- holga week 2024
holga week 2024 was a blast.
an ode to the fantastically cheap medium format camera, holga week is run by mr. holga and headquartered at don’s used photo equipment in dallas, texas.
check out more information about holga week from the horse’s mouth here:
in short, every year on october 1-7, anyone from around the world is welcome to shoot their holga camera.
then, submissions open to the competition the month following holga week, so oct 8 – november 8.
there are a few categories like street, portrait, nature, pinhole and each participant can submit three photos.
the categories are judged and winners announced later in november.
there’s also a grand holga champion who wins a gold holga!
and i believe there is also a people’s choice award. so if you submitted photos, you can vote for the holga select winner (aforementioned people’s choice award).
fun, right?!?!
my holga week 2024
i shot way too many rolls this year, but i was in a good place with my holga, having chosen it for my frugal film project this year, with good results.
there were the two rolls of harman phoenix 200, one kodak gold 200, and one fpp wolfman!
most of the film was shot in two days, but i did take a few more on the others (bloody work getting in the way of my holga fun!).
first day, i headed up to western new hampshire, finding beautiful lakeside stops and interesting scenes across several small towns.
the other day, i found myself at one of my favorite festivals in autumn, the apple fest!
this is where i shot the two rolls of phoenix, quite easily with all the activity there.
most of the images were experimental double exposures.
i haven’t included my top three images i submitted in this post though. i’ll be doing another post after the competition is over on those!!
i need to scan these rolls of phoenix again because i believe i can get results i like better. these images are fun and punchy, but they are on the garrish side as well.
scanning is SO important with phoenix and quite a few photographers have had better results scanning at home than at their labs. it’s not the labs doing a poor job, it’s that their scanners are not set to scan phoenix which is a brand new film.
the holga week team created merch this year and i couldn’t have been more excited about it.
i promptly secured myself a t-shirt and coffee mug.
check it out here!
https://holgaweek.printify.me/products
so, tell me, how was your holga week?? what did you shoot, what are you submitting, etc?!
-m
- flic film’s new doubleshot half frame camera
if you ever wondered what it’s like to shoot a cheap plastic ‘reusable’ camera and for some reason have not watched the endless amounts of youtube material on these types of cameras yet…well, i can tell you it’s a lot of fun!
don’t pay attention to the naysayers behind the internet curtain, at least not until you’ve tried on of these cameras for yourself…
this post is all about the new flic film doubleshot half frame 35mm camera and it’s a great option if you are looking for a very cheap camera that will also essentially half the cost of any film roll…
this camera above took this image below…
flic film is a company based in canada that produces loads of different products related to film photography…film, (now) cameras, chemistry, paper, accessories, and more.
honestly, i don’t know how they do it all.
i do know though, that Dave, the fearless leader at the charge has a great team behind him and himself, an experienced and knowledgeable photographer and business individual.
they did kindly send me the camera along with their new film, UltraPan 18, repackaged fomapan that comes with 18 full frames, leaving you the usual 36 on half frame. created with the doubleshot in mind as many folks have trouble finishing the 72 shots you would have otherwise on a 36-full-frame-exposure roll.
i made a video for youtube as well, but this post is for the written word lovers in the crowd.
doubleshot camera settings:
- lens: plastic 28mm f/8 lens
- shutter: 1/120s
- minimum focus distance: 1.8m
the doubleshot is super lightweight and ‘jacket’ pocketable.
it’s a stylish black and white design, similar in ergonomics to the agfaphoto half frame.
flash is included and is powered by a double aa battery, my favorite. easy to find most places!
in typical plasic lens fashion, the images are sharp in the middle and slightly blurry around the edges, an aesthetic i fell in love with on the holga gcfn.
this type of look isn’t for everyone, as the internet keyboard warriors have let us know, but i love it.
in the image below, on the right, i used flash in the daytime as this scene was in a dark shaded corner. it’s one of my favorites on the roll.
the most impactful benefit of shooting a half frame camera is getting more frames for the dollars you are putting down for those chemical miracles we call rolls of film.
very quickly, film photography becomes extremely affordable with a half frame camera and a cheaper roll of film. if you tack on home developing, it’s miles away from the crazy expense that is lamented via reddit and social media.
expensive v affordable are relative terms and film photography can either be low cost or outrageous depending on what you shoot, how you shoot, how you develop, scan, print, etc.
i had a lot of fun with the Flic Film DOUBLESHOT, really enjoyed the images that came out, and want to thank Dave and the team for sending me one to try with film without strings!
let me hear your thoughts in the comments below 🙂
cheers,
m
- a new blog about film photography
well, well, well…if it isn’t another new blog!
i tend to start more things than i can finish, but i have this hosting subscription for another three years, so i decided to open a new place where i can blog casually, or not so casually, about film photography and see where it goes in that time.
i’ve been writing a newsletter on substack and it’s been a great experience.
- sign up here if you are interested in a monthly newsletter all about film photography, news, projects, etc.
however, the website can be a bit glitchy sometimes and i want to have a home base for all things ‘eclectachrome’.
so here it is…
in bold but calming blue – ha!
honestly, it was the first theme that came up on the install that grabbed my attention and held it for a moment…
this image above was taken on my old seagull tlr which jammed, leaving me with the perfect excuse to peruse ebay and other used camera sites for a fresh tlr.
i found a rolleiflex on used camera pro #notsponsored and it was mine within minutes.
while my buying experience with the rolleiflex was great, i had also ordered a pentax k1000 as a present for my mum from used photo pro in excellent condition…and it arrived not working.
they were nice on the returns side though and i sent it back.
tricky thing about film cameras when buying with a limited return window…you have to shoot it and develop immediately to really know if it works, not everyone can do that…so some might find themselves getting their test roll back from the lab 2 weeks after the return window elapses with light leaks.
used photo pro (also involves roberts camera) has a 14-day return window. so if you are buying a camera from here and want to test it, that’s a relatively short time to do so.
something to keep in mind!
shot above is from the new rolleiflex! it’s an mx – a cheaper post-war automat version, from what limited information online tells me.
so, friends!
welcome to the blog, join me on substack for a monthly newsletter if you so wish, and let me know about you in the comments below…who are you? why are you here? what’s your favorite camera?
cheers,
m