Holga, Toy, Charity Shop, Car Boot and other Bargains (film only please)

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A lot of people have a lot of fun choosing and using lo-fi and low tech cameras – Holga, Diana, Lomo, Lubitel etc.

Others snap up bargain cameras found in charity shops or car boot sales and give them a new lease of life or perhaps discover film for the first time.

Olympus Trips can often be found for silly money and unloved 35mm compacts, cast aside for digital, can be found for less than a fiver.

Some need attention – others whirr into life, ready to go as soon as a new battery is installed.

If you enjoy having to work with the restrictions of a brand new Holga or find yourself the proud owner of a charity shop or car boot film camera bargain please talk about it and post your images here.

This thread is all about getting odd, strange and wonderful results from bargain cameras and working within their limitations to get the best results from what you have - plastic lenses, fixed focus etc.

Please share your thoughts, tips, experiences and images and show us what you have achieved with your lo-fi, lo-tech or cast off camera bargains.
 
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As a result of this "Homeless Holga" thread (thanks to The Big Yin) and the excitement it generated, I have just bought a brand new Holga 120N which arrived this week.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=332163

Pics and progress to follow.

The Holga 120N is a very basic medium format camera with a plastic body and plastic lens; f8 or f11 only; shutter speed of 1/100th or "Bulb"; Zone focusing system; hot shoe; tripod mount; unlimited multiple exposure facility; built in light leaks as standard and a choice of 6 x 4.5; 6 x 6 or 35mm masks.

The 35mm mask is an optional extra.

I also bought the special Holga threaded shutter release cable (which incidentally costs 50% of the camera price) to go with it.

The Holga cable release is very well made but when you release it after your long exposure, it springs back up with a force similar to that of an uppercut from Amir Khan - so be prepared to release it gently.

My Holga learning experience is about to begin ;)
 
Well for me..... all the old simple cameras like box brownies, Bencini comet, coronets, retinettes and so on, have no fascination for me (being old) as I've been there done it and ain't going back :)
 
Well, if I've done this right each of these should link through to a Flickrset with the results from each of my junk/charity shop bargains..


Ensign 420, c.£15 from Ebay


Retina 1a, c.£25 from local junk shop


Yashica D, £50 from local charity shop - expensive for a charity shop, but a bargain at that price (currently awaiting service to release sticking shutter)
 
A bunch of my Holga stuff (and the shots from the only roll that made it from Helga :sniff:) should be here - there's stuff from the 120GN and the PinHolga panoramic job in there :)
 
The LC-A is called a toy camera, mainly because it carries the Lomo name and people associate that with crap plastic cameras. However I think its quite a decent little camera.


My Lomo Collection by [Scott], on Flickr



Up Street by [Scott], on Flickr


Through the Valley by [Scott], on Flickr


Broadhaven South by [Scott], on Flickr

Sometimes you do get some strange colours an vignetting but on the whole I find it a pretty decent pocket camera. Only downside is due to the whole lomography thing they are rather expensive!
 
Well for me..... all the old simple cameras like box brownies, Bencini comet, coronets, retinettes and so on, have no fascination for me (being old) as I've been there done it and ain't going back :)

Saw you had a T90 listed in your cameras excalibur - I still have mine as well.

A magnificent beast - on my desk at the moment.

I bought mine many years ago when it had just appeared on the second hand market and so it doesn't fall into the charity shop bargain category for me to post here. Great camera though.
 
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A bunch of my Holga stuff (and the shots from the only roll that made it from Helga :sniff:) should be here - there's stuff from the 120GN and the PinHolga panoramic job in there :)

Some really inspirational work there Mark - what cracking results you are squeezing out of your Holga
 
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The LC-A is called a toy camera, mainly because it carries the Lomo name and people associate that with crap plastic cameras. However I think its quite a decent little camera.

Sometimes you do get some strange colours an vignetting but on the whole I find it a pretty decent pocket camera. Only downside is due to the whole lomography thing they are rather expensive!

