W
hen the colour-splash Holga came out, I knew I had to have one! It had a tripod mount and a bulb setting too – nowadays the standard for Holgas – but it wasn’t pre 2006. This one also has a glass lens, and a dedicated 6×6 gate.
Lomography were selling it for a lot more than eBay seller “uranium-99”. Although I usually stay away from items shipped in from Hong Kong, I gave it a go – and was extremely happy with his service. I ordered many other Holga related items from him since then.
To make my shots more interesting, I ordered Lomography’s Fisheye adaptor. Having used their 35mm Fisheye 2 camera for many years, loving the close-up look and warped images, I imagined amazing results with added Holgalicity. How right I was!
Since it’s not that easy to mount the adaptor (you have to screw two bolts into the focussing ring), it has since then become my permanent Fisheye Holga, delivering excellence in weirdo-imagery whenever it tickels me.
For panoramas, I suppose you have to get “up-close and personal” with your subjects to really make an image standout. I imagine them to be just a series of circle-ish images stuck together, and I didn’t have high hopes for this camera to become a sterling panorama candidate. Nevertheless, I gave it a go.
It didn’t help that the day I popped a few rolls of expired Kodak EPP into my heavy-lensed friend, it was very overcast. Not good Holga weather. But, the local fun fair was in town, and I thought what the hell.
This Holga gave me some excellent results in the bright sunny conditions of Las Vegas in 2007 – I love it dearly, and the Fisheye adaptor is now its permanent lens. I’m not going to give it bad remarks for dark pictures. I have to admit that I’ve not used it as close up as I normally would have. What I do see though is that the subjects 20 yards away won’t come out the way I want them to – i.e. up close and personal. Probably to be expected with a super wide lens.
I love the circular images it produces, but stuck together to make up a larger picture, I can’t quite see this as a good panorama contestant. Sorry, Fisheye Holga – you’re out of the Panorama Contest!
Tell you what: if there’s room in the suitcase, you can come with me 😉 I always need a whacky Fisheye friend, especially when the weather is good.
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