35mm Film Help

[Scriblez]

So I recently bought a Holga 135 for the antique feel it gave. I just finished my first roll of film and for some reason only 10 pictures were printed and on the negatives, the rest were blank. I've checked the shutter and it is working perfectly fine when the camera is open. I'm not sure what has gone wrong. Anyone have any advice?

 

[white]

Holgas aren't the most reliable cameras. You might only have 10 frames because the other frames were massively underexposed, so there was nothing to print. What do the "bad" negatives look like -- are the frame numbers visible?

 

[sobolik]

If you used flash and the fastest shutter speed it could be black. That is why the flash sync is slower.

 

[Scriblez]

Holgas aren't the most reliable cameras. You might only have 10 frames because the other frames were massively underexposed, so there was nothing to print. What do the "bad" negatives look like -- are the frame numbers visible?

That's true! The bad negatives are purely blank but the numbers are still showing. Although on some of the prints there is a slight showing of small exposure (small light spots, etc.) and on one of the negatives, there is enough exposure to see that there should be a picture but most of it is blank. Thank you for the quick reply by the way!

 

[reznap]

Black negatives would indicate overexposure or a possible light leak. If they're mostly see-through but with small areas of dark, then you're dealing with underexposure. I'm talking as if you're looking at the actual negative strip... not film scans/prints.

 

[white]

Yeah, you just need to keep the shutter open longer, depending on the light. The exposures won't be perfect, but that's not what you buy a Holga for anyway.

 

[subscuck]

Holga's are totally awesome in their crappiness. I keep telling myself I'm going to pick one up, but never get around to it. I've seen a lot of really interesting pics, some bordering on eerie, resulting from the light leaks, lens flares, etc., that are the Holga signature.

I would suggest googling for Holga user forums. There are more than a few out there. Any of those would be the place to best learn the ins and outs of your Holga. Have fun with it!

 

[Scriblez]

I think I still need to get used to the Holga feel. But yes I agree with you guys, the Holga isn't perfect but I still need to learn how to cope with some of the problems. Do you guys have any advice for shooting with the shutter longer? I was thinking of getting ISO 800 film too to maybe help with the underexposure. And thank you all for the help!

 

[Scriblez]

A photo from my Seattle shoot with the Holga! One of the ones that turned out nicely ahah!

 

[ann]

blank, do you mean clear?

If so the negative wasn't exposed, did you have the lens cap in place? that is the biggest problem with the cap, most people just toss it as they forget to remove it before shooting.