer holga. Doesn't help me much with my old holga since it has no bulb mode.

Sparky · Apr 10, 2007

it's not exactly a flat-field sort of affair, is it??
I'm still waiting for the 6x12 and 6x17 holgas!

jstraw · Apr 10, 2007

Jeez, rough crowd! I just want to know what distances the little icons on the lens barrel correspond to. Is that so wrong?!

Thanks for the advice and pointers.

matt miller · Apr 10, 2007

I used frosted scotch tape over the mask/film rails on my holga to do the same thing. It worked great.

mtbbrian · Apr 11, 2007

jstraw said:
I just want to know what distances the little icons on the lens barrel correspond to. Is that so wrong?!

Thanks for the advice and pointers.

Then why did you ask that then!

:rolleyes:
The head is about three feet, the small group icon is about six feet, the large group icon is about nine feet, and of course the mountain icon is infinity...
The modification you were talking about seemed a bit too much in my humble opinion. Shooting with a Holga, etc, isn't about precission, it's serendipity, and beauty in the imperfect..
You can check out a Holga manual HERE!

Brian
Holgas ROCK!

jstraw · Apr 11, 2007

mtbbrian said:
Then why did you ask that then!
:rolleyes:
The head is about three feet, the small group icon is about six feet, the large group icon is about nine feet, and of course the mountain icon is infinity...
The modification you were talking about seemed a bit too much in my humble opinion. Shooting with a Holga, etc, isn't about precission, it's serendipity, and beauty in the imperfect..
You can check out a Holga manual HERE!

Brian
Holgas ROCK!

I don't want to modify it. I just want to measure some focal distances.

I'm a Holga shooter. I have the manual.

I resist efforts to tell me what my tools are for and what they're about. I think we, each of us, get to decide that for ourselves.

Mark Pope · Apr 11, 2007

jstraw said:
Jeez, rough crowd! I just want to know what distances the little icons on the lens barrel correspond to. Is that so wrong?!

Thanks for the advice and pointers.

Close-ish and further awayish aren't they?

Antje · Apr 11, 2007

Mark Pope said:
Close-ish and further awayish aren't they?

That's the spirit!

Antje

jstraw · May 7, 2007

Ok, so I just did the scotch tape thing and it was most amusing. The icons represent roughly 12", 18", 24" and infinity is everything past about 48". In other words, not really consistant with the pictograms. Now I'll know to seldom move it from infinity.

matt miller · May 8, 2007

Glad it worked. Now you know. I wish my Holga focused at 12". The closest I can get it to focus, without the lens falling off, is about 2 feet.

jstraw · May 8, 2007

matt miller said:
Glad it worked. Now you know. I wish my Holga focused at 12". The closest I can get it to focus, without the lens falling off, is about 2 feet.

Closer focusing is one of the holgamods.com modifications.

Here's what a more careful check revealed.

donbga · May 8, 2007

jstraw said:
Closer focusing is one of the holgamods.com modifications.

Here's what a more careful check revealed.

Put some film in the frigin camera go make some oictures. Quit being a techno-geek and predicting and controling everything.

That's the point of using a Holga!

nicolai · May 8, 2007

...for some people. Different strokes, some people care more about focus, even in toys, more than others. You could make the same argument against selecting film with an ISO that's going to actually work in your lighting situation.

eric · May 8, 2007

There's a gal with a complete tutorial on toycamera.com. What I've done to measure my Holga with some +1+2+3 close-up lenses was to put my Hassy focus screen on the back and look through it. Use a focusing cloth.

jstraw · May 8, 2007

donbga said:
Put some film in the frigin camera go make some oictures. Quit being a techno-geek and predicting and controling everything.

That's the point of using a Holga!

Why don't go make some pictures and quit worrying about how other people choose to work. If what I'm documenting is of no interest to you, then politely ignore it. That it's useful to me is none of your business. Sod off.

donbga · May 8, 2007

jstraw said:
Why don't go make some pictures and quit worrying about how other people choose to work. If what I'm documenting is of no interest to you, then politely ignore it. That it's useful to me is none of your business. Sod off.

YATTI!

jstraw · May 8, 2007

donbga said:
YATTI!

I'm not familiar with this term.

dslater · May 8, 2007

jstraw said:
I'm not familiar with this term.

Just a guess:

Yet Another Thread To Ignore

Although I don't know why people have this need to let you know their ignoring your thread

Fintan · May 9, 2007

Peace brothers, adding a GG to a Holga isnt exactly crime of the century, if you'd rather not add one yourself, just skip to the next thread and we're all happy

jstraw · May 9, 2007

Frankly, I don't understand the "don't learn how your Holga actually works" mindset but I wouldn't wind myself up to criticize those that hold that view.

For me, the lens does things, the shutter does things and knowing what they do helps me get more from them. How I would be better off not knowing how to focus a certain lens elludes me.

Fitting a ground glass to a holga?

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