holga question with arista 120 film?

hey all,

I bought a holga for my alternate processes photo class this term at college, and I bought some of freestyle photo's brand, Arista iso 100 120 film. The problem is that the film does not have frame numbers on the paper backing. does anyone know roughly how many turns of the film advance knob it takes to separate one negative from another? I am using the camera on the 6x4.5 setting.

thanks,
Scott Hunnicutt

Arista's film does have frame numbers. I've shot it in a camera that requires the numbers (although it was a 6x9 camera).

The printed backing paper has all three sets of numbers (6x4.5, 6x6, 6x9). They are white on black, so perhaps you are just finding them hard to see.

Scott, are you sure you have advanced the film far enough for the numbers to show up? Also, if the paper leader came loose from the takeup spool, you may be turning but NOT advancing the film. You may want to pop the back off in a dark room (or closet, etc) and feel if the paper is advancing when you turn the advance knob. You may also need to jam some cardboard under the takeup spool, to make sure it engages properly. Double over a flap from the box the film came in, should work for you. For more Holga hints check Squarefrog.com and Flickr.com

I hope this helps you, and welcome to the Apug website.

Paul

If you're using 100 ISO film with the Holga, I would advise you to either shoot in very bright sunlight, or to use a flash. The Holga's one f/stop and shutter speed (about f/11 @ 1/100 sec.) makes 100 ISO film not the most flexible choice. For starting out with a Holga, I highly recommend using 400 ISO, and working up to slower speed films more down the line, once you've begun to master the Holga's quirks.