Topic: Epic Holga FAIL

[ChristineHickey]

I just need to vent and get this off my chest so that I can move on...

I have two Holgas - one always loaded with color film and the other always loaded with B&W.  I take them with me wherever I go and even bought a bag that looks like a purse so I can fashionably carry them anywhere.  I recently brought them to Kansas for my baby brother's wedding.

At some point, whether its my fault, the cameras' fault or both... BOTH Holga's switched into bulb mode.  I never noticed and happily shot away snapping four rolls worth of film.  What I did notice, however, maybe because of the heat, was that the foam film cushion in BOTH cameras came loose and wound itself into the rolls. 

I got my photos back last night, well aware that they may be damaged from the foam incident, but utterly shocked when I realized the bulb mode was on.  Shocked and dismayed.  I was ready to poke my eyes out so that I wouldn't even be tempted to ever photograph again!

But today is a new day.  I am moving on and slowly getting over the anger/embarrassment/discouragement.  I do love my Holgas and will forgive them.  I'm sure that some of you can commiserate over this with me...

 

[Nigel]

Christine I commiserate completely, it's soul destroying when something like that happens, but as you say you just need to try to move on. Two things that are important however:

1. Throw that foam away, it is the work of the devil! A small piece of film box folded double under the left-hand film spool does the job just fine.

2. Buy some black gaffer tape and tape that 'B' switch in place. (gaffer tape I decided is one of the best things ever made)

Actually there's a #3.

3. Go out, shoot a roll, and all will be well. 

[charles binns]

It has happened to all of us. As Nigel said, tape up the bulb switch to prevent similar accidents from happening.  One thing I would say is that you can get some nice results from using a hand held bulb mode & it is worth playing around with.

As far as the foam is concerned, folded up paper under the spool does work  but I like glue the  foam back into place.  This is not divilry  - having to fold up a bit of paper every time you load a film is a pain in the proverbial.  The problem is the foam is stuck to the camera body with cheap glue.  Good old fashioned superglue keeps the foam in place just fine.

[astrobeck]

That is beyond tragic, but as Nigel, Charles and you have said, get moving to the new day!

I have my bulb switch taped as well, and on one of my Holgas I have that quirky little lever that moves the aperture lever super-glued in place.
( It's on an older Holga where the aperture switch doesn't change anything anyway)  I got tired of it sliding halfway over into the lens' line of sight and obscuring some of my shots.

[ChristineHickey]

it's soul destroying when something like that happens

You've got that right!  And yes, I am convinced that foam IS of the devil! 
Your tips were fabulous!  Thanks a million!

[ChristineHickey]

Charles, Astrobeck... thanks for your tips as well.  I am taking care of that bulb switch first thing with some gaffer's tape.  That baby won't be going nowhere!

[Info Red]

Another way to replace the foam block is with the un-scratchy side of velcro.  I just cut it to fit, pull the backing off the adhesive side, stick it in place, and I'm ready to go!  I second the use of photographer's gaffe tape for every possible use when it comes to Holgas!  I love my Holgas, have 10 or 12 of them of various incarnations, and all of them have been given the velcro treatment.

IR

[calbisu]

 was ready to poke my eyes out so that I wouldn't even be tempted to ever photograph again!

That would have been a bit extreme, but technically you still would have been able to photograph 

[Ordinal]

Argh, I hate that. I do use B sometimes, but I was thinking of painting "NO" in tipp-ex under the bit that is revealed when you slide the switch in that direction.

I can never remember which way round it goes when I'm using the thing. Is it when the switch is slid *towards* N that it is in N, or *away* from it, revealing the bit underneath? It sounds obvious but it always confuses me. Plus, when you press the shutter in N, it goes CLICK once and then CLICK just as loud when you release the lever, which always makes me think that it's taken a picture in B for some reason.

On the other hand, I think it would be hard to love something that didn't occasionally infuriate you.

[Late Developer]

Firstly, please let me share my sincere condolences; that must have been awful. I've only ever had a camera fail on me in a "serious" situation once - that was whilst shooting a wedding as the professional. Thankfully, I had a back up, so all was not lost - although I did have a major sense of humour failure and a minor wardrobe malfunction. 

However, and this is the bit where you Holga / Diana / Lomo fans will have to help me out, I don't think I could use a camera with acknowledged "faults" a second time after it'd let me down.

I can fully appreciate the wisdom of the advice given to improve light traps and gaffer taping over switches with a mind of their own but the fear that something else was likely to go wrong - lens fall out, winding knob come off in my hand, etc - would play on my mind way too much.

Kudos to one and all for managing your way through these crises, though.......

[sapata]

Just a reminder to always have the arrow on the back of the camera switched to the right number of frames accordingly to the mask you're using... it was my very first mistake and it wasn't relly nice to see the entire roll transformed in a massive panoramic shot!

