One small thing I discovered after finishing this roll...aim up a bit if you are close to your subject. Everything that I was trying to get in the frame at the top doesn't show up...and I got more ground than I wanted. So...aim up a bit. I just wandered around downtown Phoenix for an hour to shoot this roll. I used Arista.edu 100. I've used the 120 version and have been mostly indifferent, but I quite like the 35mm 100. Nice tones and the film is very flat. Drives me nuts when film is ultra curly and bells up in the middle. And this film is cheap...like $1.80 for a 24 exp roll. Not bad. Developed in 1:1 D-76. Anyway, some shots...
What do you notice first? The massive vignette. Fantastic. I've been looking for a 35mm camera that does some of what 120/620 toy cameras do, and this is it. I have NEVER seen this on ANY 35mm camera, out of the box (not including pinholes and modifications, etc.). Time camera? Nope. Akira? Nope. L-CA? Not even close. I don't know exactly what they did here, but it works for me. That is some crazy vignette for a 35mm camera. Maybe as simple as making the exposed image smaller than the available frame. Whatever, I like it. It has a nice depth of field and treats the out of focus background in a decent manner, as seen in the shot with the saint, or monk, or whatever he is. One big difference between this and the 120...no lightleaks. But I think it's better without.
So, that's it! As I said in my previous post, whenever these become available on a broader scale, they will probably be quite popular. I'm sufficiently impressed.
Very cool. I might actually shoot more 35mm when this becomes more readily available. :)
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ReplyDeleteLovely little camera - I want one! That's the problem with your blog, I'd be a poor woman if I went out and got all the cool cameras you showcased on here ;).
ReplyDeleteI love! Great Idea ! Where you buy?
ReplyDeleteebay! seems to be only one seller from hong kong that has access to them so far.
ReplyDeletei'd always been pretty skeptical about the holga 35mm cameras. but these shots have sold me. what a fantastic vignette! speaking of 35 holga cameras i believe there's one that was issued for the japanese market that was shaped like a cat and made a cat sound when you took a picture.
ReplyDeletei've wanted one of the meowing cameras for awhile. the k200 or something. i guess it's a pretty straight-forward 35mm...but it meows! how great would that be for street photography?!
ReplyDeleteI`ve spent a few hours looking at your blog, and I`m so impressed!!!The text, the photos, your skills and creativity - it blows me away!!! Thank you; I`ll develop a few rolls tonight - because you inspired me :)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you showing us the results out of the Holga 135BC. I like the vignetting! They either got a lens that covers less area than a 35mm frame, or there's some kind of mask in front of the lens. I've made round masks for the Holga 120S to make more vignetting, so this might be the case for the 135BC. The image quality is just full-on Holga, and I like it better than the Lomo LC-A. Because of the bulb setting, who needs batteries for long exposures. And as much as I like my Holga 120S, 35mm film is cheap (a buck) and is much cheaper to develop ($2.95 a roll).
ReplyDeletemark-b
very nice set!
ReplyDeletei'll be hoping to have that soon...
i have a holga 120FN as of today but since i am only a student without a job, i find it hard to buy 120films which is pretty costly in our country(philippines)..
i manage to have a total of 5 rolls (2-235mm and 3-120mm) that are ready for developing...
but if i will bought a holga 135bc,
i guess i'll be photographing things more than i used to...
and since the seller is hongkong based, i would'nt worry much on the shipping cost...
thanks a lot for the infos...
and i really like your style...
-aimi, 18
philippines
Hi! How many days did you wait before you got your camera from HK? :)
ReplyDelete--mia, philippines
took about 10 days i think to get the the US.
ReplyDeletei was just wondering which ebay seller you bought the holga 135bc from. i noticed that there was two different sellers from hong kong. also, i noticed that lomography.com was selling the same kind (holga 135). i was wondering if you think the cameras will have the same vignette effect even if they are all different sellers? this will be my first toy camera purchase so, i just want to make sure i get it right. thank you
ReplyDelete-kristina
i got mine from uranium99. the holga 135bc and 135 are different. the 135 does not have the vignette and the 135bc does.
ReplyDeletethanks for the quick reply and for clarifying the difference between the 135 and 135BC. one last question, one of the other seller on ebay is selling a holga 135bc with plastic lens and the seller u got it from has the 135bc with glass lens. what are ur thoughts between the two? any differences? thank you in advance
ReplyDelete-kristina
i honestly think they all have the exact same lens, whatever the ebay sellers may say (it's not uncommon for these same sellers to have holga 120 pictures as examples for the 135 cameras). i think it's glass, but i can't really tell since i don't want to take mine apart. i doubt it would really make any difference either way. it doesn't exactly produce the sharpest images.
ReplyDeleteHi! What film would you recommend for this? I'm already expecting a Holga 135BC which I bought from daipatmeow (his was cheaper than uranium99) any time soon so I was planning to stock on some films hehe
ReplyDeleteThis is the most informative commentary on a 135 that I can find; thanks for doing such a nice job! You've had this camera for a couple of months now- will there be a part three to this review? Mine is in the mail and I'm a little amped up for it. Can you tell? =)
ReplyDeleteI must say that I've been sitting on the fence for a few days, not being able to decide whether to take the plunge and buy a Holga. Here in the UK 120 film is expensive to process, and as a student money isn't something to be frittered away! The The 135BC seems to offer that same Holga charm but with the convenience of a far better film size. Thanks for helping me make my mind up.
ReplyDeleteHi,any tips on how to modify Holga 135 to get black corners like from 135 bc?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteprobably a little dumb; but does the Black Corner have a shot counter - One thing i found difficult when attempting to shoot 35mm with my 120 Holga SCFN was how much to wind the film on.
I think that's the only thing stopping me from buying the black corner as i can't seem to get an answer on that one
yes it has a counter window on top just like most other 35mm cameras. you can fire the shutter as many times as you want for each exposure, but it defnly counts your frames.
ReplyDeletewww.urbanoutfitters.com sells the Holga along with the Diana F+
ReplyDeleteI know this is an old thread, but I only just came across it! The only thing holding me back from getting a Holga was the 120 film, for me it was expensive to get a hold of and very hard to find anywhere locally that developed it. However this 35mm Holga seems to be exactly what I need. Would be interested to see colour photographs from this camera.
ReplyDeleteI agree w/ Aztek! Do you have any tips on increasing the vignette effect? My pictures barely have "bent corners" or any shading...is this more my fault or does it have anything to do w/ the photo processing? Thanks, love your photos!
ReplyDeletewas thinking of getting this camera since i'm too lazy to try out 120, but the built-in "Black Corner" mask is such a big turn-off for me.
ReplyDelete