You are getting the best out of your Lomo Scott - I like those results
 
Sadly, Its going to be the pinhole only from now on though - As I mentioned in the actual travelling Holga thread - I just didn't actually shoot enough with the holga to justify keeping it - so the idea was send it on its travels, see some interesting work from everyone involved, and at the end of it, run a vote to see who'd made the best use of it. Then they got the camera for keeps!

Unfortunately some light fingered scrote in Devon took a shine to it, and that, as they say was that :(
 
Sadly, Its going to be the pinhole only from now on though - As I mentioned in the actual travelling Holga thread - I just didn't actually shoot enough with the holga to justify keeping it - so the idea was send it on its travels, see some interesting work from everyone involved, and at the end of it, run a vote to see who'd made the best use of it. Then they got the camera for keeps!

Unfortunately some light fingered scrote in Devon took a shine to it, and that, as they say was that :(

Your travelling Holga idea inspired many on this forum Mark - me included. People were queuing up to be part of it and there was even enough interest for a waiting list in case people dropped out.

I bought my first Holga this week as a direct result of your travelling Holga idea and this thread is simply an extension of that idea and a focus point for any related images.

I really hope Helga the Holga resurfaces for you, or that as a group we can find a way of resurrecting your travelling Holga thread.

Here's hoping 2012 brings some very pleasant surprises for us all.
 
@ Alastair -Post #5

Great pictures and purchases Alastair. There is something magical and compelling about these old cameras.
 
Most of my film camera buys are from eBay or Rocky cameras so they wouldn't fit on this thread. Be careful Alastair you'll end up with a bad case of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) and before you know it you have over 100 cameras and no where to store them; though i've got mine down to about 50 now.

Picked up a Olympus Mju-II for £10 in a second hand shop the other day.

I've only been to a car boot sale once and i picked up a Canon T90 (works fine) with the 300TL flash (broken), 5 lenses (though 2 were fungus and 1 broken) and a gossen lunasix light meter for £40.

I've picked up a Pentax Spotmatic SP with two takumar lenses and a junky 300mm with a weston master v light meter for £5 at an auction house before. Also got a Exakta Varex IIb at auction for about £10.

Best one was from a TP member who gave me his Canon FD film gear for the cost of the postage £15.

Canon AE-1 Program + 7 Lenses + Bits by Morinaka_2010, on Flickr

I do have a Holga 120N on the way from that Harman offer this week, also a Zorki 3M on the way from Russia though no idea when that will arrive.
 
I've got a few old cams, gifts or shop finds...

This is from a brownie six-20 D I was given last Xmas. Fixed shutter and aperture, lens full of gunk. Just push and pray.


Untitled by the matt1, on Flickr

Untitled by the matt1, on Flickr

And these are from a Welmy six folding cam I picked up for a few pounds from an old shop owner selling off his extensive collection. Leaks light like nobodies business and scratches film to shreads, but I've got some okay shots from it.


Untitled by the matt1, on Flickr

Untitled by the matt1, on Flickr

I still need to try the Butchers/Cameo quarter plate with the sticky shutter. I think it's going to get photographic paper stuck in it. It belonged to a friend's grandfather.

DSC09697.jpg


I've an Olympus trip 35 waiting for a go too... My grandparents owned it.
 
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I think that possibly the cheapest camera I've bought was my Fed3b. Was from fleabay, and mis-listed (I think it was in womens footwear - the seller was a house clearance merchant, and must have been selling off some old duck's belongings - said old duck probably being imelda marcos!).

Anyway - nobody else seemed to spot it, and I put in a cheeky £3.97 snipe, but amazingly, won it for £0.01 and £2.50 postage... well - anyone who's handled a Fed 3b knows that postage is going to be WAY more than £2.50 purely from the weight (including the never ready leather case!) so the poor old seller took a bath on that sale. Looked rather tidy to be honest...


