Hold onto your Holgas...the factory has shut down!

[Old-N-Feeble]

[video=youtube;-W6as8oVcuM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W6as8oVcuM[/video]

 

[HolgaJen]

Great shot - thank you Bert!

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

Yes Bert. A marvelously effective abstraction of the sense of high speed, but only as experienced from the front passenger seat, not the driver seat or rear seats.



Ken

 

[TheToadMen]

Wow, Bert, that's fantastic.

Great shot - thank you Bert!

Yes Bert. A marvelously effective abstraction of the sense of high speed, but only as experienced from the front passenger seat, not the driver seat or rear seats.
Ken

Thank you all!

 

[Henning Serger]

Hi,

Maybe Henning Serger who seemed to see Holga as the saviour of film can comment here or better still supply the information we all seek about Holga.

I've never said that.

Some facts about that topic:
In an interview in 2009 the Holga inventor T.M. Lee reported, that until then more than 1 million Holgas had been produced. The peak in sales of the Holga / Lomo / Low-Fidelity trend has been in 2010 / 2011 / 2012. Since then it is declining.
So most likely more than 1,2-1,3 million Holgas have been sold in total. Lots of them are still around and can be used. There is very little which can fail on these cameras . If you take care, they will serve you for many years to come.

The low-fidelity movement is now a small niche again in the film market. Lots of photographers from this movement have "upgraded" to other styles of film photography. The lo-fi style was their "gateway-drug".
At my factory visit at Ilford in Mobberly I talked about that topic with Simon Galley. And he said that Ilford was of course quite happy about this trend especially at that time. It helped production of 120 film significantly. But it is not so much needed anymore.

The current situation:
Despite that the Holga / lo-fi trend has significantly lost momentum in the last four years, most of the major film manufacturers are reporting stable or often significantly increasing sales for 120 format film. One of the three biggest 120 film manufacturers told me this summer that they've had strongly increasing demand for 120 in the first half of 2015.
There is a rising interest in and demand for high-quality film photography on 120 format film. You also see this on the used camera market. The prices of several medium format cameras have significantly increased in the last two years (e.g. some Hasselblad and Mamiya models, Contax 645).

So concerning the availability of 120 film you can be relaxed: The Holga decision will probably have no negative impact on it. And for those who want to work with this lo-fi photography style there are enough cameras available on the used market.
And if in 10 or 20 years there would be not enough lo-fi cameras, then it will be relative easy to produce such type of camera again, maybe with 3D-printing.
You have also lots of similar cameras from Lomography.
So, don't worry.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[ciniframe]

One good thing about 120 is not too many shots on a roll, usually 12 for 6X6, and a contact print (or sheet) big enough to see what you have. Perhaps the increased production will even keep prices from going up so fast, they'll just rise with general inflation, not outpace it. I have a little Zeiss Nettar folder, the cheapest one with the three element f6.3, 75mm lens and 3 speed shutter and it was a cheap as a Holga, $25, so there are bargains out there if you don't have the money for a better TLR or SLR medium format.

 

[MDR]

It seems that the analogue crowd has become a bit intolerant even more so than the digital crowd which seems to embrace the Lo-fi look as opposed to the analogue crowd which seems to have become a bit intolerant towards that look and people who prefer that look.

The great thing about Holgas and the old Dianas was that each camera gave/gives you a unique look, no camera is alike. So a lot of Holga photographers bought several cameras and choose the cameras to fit the look one wanted. The end of Holga also means that you the choice of looks has become finite. The uniqueness of each Holga is also the reason that the digital emulation isn't even remotely like the real thing.

So Instead of celebrating the uniqueness that is only possible with an analogue medium, some People on this site seem to see sameness and perfection as a sign of a good photographic tool and photograph, which is something that the same people usually criticize when it comes to digital vs analogue discussions.

End of rant.

 

[Photo-gear]

The great thing about Holgas and the old Dianas was that each camera gave/gives you a unique look, no camera is alike. So a lot of Holga photographers bought several cameras and choose the cameras to fit the look one wanted. The end of Holga also means that you the choice of looks has become finite. The uniqueness of each Holga is also the reason that the digital emulation isn't even remotely like the real thing.

I dont mind some imperfections but someone should realize that the same flaw kept recurring with the same camera, on and on.

 

[TheToadMen]

Indeed! The only factory garantee was unpredictable light leaks and the back falling off once in a while. Especially if you attached a strap to it.
But wasn't that just the fun of it? [emoji2]


Bert from Holland

 

[Truzi]

The Holga I have is of late 80s/early 90s vintage. While it has the softness and some vignetting, I've not had a light leak. I feel left out, though I'm not complaining.

 

[flatulent1]

So, when do we expect the supply of repair parts to dry up?

 

[TheToadMen]

The Holga I have is of late 80s/early 90s vintage. While it has the softness and some vignetting, I've not had a light leak. I feel left out, though I'm not complaining.

Then I doubt that yours is an original Holga made in China.
Maybe you were hassled with a fake made in the USA?

 

[Truzi]

Then I doubt that yours is an original Holga made in China.
Maybe you were hassled with a fake made in the USA?

LOL, nope, it is an Holga. Perhaps I've not used it enough to properly "break it in," or light leaks have something to do with not replacing tooling often enough. Or maybe the production was so unpredictable that a few random "good" ones were inevitable.

 

[winger]

The Holga I have is of late 80s/early 90s vintage. While it has the softness and some vignetting, I've not had a light leak. I feel left out, though I'm not complaining.

I have two that I've used for awhile. The first was purchased about 14 years ago (for under $20) and has a major light leak I've never managed to find and block. So I use it modified for 35mm. The other is only about 6 years old and has great vignetting and no leaks. The main difference, I think, is that the original one does not use an internal frame to get 6x6, so I think that's part of the leak source. The second one has the B setting, which the first does not.

I do think that quality actually went up slightly when they started getting more popular, maybe 8 years ago or so?

 

[TheToadMen]

... Or maybe the production was so unpredictable that a few random "good" ones were inevitable.

There you have it: poor quality control

 

[Sirius Glass]

There was never any quality control in the Holga factory.

 

[MDR]

There was never any quality control in the Holga factory.

There was and I have the Q.C. Sticker to prove it

 

[Harry Stevens]

Holga, the only camera that you could buy new and then treble the value of it by putting a film in it.

 

[bvy]

Holga, the only camera that you could buy new and then treble the value of it by putting a film in it.

And the weight.

 

[HiHoSilver]

They make a fine substitute for a clay pidgeon. Though I'm not a fan, at least a pinhole has some fascination to it.

 

[Sirius Glass]

+ 1

 

[Theo Sulphate]

They make a fine substitute for a clay pidgeon. Though I'm not a fan, at least a pinhole has some fascination to it.

Clay pigeons are biodegradable, hence eco-friendly. It's also difficult to get 400 Holgas to feed through a Promatic machine for Sporting Clays or FITASC.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Clay pigeons are an endangered species. They have not reproduced on their own for years.

 

[ME Super]

Neither have Holgas. Or computers, for that matter.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Neither have true engineering geeks. The only nooky I've ever known has been from Leitz Wetzlar.