[How To] Judging Distance With The Holga Camera

[John Phive]

Deleted

 

[ciniframe]

The barn is as close to infinity as makes no difference. Of course the Holga lens and focusing arrangement are far from precise.
And film flatness is also a question for the Holga. A bit softer on one side from your sample. That is not because of focus, it is just the toy camera nature of the camera. If you bought 4 Holga’s and took the same photograph from the same position with the lens set at the same setting they would all look a little different.

 

[Dali]

Distance icons on the Holga are self explanatory, no? With a 60mm MF lens, it is way enough except maybe for short (portrait) distance which is not the case here.

 

[snusmumriken]

Given that nothing is really in focus at any distance, and the conditions you describe, I suggest the issue is likely camera shake rather than poor focus. The Canon M6 by contrast has 5-axis image stabilisation (apparently).

 

[Huss]

The door/building corner in the center of the frame looks to be in focus.

I think the image is great and you are way over thinking this.
If you want sharp/precisely focused images you should not be using a Holga! You use them for their glorious faults.

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

As mentioned before, the best thing you can do is shoot the Holga you have more, and get accustomed to how it behaves.

I've found that while the Holga viewfinders can be a little off, they aren't bad. If you remove any sunglasses/glasses that you have on and get your eye against the back, the view you see is fairly close, if not just slightly tighter than, what you get on the film for an image. This is of course if you are shooting 6x6 in the Holga. 6x4.5 requires a mask (ie, tape) over the sides to get the view to be in portrait crop.

The Icons are fairly spot-on in regards to distance from subject and focus, at least according to my experience with my various models. Best thing I can recommend here to check yours is to use a piece of ground glass taped to the back at the film gate and set it on a tripod, then put a dark cloth over your head and the back and start checking focus and compare what you get to icons. I think you'll find its fairly close, just more practice is needed.

As Huss mentioned above, I think the image has a certain look to it and I like it.

Good luck with the project!

Jeremy

 

[pentaxuser]

Here's a video from a guy called Steve O'Nions who appears to be a recent convert to the Holga because sharpness is not always "his thing" but although his is the 35mm version it appears that his lens quality while not sharp is a whole lot better than your lens Have a look at his shots at about 2 mins 16 secs

Given the distance to the barn seems way more than the distance at which all subjects should be in focus then it might be that you have a poor lens even by Holga standards

Still if its quality is what you want then that's an end to the matter and good luck with your project



pentaxuser

 

[Deleted member 88956]

There may be a focus issue, but image is quite appealing. I'm no Holga fan or owner of one, so am not sure how much better focus could actually be. Yet, Holga appeal is in its imperfection and unpredictability.

 

[gone]

Given that nothing is really in focus at any distance

That pretty much sums it up, Sharp is relative w/ a plastic camera and lens. In any case, I prefer the Holga pic. When I shot scale focus cameras, I measured off some distances in the back yard and practiced estimating them. You get pretty good at it after a while.

You can't make a direct comparison btwn your Holga and the Canon lens focal lengths due to the differences in formats.

 

[AnselMortensen]

That's the fun part of Holgas...
"Hmmm...is my subject 3/7ths of the distance between "two heads" and the "mountains", or is it 4/7ths?"
"Maybe it's only 2/7ths."

 

[pentaxuser]

Brokenland, just out of curiosity, can I ask what sort of responses were you expecting or hoping for in this thread. It sounds as if most failed to met these expectations.

pentaxuser

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Here's a video from a guy called Steve O'Nions who appears to be a recent convert to the Holga because sharpness is not always "his thing" but although his is the 35mm version it appears that his lens quality while not sharp is a whole lot better than your lens Have a look at his shots at about 2 mins 16 secs

Given the distance to the barn seems way more than the distance at which all subjects should be in focus then it might be that you have a poor lens even by Holga standards

Still if its quality is what you want then that's an end to the matter and good luck with your project



pentaxuser

I love watching Steve - been watching him for years. He's been shooting Holgas on and off for a long while, along with a few other unloved cameras like the Nikon F80, etc.

I find myself gravitating more toward video makers like him versus the ones that always about the latest gear and not the actual work.

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Brokenland, just out of curiosity, can I ask what sort of responses were you expecting or hoping for in this thread. It sounds as if most failed to met these expectations.

pentaxuser

I don't understand the pattern of making a post, people taking the time to engage and help based on experience, and then promptly deleting the post.

I can't see where anyone did anything to offend Brokenland, yet here we are again.

If I said something offensive, I apologize. I really was just trying to help based on my experience of shooting with Holgas.

Jeremy

 

[Dali]

Jeremy, this is not the first time the OP shows no respect for contributors by deleting his post. Clearly, he does not give a damn. Let’s do the same and NOT contribute anymore to any if his threads until he changes of attitude and get a minimum civilized. Rude people don’t belong here.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Maybe he thinks leaving posts up will cost him money.

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

Maybe he thinks leaving posts up will cost him money.

No ad-hom intended, but OP may just be a spoiled child. They are obviously suffering from some sort of derangement judging from the vitriolic word salad in their now-deleted posts.

Hopefully they prefer their photography hobby over assault rifles. Shitposters: Ignore!

 

[Deleted member 88956]

And funny part is that photo posted from Holga was actually quite appealing.

 

[MattKing]

Closing what stated out as a useful and interesting thread but was sidelined when the OP deleted the original post.