Fed 3 type B by The Big Yin, on Flickr

After the first roll of film however, I noticed some black powder fall out of the bottom of the camera. This turned out to be the rubberised coating from the shutter curtain :(


Film Side by The Big Yin, on Flickr

this as you may imagine put something of a crimp in the image quality...


Fed3 - Test reel - frame 30 by The Big Yin, on Flickr

But - I wasn't to be stopped - after all, it had only cost me £0.01 after all, so I lashd out another £1.99 on some black latex fabric paint, and re-coated the curtain. 3 very thin coats of the fabric paint with 24 hours between coats to allow everything to dry fully, and the shutter was light-tight again - not a pin-hole anywhere.

and the proof of the pudding...


HP5_2010-03-24_005_800px by The Big Yin, on Flickr


HP5_2010-03-24_020_800px by The Big Yin, on Flickr


HP5_2010-03-24_030_800px by The Big Yin, on Flickr

So - there we have it, one working rangefinder, tough as old boots, for £4.50...
 
Thanks The Matt and The Big Yin - great background stories and pics both of the cameras and what you have achieved with them.

Great tip of using fabric paint on the shutter curtain - it's amazing what tips and fixes this thread could contain for running repairs on old cameras.

I'm playing with my new Holga 120N at the moment.

I've been advised to tape all the joints as a precaution against light leaks.

Do all Holga owners do this as a matter of course please?
 
I'm playing with my new Holga 120N at the moment.

I've been advised to tape all the joints as a precaution against light leaks.

Do all Holga owners do this as a matter of course please?

Aren't the light leaks part of the fun?
 
to be totally honest, the half dozen rolls I put through Helga before sending her on her travels were all shot "Sans-Gaffa" - she was remarkably light-tight straight out of the box, and I only really taped her up before sending her out, because I was afraid the parcel may get used as a football in the post-office sorting sheds!
 
to be totally honest, the half dozen rolls I put through Helga before sending her on her travels were all shot "Sans-Gaffa" - she was remarkably light-tight straight out of the box, and I only really taped her up before sending her out, because I was afraid the parcel may get used as a football in the post-office sorting sheds!

Same here, the two I have got never seem to get any light leaks!
 
I know I've posted this before in the "I have a new toy" thread but I figured it deserves a place in this thread as well.

6100440125_212eb7ce5a.jpg
[/url]
The beast that is the Minolta Dynax 9 by Raglansurf, on Flickr[/IMG]

My finest charity shop find, so far ;)
 
to be totally honest, the half dozen rolls I put through Helga before sending her on her travels were all shot "Sans-Gaffa" - she was remarkably light-tight straight out of the box, and I only really taped her up before sending her out, because I was afraid the parcel may get used as a football in the post-office sorting sheds!

Excellent Mike thanks - my first few rolls at least will be "Sans-Gaffa".

It's just a bit worrying when some brand new Holga's are available and delivered with a roll of electricians tape from new.

I shall give her the benefit of the doubt first ;)

Unlike Helga the Holga - I haven't got a name for her yet, still working on that one.
 
Oh I'd be proud of finding that on a charity shop shelf as well. Great find and a fantastic camera.

I was chuffed when I found it, the lens cost me 3x what the camera did :LOL:
 
I was chuffed when I found it, the lens cost me 3x what the camera did :LOL:

But worth every penny I'm sure Nick.

There are some great cameras and lenses out there worth a second lease of life with a new owner
 
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following the whole helga saga (she's safe with andy in crewe now having taken a ridiculous long holiday in royal mail depots arround devon) I'm now the 'proud' owner of a helga 2 -which i bought to replace the homeless one just before the orriginal turned up.

Ive not put any film through my one yet - basically because the only 120 film ive got is my stock of velvia for my mamiya 645 and i'm not putting that in a holga - scouring ebay for job lots of expired B&W :LOL:
 
Ive not put any film through my one yet - basically because the only 120 film ive got is my stock of velvia for my mamiya 645 and i'm not putting that in a holga - scouring ebay for job lots of expired B&W :LOL:

Hi Pete - if you would like 20 rolls of assorted 120 expired XP2 / Velvia / Professional 160 NPC for your Holga just let me know.

