
A digital camera inspired by Holga - icey
http://www.saikatbiswas.com/web/Projects/Holga_D.htm
======
peteforde
I try to be generally positive, especially when discussing a concept or
prototype... however, I am passionate about film photography and this really
rubs me the wrong way.

Making a digital camera that is a) ugly and b) designed to be hard to use
misses the whole point of why Holga/Lomo/film is growing in popularity. There
is a strong correlation to the impressive sales of vinyl LP records over the
past few years (which has been through the roof compared to other physical
formats). My speculation is that people are fatigued on things that don't feel
"real". They are tired of copies and want something that their kids might be
excited to discover in the closet.

Anyhow, the whole point of film is that it has a character all its own,
depending on which of the hundreds available you try to use. And embracing the
constraint of making each shot count and delayed gratification has made me a
more thoughtful photo taker. I find that I can remember every shot I've taken;
how I felt at the time, what was happening.

A Holga weighs 200g and if you run it over with your car, you can just buy
another one. No batteries required and it can do pinhole stuff, as well as
many other modifications:

[http://microsites.lomography.com/holga/modifications/fignatu...](http://microsites.lomography.com/holga/modifications/fignature-
by-mandi)

I'm all for open source camera platforms, but don't put out something with a
bunch of arbitrary features removed and various attempts to make the output
look shitty "because then it's like film!"

Believe it or not, there's a reason most film cameras work the way that they
do which has a direct relationship to the available technology and
manufacturing processes at the time it was made.

I want to end my rant on a positive note, so here is a great commercial by
Charles and Ray Eames advertising the Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EdwmaQltHc>

~~~
jacobolus
Can you explain how the camera under discussion is “designed to be hard to
use”?

For what it’s worth, I think it’s fantastic that some companies are
experimenting with different digital camera designs. In the digital world, we
don’t see the kind of design variety we saw in film cameras. Where are the
digital TLRs? For that matter, where are the digital cameras (at all) where
manual focus is a pleasant activity? Where are the digital rangefinders with
quality lenses? Etc.

Why do digital cameras all need to include screens on the back?

~~~
peteforde
I describe the concept as "designed to be hard to use" for several key
reasons:

1\. It's got no viewfinder unless you attach one, which means that the
designer translated "you never know what you'll get!" into "point and hope for
the best".

2\. Taking the general aesthetic of a Holga and painting it on a rectangle
accomplishes very little besides creating a camera that's awkward to hold.
Holga is a versatile platform because they can build many variations into a
common chassis. It's the shape it is for a reason. The D would appear to just
be an ugly box for the sake of it.

3\. If it's digital, there's no way it needs to be as big as a real Holga.

4\. Flipping it into B+W mode = lame (to me). Same with having a power switch.

5\. Putting variable exposure times on it completely throws away most of the
"fun" part of shooting with a Holga. If you're going to shoot shutter priority
on a digicam, why not just do so?

I accept that not all of the things that bug me will bug everyone. However, if
you're willing to suspend your disbelief for a moment to trust someone who
shoots 0.5-2 rolls of film every day for the fun of it... the best simile I
can think of to describe why this feels wrong is that it's sort of like when a
magazine site or book reader wants you to "turn pages".

In most cases, the metaphor does not translate in an effective way. The reader
ends up irritated and will go back to a real book.

------
angusgr
I feel that this concept misses most of the true charm of a Holga. The linked
article says "there are some change in functionalities in order to make it
useful." Which seems practical, but also kind of misses the point. I still
think it's a beautiful homage to 70s & 80s camera design.

Holgas have random imperfections and a total lack of quality control. Every
Holga has slightly different level of light leaks, chromatic distortion,
vignetting, etc.

Holgas are hackable. People flock them, make light seals, replace the lens
with a pinhole, make Holgaroids, etc, etc. It's essentially a plastic box with
two moving parts.

Holgas give you no technological photographic control inside the box. You have
one (varying) shutter speed or Bulb, two (largely unknown) apertures, and
whatever speed film you dumped in it. If you need to adjust exposure then you
need to do it when you develop your film, or not at all. This is, in my
opinion, both limiting and freeing.

All that said, I would love to see this camera made with a glass lens. A
traditionally styled, intentionally restricted, digital camera with a retro
look. Provided it didn't cost $2000. :D.

The sad truth is that, I bet, if it was ever commercially produced then it
would be forced to have an LCD screen on the back. I can picture the hipsters
crowding around in a bar to chimp the screen, right now...

~~~
sprout
Can't you do that with an otherwise complete digital camera? I don't see why
one can't introduce kitschy design flaws in the LCD... and furthermore putting
an LCD with standard inputs creates even more opportunities for hacking.

------
hristov
Sounds good except for the full frame sensor. It is just silly on a camera of
this type. It would make the camera way too expensive it would require too
much auxiliary electronics and memory to operate, which would also increase
cost and power requirements. Also full frame makes the DOF relatively narrow
which is a problem for a camera with such a rough and uncertain method of
focusing. (I am sure a lot of the original Holga photos were out of focus).

He should redo it with a crop sensor. Even one of the small sensors of
snapshot cameras would probably work for this.

