My First Attempts At Holga Mods

Holgas are cheap. To me, that is the most under appreciated aspect of the Holgas. Now, I am no expert, and I don't claim to be. What I am is someone with just enough curiosity to try just about any Holga modification. With those three elements (no expert, curious, cheap camera) in mind here are some Holga camera mods I have attempted thus far.  

1. Sanding down the frame mask- One of my two Holgas came with several of the masks that not only determine the dimensions of the shot, how many shots you get on a roll, but also holds the film in place. Or at least according to who you ask. With reckless abandon, I sanded down the mask in one of the easier Holga camera mods I could think up. 

Why I did this, I am not totally sure, but I think the idea was to get less vignetting even on the larger pictures. But I am now starting to wonder if that wouldn't make taking a panorama more possible. Maybe if you split the number of turns you take on the reel. 

Does this Holga vignetting mod work? I have no clue yet, but I am sure someone will let me know in the comments. And what about the panorama mod? Am I way wrong there. 

2. Spray painted the frame mask white- Again, with an abundance of the masks, I decided to spray paint one with a white flat spray paint. Sanding it first made sure they paint would hold, which I would suspect is a requirement instead of a suggestion. 

I haven't developed the roll of film I took with this mod, but when I do I will certainly refer back to this article. That being said, I think this might have some impact on the exposures. I know it won't have the same effect as using a filter on the Holga's "lens" but this might effect some of the light with something like film speed. 

Again, leave me a comment if you have any idea what this will do, if it will have any effect at all. 

3) Flocking and taping- Everyone who is going to take Holgas seriously, and there are those that do, talks about flocking the inside of the Holga to keep light from bouncing around. Thus the inspiration for the aforementioned mod, but I took a little different approach. Instead of spray painting the masks, I standing them down with varying degrees of sandpaper. One I left rough (80 grit), one middle grade (100 grit sandpapers), and one nearly smooth (400 grit). 

Taping is also critical. Lot of videos demonstrate taping the seams of the camera on the outside of a Holga. Taping and retaping would annoy me, so I decide to tape along the inside of the camera and have the seal created by the plastic cover instead of the tape. This saves you from have a taped up looking camera and to me stops light leaks more effectively. It does make me wonder if the back lid will pop off more easily but that hasn't been a problem so far. 

If these Holga mods work or not, I don't know. But I am willing to try them  out. And because Holga cameras are simple, and typically cheap to obtain, the cost of a failed experiment is pretty low. No one is willing to mod up even a $50 camera quite like they will mess around with a $10 Holga.