[Sandeha Lynch]

At some point, whether its my fault, the cameras' fault or both... BOTH Holga's switched into bulb mode.  I never noticed and happily shot away snapping four rolls worth of film.  What I did notice, however, maybe because of the heat, was that the foam film cushion in BOTH cameras came loose and wound itself into the rolls. 

At least the back didn't fall off.      

[ChristineHickey]

Just a reminder to always have the arrow on the back of the camera switched to the right number of frames accordingly to the mask you're using.

I've done that as well!  Although that didn't seem as nearly disappointing as my most recent mishap.

[Chalky]

ahh very frustrating, but you won't do it again I doubt, especially with the tips above

I got confused last time I used mine and got the 16/12 shots in reverse and shot one long panorama too!

we live and learn and all that :-)

[ChristineHickey]

At least the back didn't fall off.      

I suppose worse things could have happened!   

[charles binns]

At least the back didn't fall off.      

I suppose worse things could have happened!   

That actually happened to me during the snowfall this winter.  Was out with my holga panoramic & brownie 127 when I happened on a photographer shooting digital. He congratulated me on staying true to film and told me he was glad people were still enthusiastic about analogue photography etc., etc.  I showed him my Brownie and then proudly pulled my Holga Pano out of my coat pocket saying "look at this"...and the back fell off......I felt like a right berk and he didn't look too impressed.  Moral?  Secure your Holga pano with two elastic bands.  That really was a waste of film!

[Jack Johnson]

However, and this is the bit where you Holga / Diana / Lomo fans will have to help me out, I don't think I could use a camera with acknowledged "faults" a second time after it'd let me down.

I have more than one camera that scratches the film. Sometimes it's a subset of frames, sometimes it seems that some film brands are more susceptible than others. I always think another cleaning will fix it.

More often than not, the unscratched frames are worth the grief, and a little amnesia and suddenly I'm loading it all over again, or swearing about the lost frames.

[Late Developer]

Hi Jack.

I've got a Hasselblad A12 back that I believe is causing very faint scratching of film. Recently, I acquired another back which will allow me to send the one that scratches the film to be looked at / repaired. If it isn't repairable (or it's beyond economic repair - i.e. I could get one that works properly, cheaper) the old back is gone.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking a pop at Holgas, as I love the shots that are posted here with the strange vignetting, colour shifts and blur, however, I couldn't tolerate a camera that I knew was going (or was likely) to damage the end result.

Maybe I'm too much of a perfectionist and maybe I'll never be film "waster" in the truest sense.

[Chalky]

Jonathan Canlas of 'Film is not dead' fame argues that every time film is truly 'wasted' a unicorn dies...

[ChristineHickey]

All of you guys are the BEST!  It's not that "misery loves company", but it sure feels good knowing I'm not the only one making these mistakes and experiencing these mishaps.   

[Ed Wenn]

If I may be allowed to hark back to a simpler time when Holgas were called 120F or 120SF and didn't have the irritating bulb switch....or any of the other 45 million enhancements which have since been inflicted on the Holga-buying public. Grrr. It's confusing. About 3 years ago a friend showed me a contact sheet from a film she'd just put through her Holga. Loads of wobbles and multiple exposures. Every shot ruined....all very weird. "You've been using a Holga for years, Ed. What could be causing this behaviour?" The thing is, I didn't know Holgas now had the irritating bulb switch fitted as standard, so I puzzled over it for the whole evening and still came up blank.

Christine: You have my sympathy, but I'm glad you've dusted yourself off and got straight back to it.

[mickld]

For what it's worth, I had my Holga eat up the piece of foam on the receiving side two days ago. I knew something was wrong when I took the back off and the roll seemed peculiarly fat. Then I realised the foam has been wrapped up inside the roll. I actually thought it was kind of funny. But there were only casual shots of local graffiti on it - nothing I can't retake again. I'm planning on developing it tonight.

I always keep the back taped on with duct tape too. I wrapped a good long length of tape around an empty 120 film spool so I have plenty of tape with me in my bag for any emergencies.

My worst film disaster to date was letting my 10 year old son shot the 2nd roll of 120 film to be used in my new-to-me Mamiya M645. This uses a cartridge to hold the film which is inserted into the camera. It's a little weird to load until you get used to it, and I managed to load the film back to front, so that the paper backing was facing the light instead of the emulsion. My son shot the roll, loaded the film onto the reel in the dark bag (that was an EPIC moment), developed the roll under my supervision and was hopping from foot to foot as we pulled the roll from the reel to hang to dry. Completely blank! I don't know who wept the longest or hardest. I felt like such a fool. It broke his little heart.