It's all out of date by some years but has always been refrigerated and I could do with donating it to a good home as my wife wants the fridge space back.

I don't want anything for the films or postage although if you would like to "Buy a Brick" at some stage for a new Maasai School in Kenya which is currently under construction - that would be a great help to them and very much appreciated. They are now at the final 10% stage of the build and it's getting exciting.

Please note all of the money will go straight to the school - as all the time and expenses of the charity organisers is given for free with no deductions for admin etc.

http://www.osiligi.org/school.html

Happy New Year and Happy Holga-ing :)
 
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Hi Pete - if you would like 20 rolls of assorted 120 expired XP2 / Velvia / Professional 160 NPC for your Holga just let me know.

Happy New Year and Happy Holga-ing :)

I love this place, people are so generous :clap:
 
Hi Pete - if you would like 20 rolls of assorted 120 expired XP2 / Velvia / Professional 160 NPC for your Holga just let me know.

It's all out of date by some years but has always been refrigerated and I could do with donating it to a good home as my wife wants the fridge space back.

I don't want anything for the films or postage although if you would like to "Buy a Brick" at some stage for a new Maasai School in Kenya which is currently under construction - that would be a great help to them and very much appreciated. They are now at the final 10% stage of the build and it's getting exciting.

Please note all of the money will go straight to the school - as all the time and expenses of the charity organisers is given for free with no deductions for admin etc.

http://www.osiligi.org/school.html

Happy New Year and Happy Holga-ing :)

That would be excellent - i'll pm you my address , and i'm certainly happy to buy a brick for the school (I've just finished rounding up a bunch of old tools for a woodwork project in malawi myself)
 
Aposite description of norm there - I can't stand him - but i wouldnt inflict that beardy twonk on the malawians :LOL:
 
That would be excellent - i'll pm you my address , and i'm certainly happy to buy a brick for the school (I've just finished rounding up a bunch of old tools for a woodwork project in malawi myself)

Many thanks for the PM Pete - a box of assorted 120 films is on its way to you - posted this afternoon.

You've even made the wife happy as she now has half a fridge shelf back for turkey or something equally as useless and far less valuable to film buffs :)

Happy Holga-ing!
 
My best bargain this year was something called a Halina 1000. Got it for 50p from the local car boot sale. Purely a point and shoot plastic camera. Wasn't expecting much from it but compared to the Diana Mini that my girlfriend bought me for my birthday, I'd choose the 50p special every time :)

Stuck some pound shop Kodak through it at the beach in the summer and got these:



british
by rednorters, on Flickr



vintage fizz
by rednorters, on Flickr



dunes and clouds
by rednorters, on Flickr

Thanks for looking.
 
film has arrived safely - my collaegues did say "why is someone sending you catfood ? " :LOL:
 
My best bargain this year was something called a Halina 1000. Got it for 50p from the local car boot sale. Purely a point and shoot plastic camera. Wasn't expecting much from it but compared to the Diana Mini that my girlfriend bought me for my birthday, I'd choose the 50p special every time :)

Stuck some pound shop Kodak through it at the beach in the summer and got these:

And that's exactly what this thread is all about norters - great and unexpected results from bargain or unloved or unwanted cameras.

It's about squeezing every last ounce of performance from films and simple camera technology.
 
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film has arrived safely - my collaegues did say "why is someone sending you catfood ? " :LOL:

ROFL - after the "Holga going walkabout scare" I was hoping no-one would be interested in nicking catfood over Christmas.

Glad it has arrived safely all the same.
 
Another super cheap one from me, this time a Ensign Box camera I picked up for the grand sum of £4.00. Judging by the postal stamp on the box its at least 80 years old. Produces a nice big 6x7 negative.

...

Cleddau River by [Scott], on Flickr

...

Hubberston Fort by [Scott], on Flickr

Nice! I was using an Ensign E20 today, I thought it was about time I used one of my box cameras rather than just admiring them!
 
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