Using Filters with a Holga
So you've tried using filters with B&W, but you're sick of holding them in place. Well, my friend you are in luck. You see the Holgas lens is 46mm in diameter which means you can screw a filter straight into the plastic. First things first, though, if you don't want to damage your Holga, you can order a Universal Holga Mount from Lomography.
To get started, find a 46mm-49mm step up ring. You can buy these from all good photography stores, or eBay. Now take the smaller edge, and gently screw it into the plastic Holga lens. Make sure to screw it in straight - the ring threads should dig right into your Holgas soft plastic. You don't have to use 46-49mm, if you can find a different stepper e.g. 46-52mm, or 46-58mm, but it's vital you get a step up ring, rather than a step down ring.
Now what?
Now you can buy a range of common 49mm filters for your Holga. These range in price from about £2 up to £70. Although it's kind of pointless buying an expensive faultless filter to use with a £20 plastic camera. There are many different types of filter available, but which are of interest to Holga users?
- Colour filters: most commonly used with B&W films to increase contrast. Try these with colour film to get a solid colour cast over your image.
- Neutral Density (or ND) filters: are used for reducing brightness. Great if you've loaded 400 ISO film and it's a bright sunny day outside.
- Close up lens. Not strictly a filter, allows you to focus closer to your subject.
- Polarizers: are useful for shooting water (lakes, ponds), window glass, and tree leaves. They work by cutting out reflected glare, to improve clarity or colour response. You can read more about them on Luminous Landscape.
One important detail to remember is that filters usually soak up at least 1 stop of light. This means you may have to increase your film speed (100 to 200, or 400 to 800 for example) to compensate. There is a helpful chart at cameracraft.com which tells you how much light each filter soaks up. For further reading, you can look through this guide to Cokin filters. If you want to use the Cokin filter system, check out the Cokin article.
