Holga
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|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Maker | Various |
| Type | Box camera |
| Lens | |
| Lens | 60 mm plastic meniscus |
| F-numbers | f/8.0, f/11.0 (actual f/13) |
| Sensor/Medium | |
| Image sensor type | Film |
| Image sensor size | 56 mm × 56 mm (6x4.5 cm or 6x6 cm film format) |
| Recording medium | 120 film |
| Focusing | |
| Focus | Manual zone (four settings) |
| Shutter | |
| Shutter speeds | 1/100 or 1/125,Bulb |
| Released | 1982 |
The Holga is a medium format 120 film camera, made in Hong Kong, known for its low-fidelity aesthetic.
The Holga's low-cost construction and simple meniscus lens often yields pictures that display vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other distortions. The camera's limitations have brought it a cult following among some photographers, and Holga photos have won awards and competitions in art and news photography. As of November 2015, Production has been ceased on this camera.
The Holga camera was designed by T. M. Lee in 1982. It first appeared outside China in 1982 in Hong Kong. At the time, 120 roll film in black-and-white was the most widely available film in mainland China. The Holga was intended to provide an inexpensive mass-market camera for working-class Chinese in order to record family portraits and events. However, the rapid adoption of the 35 mm film format, due to new foreign camera and film imports, virtually eliminated the consumer market for 120 roll film in China. Seeking new markets, the manufacturer sought to distribute the Holga outside mainland China.
Within a few years after the Holga's introduction to foreign markets, some photographers began using the Holga for its surrealistic, impressionistic scenes for landscape, still life, portrait, and especially street photography. These owners prized the Holga for its lack of precision, light leaks, and inexpensive qualities, which forced the photographer to concentrate on innovation and creative vision in place of increasingly expensive camera technology. In this respect, the Holga became the successor to the Diana and other toy cameras previously used in such work. A Holga photograph by photojournalist David Burnett of former vice-president Al Gore during a 2000 campaign appearance earned a top prize in a 2001 White House News Photographers' Association Eyes of History award ceremony.
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Wikipedia