Holga 120Pan

[Andrew O'Neill]

I've been thinking about adding the 120Pan to my collection of Holgas that I regularly use. I would love to hear from those with experience with this camera. Pics taken with it would be great! Thanks!

 

[narsuitus]

Out of curiosity, which Holga cameras are in your collection?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Out of curiosity, which Holga cameras are in your collection?

It's not much of a collection... the 120S, 120N, and Pinhole Wide. If I do pick up the 120 Pan, that'll probably be it for the collection.

 

[narsuitus]

I use the following two Holga cameas;
1. Holga 120 panoramic (front left)
2. Holga 120WPC wide pinhole camera (back left)

Since I have other 120 cameras that produce 6x9, 6x7, 6x6, and 645 images, I do not use my Holga 120 panoramic for those images. Since my Holga 120 panoramic is the only camera I have that produces 6x12cm images; that is the only way I use it

The biggest problems I have with my Holga 120 panoramic are:
1. The image quality is not that great. I get better 6x12cm images by shooting 4x5 inch film in my view camera and cropping it to 6x12.
2. The Holga 120 panoramic does not accept a cable release. I really need to be able to attach a cable release to the camera.
3. The Bulb and 1/100 second shutter speeds are too restricting for exposure control.
4. The f/11 and f/8 aperture settings are too restricting for exposure control.
5. The film advance for the camera is from left to right. This works fine for 6x6 images. The user can use the top red window on the Holga back to count twelve 6x6cm images. If shooting 6x12cm images, the user can use the top red window to count odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) to count six 6x12cm images.
If shooting 645 images, the user can use the bottom red window to count sixteen 645 images.
If shooting 6x9cm images, the user can use the bottom red window to count odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15) to count eight 6x9 shots per roll.


6x9cm film cameras by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Someone on here hacked a Holga Pan and put a 90mm lens like a Schneider Angulon or something on it with a focusing helical. Or you could probably pull off doing the hyperfocal thing with a 65mm and just use it at f/22 all the time. I'm thinking of getting one myself and doing the same...

 

[mooseontheloose]

Someone on here hacked a Holga Pan and put a 90mm lens like a Schneider Angulon or something on it with a focusing helical. Or you could probably pull off doing the hyperfocal thing with a 65mm and just use it at f/22 all the time. I'm thinking of getting one myself and doing the same...

Randy at Holgamods does exactly that. I thought about getting something like that done (cheaper than a proper wide-angle camera) but 120 pans are hard to find and/or too expensive.

 

[awty]

The poor mans version. Just hack a wide pinhole to a Polaroid and then fit your preferred lens.

holgaroid by Paul Fitz, on Flickr

 

[xya]

Someone on here hacked a Holga Pan and put a 90mm lens like a Schneider Angulon or something on it with a focusing helical. Or you could probably pull off doing the hyperfocal thing with a 65mm and just use it at f/22 all the time. I'm thinking of getting one myself and doing the same...

it was probably me. I had it done by holgamods, but there was still some work to adjust it properly https://www.oddcameras.com/holgamods_612_pan.htm . there is another solution, the lomo belair. you even have a choice of 2 lenses. have a look at https://www.plastikcam.com/ for more information. and I love my holga instant quite a lot...

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

it was probably me. I had it done by holgamods, but there was still some work to adjust it properly https://www.oddcameras.com/holgamods_612_pan.htm . there is another solution, the lomo belair. you even have a choice of 2 lenses. have a look at https://www.plastikcam.com/ for more information. and I love my holga instant quite a lot...

I have two Lomo Belairs, and there's actually four lenses for them (there are two Russian glass lenses that were available as optional accessories - I have both of those as well - a 90 and a 117mm). The Belair is a great camera for what it is. I shot a multi-year documentary project with it, and ended up with 70+ palladium prints and a gallery show out of it.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Randy at Holgamods does exactly that. I thought about getting something like that done (cheaper than a proper wide-angle camera) but 120 pans are hard to find and/or too expensive.

I thought about doing exactly that... but then I'd lose the Holga look. Maybe I'll get two bodies... I do have a 90mm sitting around doing nothing, that I used to use on my TravelWide before it bit the dust.

I ordered one for now from B&H. They are expecting delivery at the end of June.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I use the following two Holga cameas;
1. Holga 120 panoramic (front left)
2. Holga 120WPC wide pinhole camera (back left)

Since I have other 120 cameras that produce 6x9, 6x7, 6x6, and 645 images, I do not use my Holga 120 panoramic for those images. Since my Holga 120 panoramic is the only camera I have that produces 6x12cm images; that is the only way I use it

The biggest problems I have with my Holga 120 panoramic are:
1. The image quality is not that great. I get better 6x12cm images by shooting 4x5 inch film in my view camera and cropping it to 6x12.
2. The Holga 120 panoramic does not accept a cable release. I really need to be able to attach a cable release to the camera.
3. The Bulb and 1/100 second shutter speeds are too restricting for exposure control.
4. The f/11 and f/8 aperture settings are too restricting for exposure control.
5. The film advance for the camera is from left to right. This works fine for 6x6 images. The user can use the top red window on the Holga back to count twelve 6x6cm images. If shooting 6x12cm images, the user can use the top red window to count odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) to count six 6x12cm images.
If shooting 645 images, the user can use the bottom red window to count sixteen 645 images.
If shooting 6x9cm images, the user can use the bottom red window to count odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15) to count eight 6x9 shots per roll.


