35mm film

So you have a great medium format camera, and you're looking for cool things to do with it. One of the coolest things you can do is load 35mm film into it. So what is so cool about going back to tiny little 35mm frames? Well, your image gets printed on the full frame, which works out to be 55x35mm. This is much wider than your average 35mm shot. But the best thing for me is that the image gets printed over the sprocket holes, resulting in fantastically interesting pictures.

35mm Three Crosses
by Peter Thomsen

35mm Holga
by thevoyager

That's hot! How do I do it?

For this mod you will need the following items:

• A Holga
• 35mm film
• Some thin rubber bands
• Foam - 2 chunky squares and a thin strip
• Black tape
• Scissors
• Changing bag or darkroom for unloading your film

Note: 35mm must be unloaded and rewound into its canister in complete darkness. Failing to do this in complete darkness will ruin your film! If you don't have a completely dark room, you can buy a changing bag. These aren't expensive, and come in handy if you ever get film stuck in your camera.

How do I advance to the next frame?

You use Nicolai Morrison's wonderful 35mm Advance Guide. The table below is based upon the assumption that you are using the 6x6 mask. If you are not using the mask, check out the 35mm Advance Guide for the relevant information.

NOTE: There are 24 clicks to each turn of the Holga's winder

36 exposure roll: 24 55x35mm exposures, 3-4mm frame spacing
24 exposure roll: 17 55x35mm exposures, 3-4mm frame spacing

Exposure #	Clicks	Turns Fraction	Turns Decimal
Load	42	1 3/4	1.75
1	35	1 1/2	1.5
2	34	1 1/2	1.4
3	33	1 3/8	1.4
4	33	1 3/8	1.4
5	31	1 3/8	1.3
6	30	1 1/4	1.25
7	30	1 1/4	1.25
8	29	1 1/4	1.2
9	28	1 1/4	1.2
10	27	1 1/8	1.2
11	27	1 1/8	1.2
12	26	1	1
13	26	1	1
14	25	1	1
15	25	1	1
16	24	1	1
17	24	1	1 (END 24 EXP ROLL)
18	23	1	1
19	23	1	1
20	23	1	1
21	22	9/10	0.9
22	22	9/10	0.9
23	22	9/10	0.9
24	END

Table reproduced with kind permission from Nicolai Morrison.

The table is also available as a PDF (72 KB) which you can print and stick on the back of your Holga. There's an alternative version which has a space for notes instead of fractional and decimal turns.

35mm click guide Holga!

How do I get prints?

Unfortunately, getting prints from 35mm Holga experiments is not the easiest thing in the world. The reason for this is that the width of each image is much wider than photo labs are used to dealing with. As a result their scanners cannot print the image properly. If you ask for prints, you'll most likely get the center portion of your image only, which defeats the object of running 35mm through a Holga.

When you get your film developed, you could ask for a contact sheet. This is a sheet of paper with your negatives printed onto it as one long strip. You can then scan this paper to produce prints.

An even better method is to scan the film using a scanner set up for medium format film. This will allow you to scan in the whole strip of the film, including all the sprocket-hole goodness. You can then take this file on CD to a photo lab and get prints done. This will probably work out more cost-effective than having all of the images printed anyway.

Unload Film

After you take your last shot, keep winding the film on. You can stop winding after you see the paper tab at the end of the roll go past, and when you look through the red film counter window it's completely black. You may now open the back and remove your spool.

Tips for unloading your film:

• Unload your film in low light, in case there isn't enough tension around your take up spool, which could create light leaks.
• Not all films have a lick-able tab, some are self-adhesive. Don't lick that.
• Develop your films as soon as possible after exposing. If this is not possible store your film in a cool dark place, or for longer term storage pop it in your fridge.

Mask

To mask, or not to mask?

by callmeoblomov

The old-school Holga came with only one mask: a rectangular 4.5cm by 6cm one that takes 16 shots per roll. A popular modification is to cut the rectangular mask so that the opening is square. With the wider opening, your Holga will take 12 square format shots per roll. The newer Holgas save you the trouble and come with a square mask as well as the rectangular one. When using this square format, make sure you move the film counter slider down to 12, as shown below:

2 different masks	Film counter window

You can load your film without a mask at all. This will give you 12 exposures per roll, and the photos will be basically the same size as those taken with the square mask installed, but with a much softer edge, and the possibility of increased vignetting. Bright light will cause significant bleed since the photo is no longer constrained by the frame:

Masonry by callmeoblomov

You'll still be able to fit 12 frames per roll, since the plastic bracket that the mask normally rests on will probably stop your photos from overlapping on the sides. Additionally, if you're intending on shooting without a frame, be sure to tape over the edges of that bracket, as it will come in contact with your film and may scratch it when you advance the film. The film may be a little looser against the film plane, too, so your photos may be a bit more out of focus. To help remedy this, make sure you use cardboard tensioners underneath your spools. See the loading film section for help.

The canted sides of the frames normally block off the film from the rest of the camera body interior, so without a frame, you may find that you're getting a lot more light leaks. You'll probably want to tape up the interior of your Holga (as well as the outside, of course) if you want to minimize those. The most common leaks revealed by shooting without a frame come from the two little holes that live right above the lens, which are normally blocked by the frame. Just stick a piece of tape over them.

Tape the orange areas with your black tape	Another angle

Flickr member RedLuX has come up with a genius little hack for using your Holga without a mask. All you need is about 12cm of small plastic tubing, which you can find in pet shops for fish pumps. Cut a length to fit each side of your Holga then slice it down one edge. Now place the tubing over the edges of where the film slides over, as shown below. Whether you glue these in place depends on how permanent you want the hack to be, the tube should naturally hold itself in place. This tube method has a unique advantage over the tape method shown above - as it helps to keep the film in its correct distance from the lens. That should cut out some of the annoying blurriness, while giving you plenty of vignetting and light leaks.

Get tubing	Put tubing in place	Side view

Some people spray paint the inside of their Holga with matte black paint to reduce light leaks (and increase contrast, and all kinds of voodoo) - this practice is called flocking. Your mileage may vary.