The magic camera is here...

[DCEPTCN]

Okay Brian- the camera showed up today....I see where you noted what kind of film I should get, but what do I have to do to "tweak" it so that I can get pics just like the ones you took in Vegas?

[87natty]

Aw shit, now I have to put effort into something. I'll get back to you all on this.

[DCEPTCN]

Natty, don't make me put on my whining hat.

[87natty]

Oh yeah... I'll have a definitive guide or two up tonight. I promise bitches.

[87natty]

So last night I end up getting spun and now I'm awake at 5am, a little buzzed still and needing to piss like a race horse. I have school in a couple hours, so I might as well stay awake. Anyway, here are some good links. Most are for the Holga 120S, you guys have the 120N, which is the same, but you have the bulb switch, and tripod socket and 60x60 gate from the factory.

Very good aperture mod:
http://www.geocities.com/markhahn2000/holga_mods.html

A better aperture mod and the close up focus mod. Also shows how you can get more film area out of your frames. I suggest cutting the 45x60 one, in case you fuck up:
http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/projects/holga/holgamod.html

Quick note: I popped off the small circle and superglued it to the back of the swing arm, and then sanded it down with an emory board. Same result, but a hell of a lot easier.

How to load 35mil film into a Holga. Don't buy anything from the site, by the way. Total ripoff:
http://shop.lomography.com/holga-backup/35.html

Check this site out a bit, it has good tips on many light leaks:
http://www.holgamods.com/leak/leak.html

This place is good. Click on Mods and Links. I HIGHLY suggest the velcro:
http://www.theverb.com/holga/mainfr.htm

This place is good for inspiration:
http://www.digitalsucks.com/

This guy is good too:
http://www.davidniles.com/holga/index.html

Happy Holga-ing.  

[87natty]

One more thing, Ilford HP5 in the shit! Kodak T-Max 400 and Kodak Tri-X 400 are a little less forgiving. Those are good daylight films. If you're going to be indoors, try an 800 or even a 3200 speed film. If it's bright as shit outside, maybe use a 100 speed. And throw away your lens cap, trust me.

One more thing, on the back you'll see the red square, I cut a hole out of a piece of velcro and covered the hole so light doesn't leak through it. The velcro let's you peep the shot number while winding.

I'll let you in on some more tricks as you progress along...

[DCEPTCN]

Saturday morning I went to Kurt's Kamera Korral in Albuquerque and they had the B&W Kodak TX400. Spooling that crap into the camera was a PITA, but I got her loaded up, put some electrical tape over the little red window and went and killed the roll around Santa Fe County. If they're open late enough this evening I'm gonna drop off the film. After I see how these pics came out, I'll have a better idea of what to do with the rest of the film I bought. I'm pretty stoked to see them.

[87natty]

Sweet! Did you get 35mil or 120 film?

[DCEPTCN]

Sweet! Did you get 35mil or 120 film?

120.....I thought that was the good stuff? I saw the modding that you can do to run 35m in it, but I thought that the only real benefit to that would be having the image all the way to the edge of the frame....which is cool and I will end up trying it, but I'm really just attempting to get some pics that look similar to what you took in Vegas.

[87natty]

So... how did you know what frame you were on? Did you peel the tape?

[DCEPTCN]

So... how did you know what frame you were on? Did you peel the tape?

Yeah, I'd just peel it back slightly while winding to the next frame. It's cool to be taking pics like this for the type of project that I am because even if a pic turns out shitty, it's a "happy little art-accident", y'know? I even deliberately double exposed a coupla frames, taking a second identical pic after having moved the camera a hair's breadth. They say the developing turnaround on this film is 2 days....I can't wait. I've got three more rolls that I wanna burn through, but I've gotta wait and see how the first roll came out.

[87natty]

Yeah! That's how you do it!

[DCEPTCN]

Y'know, I've never been a big photographer-type guy, but on the rare occasion that I'm taking pics I really do have a lot of fun with it.

[87natty]

It's a toy camera! I love it! How could you not have fun? You had the camera set on N right? If it was on B your shit will be blurry.

[DCEPTCN]

It's a toy camera! I love it! How could you not have fun? You had the camera set on N right? If it was on B your shit will be blurry.

"N or B"? I don't remember seeing that.....? It was set to the mountain icon 'cause I was taking somewhat distant photos and it was sunny out, so it was set to the sun icon....where the hell is N or B?