The Holga Lens for Olympus and other Micro-4/3 cameras.

Over the many years I have been a photographer, some of my most memorable shots have been with the original Holga 120N.  It's not hard to see why -- for such an inexpensive camera one can have a lot of fun shooting and figuring out what the camera can do.  It is still a bargain compared to the Lomo Diana F+, and the results are still as unique as ever.  However, many folks have left film cameras and want to recreate the Holga "look" on a digital camera.  China has responded by producing Holga lenses for Nikon, Canon, and Pentax mount cameras.  I have used the 60mm Holga lens in my Nikon D90 and in my Nikon film SLRs, and wasn't too enamored with it as the viewfinder image was very dim.  The aperture was listed as f/8, but I think it was even smaller than that, negating some of the very characteristics that make the plastic lenses so fun to use.  I am always on the lookout for fun lenses to use with my Olympus Pen E-PL1, and I saw that Holga was selling a version of the lens for the Micro 4/3 mount.  The 25mm focal length was a perfect "normal" lens aspect for the M4/3 mount, too.  So, I ordered a lens from Holga Direct and it arrived about a week later.  For less than $20, too, direct from Hong Kong.  Yes, the lens is ALL plastic, but that's the "Holga way."  

That is the lens on my E-PL1, and yes that is the Olympus VF-3 viewfinder on top of the camera (perhaps the best $100 I have spent to make a camera more useful).  The Holga lens has the typical pictograms on the lens barrel for closeup, portrait, group, and infinity.  The rear of the lens has a central aperture surrounded by a ring of smaller holes.  I believe this gives the lens a better "Holga quality" by softening the image on a digital sensor.    The lens comes with front and rear lens caps (throw them away).  Use a M4/3 rear cap for the lens to keep out dust and grime when not on the camera.   In use, the lens barrel rotates smoothly to "focus."  This is where the optional eye-level EVF comes in handy, as it is really much easier to find the focus than on the rear LCD.  However, using the magnify button allows one to also gauge the focus pretty well.  The Holga lens vignettes nicely, and the images definitely have that "Holga look"...on digital.  Using the Art Filter settings AND the Holga lens on the Olympus also gives me even MORE creative possibilities.  The close-up setting is about 2 feet away from the subject, which is a nice touch with this lens.  The Holga M4/3 lens is a definite must-have if you like a little blur with your images.
Here are a few samples.  The lens does best in contrasty situations - i.e., full sun.  Set your ISO to 400, and you will be good in full sun to partly cloudy conditionS.  I use the 1:1 setting for square format Holga-like results, and have been quite happy with it.

 My final verdict -- this is the best Holga lens for non-Holga cameras that I have used.  The ability to choose a square aspect ratio with the Pen really makes the most of this lens, and while the results are digital, the experience is much like using a Holga.  Ditch those Instagram fakeries, and use a real lens to get the Holga experience.

World Wide Pinhole Photography Day

WWPPD has become quite a big thing. Each year, hundreds (thousands?) of photographers shoot pinhole cameras on the last Sunday of April. Each person uploads a single image to the WWPPD web site, and it is a blast to see what other folks have been shooting.  This year, I had plans to spend a good chunk of the day doing pinhole shots.  However, the weather turned out to be overcast and drizzly all day.  Not the best weather for doing any kind of shooting, unless you are under an umbrella.  However, I was determined to shoot something besides an indoor still-life.  I loaded up my Polaroid pinhole camera -- it uses pack film, and is a former Tektronix oscilliscope camera.  I think I made it about 8 years ago, and removed the front part of the camera and replaced it with a new front and a pinhole.  Simple.  I am on the third pinhole iteration, and the current size is about right.   The film I used this time around is the Fuji 3000B - the 3000 ISO black and white film.  For a day like today, it was at the edge of the usable range, being that my exposures were between 2 and 3 seconds.  I could not have used it in full sun.  Certainly a good choice for indoor pinholery, though.

I managed to do some test shots outside the house to gauge my exposure, and then headed over to Parker Mill, hoping for some images of the flowing water at Fleming Creek.  Between the time I did the test shots and got on the road, it had started raining as a fine mist.  I soldiered on, hoping for the best.  Fleming Creek was actually flowing quite well, and the small island I often shoot from was surrouned by the creek.  I was able to hop over the overflow, and set up on the island.  The ground beneath the trees had been scoured by the high water of the previous week, and looked pretty interesting.  I was able to finish off the pack of film, but with the rain, my prints got wet, and though I had them in a box, some emulsion still got scraped while being jostled on the way back to the car.  So, if you shoot in the rain with pack film, carry a dry box to keep the prints in.    Here are a few shots from the day.

Fujica DL-20 - Pocketful of 35mm Fujifun

Back in January, I picked up a used Fujica DL-20 point and shoot that had been languishing in the local camera shop.  Fuji cameras have been known to have excellent optics, and the little 35mm camera intrigued me as to its abilities.  It had been sitting in Huron Camera's bargain bin for quite a while, and I finally bit.

pop-up flash

As you can see in the first photo, the lens cover is also a viewfinder cover. It rotates to the left, revealing the lens and  allowing use of the camera.   It uses 2 AA batteries to power the auto-winder and pop-up flash.  Film is easy to load- simply release the back catch, and the back opens up from the bottom, and you simply slide the roll of film and leader into place.  Shut the back and the film loads to frame 1.  There are only two manually-set ISO settings - 100 and 400.  Not the best selection, but this isn't a camera for the picky.  The two film speeds are also ones most likely to be found at the drugstore back in 1983, when the camera was released.    There is a pop-up flash that is manually set.  The focus is zone, with icons for portrait, group, and landscape.  The default is group, which is also the flash setting. The shutter button is large and easily found, and next to it there is also a recessed connector for a standard remote release cable, as well as a tripod socket on the bottom of the camera.  This is a pretty basic, yet functional and sturdy camera.  It can fit easily into a big pocket.