6x9cm film cameras by Narsuitus, on Flickr

Thanks for you excellent input Narsuitus! I use Holgas for that very reason. Not so great image quality. It would be nice if the shutter did have a cable release attachment...but I found a way around that by using the chopstick method. The end of bamboo chopstick fits into the shutter button's slot perfectly
My Pinhole Wide does get a good workout, too! Cheers!

andy

 

[gone]

Wish I had your camera awty to take to one of those amateur camera club meetings. I'd probably be banned for life when they saw it (although I think it's a very nice fashion statement).

 

[awty]

Wish I had your camera awty to take to one of those amateur camera club meetings. I'd probably be banned for life when they saw it (although I think it's a very nice fashion statement).

Its not about how it looks but how you use it.......and you can even leave in the light leaks.
The more we know the less we show. by Paul Fitz, on Flickr

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

I have a Holga 120 Pan and I am continually surprised at how much I like the images it produces. I have a factory Holga cable release I use with mine, in conjunction with a slip-on adapter that lets me use 52mm screw on filters - so controlling the exposure for a good result is no problem. I have a few panoramic cameras (GX617, PressPan, Sprocket Rocket, etc) but the 120 Pan is so light its easy to take it out with me.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. The parallax has to be planned for - what you see in the viewfinder isn't correct - at least on my copy - if you have something perfectly centered in the frame, there will be less space at the bottom of the frame than you thought once you've developed your film.
2. The last batch that showed up at the end of last year at Freestyle all had focus issues and would not focus to infinity. This has been a point of discussion in the Holga FB group and numerous people had bad examples - including me. I had purchased one from them to have on the shelf as a back-up should anything happen to the one I've had for awhile, and when the problems began to arise I took the new one out of the box and tested it with ground glass in the back. Focus was off. I sent it back and Freestyle gave me a refund and told me that they would alert me when they got a good batch in. That has yet to happen.


Hope that helps!

A few of my Holga 120 Pan images are below.

Jeremy

 

[DMJ]

Wonderful images Jeremy!

I bought an 120wpc last weekend and I might do some mods later but for now I'm going to use it for trying Fomapan 400 in PMK Pyro and do contact printed kallitypes. New adventure!

 

[xya]

I have a Holga 120 Pan and I am continually surprised at how much I like the images it produces. I have a factory Holga cable release I use with mine, in conjunction with a slip-on adapter that lets me use 52mm screw on filters - so controlling the exposure for a good result is no problem. I have a few panoramic cameras (GX617, PressPan, Sprocket Rocket, etc) but the 120 Pan is so light its easy to take it out with me.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. The parallax has to be planned for - what you see in the viewfinder isn't correct - at least on my copy - if you have something perfectly centered in the frame, there will be less space at the bottom of the frame than you thought once you've developed your film.
2. The last batch that showed up at the end of last year at Freestyle all had focus issues and would not focus to infinity. This has been a point of discussion in the Holga FB group and numerous people had bad examples - including me. I had purchased one from them to have on the shelf as a back-up should anything happen to the one I've had for awhile, and when the problems began to arise I took the new one out of the box and tested it with ground glass in the back. Focus was off. I sent it back and Freestyle gave me a refund and told me that they would alert me when they got a good batch in. That has yet to happen.


Hope that helps!

A few of my Holga 120 Pan images are below.

Jeremy

these are really excellent photos, much better than my holgamods copy. you seem to control your camera perfectly. amazing results. please keep showing us these...

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I have a Holga 120 Pan and I am continually surprised at how much I like the images it produces. I have a factory Holga cable release I use with mine, in conjunction with a slip-on adapter that lets me use 52mm screw on filters - so controlling the exposure for a good result is no problem. I have a few panoramic cameras (GX617, PressPan, Sprocket Rocket, etc) but the 120 Pan is so light its easy to take it out with me.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. The parallax has to be planned for - what you see in the viewfinder isn't correct - at least on my copy - if you have something perfectly centered in the frame, there will be less space at the bottom of the frame than you thought once you've developed your film.
2. The last batch that showed up at the end of last year at Freestyle all had focus issues and would not focus to infinity. This has been a point of discussion in the Holga FB group and numerous people had bad examples - including me. I had purchased one from them to have on the shelf as a back-up should anything happen to the one I've had for awhile, and when the problems began to arise I took the new one out of the box and tested it with ground glass in the back. Focus was off. I sent it back and Freestyle gave me a refund and told me that they would alert me when they got a good batch in. That has yet to happen.


Hope that helps!

A few of my Holga 120 Pan images are below.

Jeremy

View attachment 276252 View attachment 276253 View attachment 276254 View attachment 276255

Thank you for your excellent input, Jeremy. I ordered one through B&H. They expect delivery later this month. Hopefully they won't have this infinity focus issue. I can always rectify that by checking with ground glass, and remark, as I did with the TravelWide. Cheers!

andrew

 

[Andrew Patteson]

Awty and Jeremy: fantastic photos!

Andrew, I have a lightly used Lomo Belair that I have been thinking about selling -- I'd give a good price to a fellow HS photography teacher. PM me if interested.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Awty and Jeremy: fantastic photos!

Andrew, I have a lightly used Lomo Belair that I have been thinking about selling -- I'd give a good price to a fellow HS photography teacher. PM me if interested.

PM sent.