It is reasonably easy to enable your Holga camera to take 35-mm film.
The Holga plastic film camera was originally designed and produced in Russia. Since the 1990s, it has been rediscovered and rehabilitated by photographers who like the chance element of light getting in around the edges of the cheaply made housing. Holga cameras are designed to take medium format 120-mm film, but can be converted easily for use with 35-mm film.
Instructions
1. Open the Holga camera and examine its interior, which has a simple reel mechanism. The film canister is inserted on the left-hand side and is fed into a plastic spool on the other as photographs are taken. As the receiving spool has a slot designed for 120-mm film, you need to shrink the size of this slot. Use the two rubber bands to make a 35-mm-sized slot in the center of the spool.
2. Place the loose end of your 35-mm film in the reduced slot on the take-up spool and wind it a few times to secure it. Place the 35-mm canister in the space on the left-hand side. Because the Holga is designed for 120-mm film, the canister will not fit snugly into this space. Use the folded cardboard or foam pieces to wedge the canister securely, as centrally as you can.
3. Replace the back of the camera. In the back of the Holga camera is a small plastic window that, when using 120-mm film, you use to see which number frame you are on. With 35-mm film, however, you not only do not have numbers, but you also risk spoiling the film from light getting in this window. Use a small piece of electrical tape to cover it up.
4. Wind your film on using the general rule for 35mm film in a Holga. Because you have no way of knowing which number frame you are on, as you take pictures and wind your film on, use the "34-click rule." After taking a picture, turn the winding number for a total of 34 clicks. This should ensure that your photographs do not overlap.
5. Extract your film in a very dark room. Unlike 120-mm film, 35-mm film has no protective coating on its reverse. This is why 35-mm cameras have a mechanism to wind the film back into the canister when all the photographs have been taken. The Holga does not have such a mechanism, so when you have reached the end of your film, you must rewind it by hand. It is essential that you take the film out in as dark a place as possible and that you do not touch the film, as fingerprints will show.
Tags: 120-mm film, 35-mm film, your film, Holga camera, designed 120-mm, designed 120-mm film, film canister