top deck of camera

The camera specifications are:
38mm focal length, f/4 Fujinon lens
1/100 sec shutter speed at ISO 100
1/300 sec shutter speed at ISO 400.
dimensions - 121 x 72 x 55 mm; 300 g
Anticipating today's trends, the camera was available in black, white, and red! It has clean lines,  a brightline viewfinder, and a raised grip on the right side, providing good ergonomics for the user. Okay, enough of that, how did the camera perform?    First of all, the roll of film I tested it with was fresh Kodak Tri-X, not a C-41 film.  Here are a few photos from that roll, ranging from a snowstorm in January, to a bit of snow in mid-March.

Snowstorm in Dexter, second shot on the roll.

Jiffy in Chelsea

March reflection

not yet picnic time

cactus club

monstera leaves

The optics appear to be quite sharp. It's not a bad camera, and surely a sturdy camera to keep handy for any adventure!   Two things I recommend you do -- make sure that the zone focus is set properly before shooting, and make sure that you don't inadvertently change the ISO setting.  Other than that, the camera is quite easy to use.  Like many Fuji cameras from a few decades ago, they seem to be uncommon here in the US.  

Onward To Findlay via US 127.

A week ago, my good friend Abby and I drove down to Findlay, Ohio to attend the Film Photography Project's (FPP) 2013 Photo walking workshop. We decided to go down via US 127 and hit some small towns along the way in NW Ohio.  This post is about the sights along the way, and a bit about FPP. I have yet to finish developing and scanning my film from the trip, so what you'll see here are some digi shots and Polaroids.
US 127 ends (or starts, depending on your point of view) just N of Higgins Lake in Michigan, where it merges with I-75, and terminates in Tennessee somewhere.  We took 127 S from US-12, and were able to visit Hudson, MI, which seems to have transformed itself.  I remember driving through there about 10 years ago, and the main street was filled with dilapidated old buildings with boarded up storefronts. This time, I saw that all of those places had been repainted, updated, and most had businesses of some sort in them.  That is a good thing to see.  With the prevalence of the internet, small towns can be attractive to artists and entrepreneurs, and those upstairs lofts can be used as apartments or art spaces, etc.  Anyhow, one thing in Hudson that captured my attention was the stone arch railroad bridge that crosses Bean Creek E of downtown.  That type of bridge is a rarity in Michigan, and it was used by the now long-defunct Lakeshore and Michigan Southern RR.  The tracks are long gone, but the stone arch remains. Built in 1871, it is a reminder of the amazing workmanship that built the rail infrastructure in this country.

After crossing into Ohio, our first stop  was the city of Bryan.  I am greatly impressed at how many of these small towns that are county seats feature beautiful late 1800s county courthouse, usually in a town square of some sort.  There is a very attractive downtown movie theater (the Bryan) that is still running, which I found pleasing. We didn't walk about a whole lot in Bryan, but the Four Seasons Diner caught our eyes, and we could not resist shooting their sign.  After a little discussion, we both realized we were ready for lunch, and the diner was calling to us.  The diner used to be called Lester's and it has a very photogenic sign with a coffee cup pouring coffee...with lights.  Unfortunately is was daylight, so it wasn't lit up.  That will have to wait for another trip in the dark, I suppose.  Lunch was more than I could eat, but it was very good.  I'm not calling out this particular restaurant, but it is a common theme -- portions are way too big.  I'd pay the same for half the amount of food.  

 

Quite satiated with lunch (I didn't even bother eating dinner that night), we drove S, and found the small town of Paulding.  There is a decaying old movie theater there, but no name could be seen.  Paulding had a nice mural on the side of an old building, which seems to be a common thing in Ohio.  It's certainly one way to add some color. The main street wasn't too bad, but there was some grunge to be seen (and photographed) on the side streets.

Brumback Library

Our next stop was in Van Wert, which has a beautiful Romanesque-style public library, the Brumback Library.  The interior is as wonderful as the exterior, and I could see how spending a few hours reading the paper and and so forth in there would be a nice weekly activity if I lived there.  The downtown has a lot of nice old buildings, we saw an excellent old coffee shop sign.  A classy old hotel downtown was also quite attractive. The weather was getting colder and nasty, so we continued onward to Celina, OH.  Apparently named after Salina, NY, Celina OH is another county seat, with a lovely courthouse with large columns -- unlike the other courthouses I have seen.

A Van Wert institution

Celina seems to have a strange conglomeration of architectural styles on the same block -- perhaps it was someone's idea to recreate an old-world look in a small amount of space?  Anyhow, they also have an extant movie theater (the Celina) which is a good sign.  The town also has a fire house with a rather phallic tower out front.  I didn't look inside to see if it has 3-story fire-pole to go with it.
By the time we were done in Celina, it was time to head to Findlay, so we got onto the highway and drove up I-75 to join our fellow photographers at the Film Photography Podcast workshop.  That will be the next post, so stay tuned.  I have many more shots of the towns, and of the FPP goings-on in my Flickr account, so take a peek there.

one of the many odd Celina buidings.