Holga Help- Unexposed film

[Rathjen]

Hey, I'm new here and new to Holgas, and got my first Holga 135BC for Christmas. I went out and shot a few rolls with it, and the first roll turned out almost completely unexposed, like I hadn't taken any pictures with it at all. I'm sure that I took all of the 24 shots on the roll according to the film counter, but more than half the roll didn't show up. I went today to get 4 more rolls developed and one of the rolls which I'm sure I shot all of turned out unexposed, and I only had around 10 pictures on the other 3 rolls that were exposed.

I like the pictures that did turn out, but I'm very confused as to why the others turned out unexposed. Any help would be great!

-Mike

Edit: I used some store brand 400 ASA color film for the first roll, and used 400 ASA Kodax MAX color for the other 4.

 

[amateriat]

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, A Holga is a lot like life: you never know how things will turn out. (Given the 120 version's reputation for light leaks, a corollary might be that there's no such thing as an "unexposed" Holga frame.)

What To Do: find, or buy (cheaply!) a 36-exposure film. Proceed to load the Holga as usual, but keep winding and releasing the shuttter to the end of the roll, without closing the back. When you reach the end of the roll, rewind the film until the leader is free of the take-up spool, but don't rewind the leader into the film cassette. Repeat all the above, at least five or six times. If you don't experience a malfunction, take a close look at things like the sprocket wheel (is it fully engaged with the film?), and take-up spool (has it disengaged with the film-advance lever?). If you experienced no issues, repeat the process with the film door closed, as normal. Make sure you've taken up slack in the film by turning the rewind knob clockwise until the film is snugly (not tightly) wound, then keep an eye on it as you continue testing. If it stops turning before you reach the end of the roll, you know you have an issue. You might want to check the pressure plate on the film back to make sure it's applying roughly even pressure.

Hope at least some of this helps.


- Barrett

 

[antonandreas]

If they were totally unexposed this is what I am thinking:
On my first Holga the shutter was not working properly and would sporadically fire. So you could have been thinking you took a picture and advanced the film, but nothing happened. If you got yours at a store, return it and ask to try out the camera before replacing.

 

[Rathjen]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll try running it through a few times with a 36 roll and see if there is anything wrong with the spools. I got the camera from amazon.com, so I don't want to have to send it back unless I absolutely have to, I hate shipping stuff xD. But I'll try what you suggested, amateriat, and see if that helps.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[MichaelW]

I can think of a couple of possible reasons for under exposure, both of which also apply to the 120 Holga
1: you had the lens cap on, assuming it came with one. The 120 Holgas do, & the best advice is to throw it away or stick it in a drawer. Really no need to protect a Holga lens like you do on a good camera. Because the viewfinder isn't conncted to the lens it's easy to shoot with it on.

2: under exposure. The 120 Holgas shoot at one fixed setting which is close enough to f/11 at 1/100 so you have to be reasonably good at estimating exposures, or use a separate meter. The one thing you control is the ISO of the film. Generally 100 is good for sunny days and 400 for overcast/shade. For interiors, night etc you need faster film, flash, or put it on the tripod & use the B setting & cable release.

Assuming you had the lens cap off it might be worth thinking about what were the light conditions for the shots that came out severely under exposed.

 

[Rathjen]

Well I tried winding all the way through a roll of film, and nothing looked like it was going wrong, so I'm shooting through another roll and going to get that developed. If that roll turns out like the rest, I'm going to send it back to the company.

Thanks for the help everyone!