~~~
MartinCron
If you use a full frame sensor, you get the full effect of vignetting from the
plastic lens. Otherwise, you lose a lot of the Holga charm. Essentially, the
lens is right-sized for 35MM or a crop sensor while it's generally used with
6cm medium format negatives.

That said, you could get the same vignetting effect from a smaller sensor by
changing the depth from the lens to the sensor, I wonder how well that would
work.

~~~
hristov
Woukd this use an actual holga lens? I thought the project would require the
design of a new lens as they dont make holgas anymore.

If you get a new lens you can easily get all the distortion and vignetting you
want on any size photosensor. Those are very easy to achieve getting rid of
them is the hard part.

Also it should be noted that vignetting is a much bigger issue for digital
cameras than it was for film. Most modern professional and semi pro cameras
use on board electronics to get rid of vignetting. So vignetting is pretty
much guaranteed in this simple design.

~~~
peteforde
I assure you that Holgas are still made. In fact, they are growing in
popularity:

<http://shop.lomography.com/cameras/holga-cameras>

~~~
potatolicious
Jesus. For that price I can get a solid 35mm film SLR in good condition. As an
avid photographer (both film and digital, moreso film) I've never understood
the point behind Holgas, especially given how much they cost.

~~~
peteforde
As someone else says, you can get a Holga for $30.

Here's a link for $26:

[http://www.amazon.com/Holga-Medium-Format-Fixed-
Camera/dp/B0...](http://www.amazon.com/Holga-Medium-Format-Fixed-
Camera/dp/B000AL8JKW)

However, I encourage you to try the Holga or a Diana before you knock it. Try
some modifications and see what comes out. I've been crazy-glueing miniature
glass dollhouse props into my Holga. Except the first roll, I forgot it would
be upside down so I have all these shots of people with wine bottles on the
ceiling.

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftist/4211183811/>

------
spython
If you are looking for a lo-fi digital camera, try Digital Harinezumi -
<http://www.superheadz.com/digi2>

May be fun to use, kind of a review here -
[http://philipbloom.net/2009/11/08/lo-fi-heaven-digital-
harin...](http://philipbloom.net/2009/11/08/lo-fi-heaven-digital-harinezumi-
digital-super-8mm-camera/)

------
joshwa
LMFTFY: A _concept for a_ digital camera inspired by Holga

------
Groxx
That looks _really_ good. Minimalism in cameras appeals to me, especially as
they keep getting bigger and screen-y-er and button-y-er. And the batteries
keep dying sooner.

I _do_ think it could use an aperture control, however. And having to remove
the lens each time is not an alternative (as it looks like they would go
there). F-stop is _critical_ to cameras. Add another ring to the lens, maybe.

~~~
jnovek
Before the days of the iris diaphragm, interchangeable stops were all you
could get!

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterhouse_stop>

~~~
Groxx
I don't see any way to drop in the aperture disks, though... if there is,
that'd work.

------
jmhobbs
Very cool, I love my analog Holga (some snaps here:
<http://www.velvetcache.org/2010/07/14/more-lomo-photos> ). Though I'm sure
many in the community would rebel against digital.

~~~
rdtsc
You can "cheat" if you want to appear to rebel against digital by applying an
approriate filter to the output of a digital image.

iPhone even has an app called "Hipstermatic" to will make your iPhone pictures
look like they are taken with a Holga.

There is a lot to be said though for experimenting and a hands-on approach to
photography : making your own lesnes, alternive developing processes and so
on. Then it is more about the process, the learning experience, rather than
just the final result.

~~~
stevelosh
The app is HiptsAmatic, for those interested: <http://hipstamaticapp.com/>

------
chwahoo
The idea of channeling the mojo of the Holga isn't so exciting to me. However,
I've wondered for a while about the feasibility of an "open-source" camera
that was designed publicly and could be produced by any manufacturer. My guess
is that high-quality sensors aren't an off-the-shelf part and so would be
difficult to source and stabilization technology may also present challenges.

CHDK has shown that letting developers at the internals of camera operation
can have cool results. I think a platform designed from the ground up for
tinkerers could be amazing for photography.

~~~
sbierwagen
Elphel makes open hardware cameras. One of their clients is Google, for the
panoramic cameras for Google Street View.

<http://www3.elphel.com/index.php>

(eugh, look at that ugly URL)

------
MartinCron
Sigh, this thing doesn't actually exist as a product at this time. At the
right price point, I would buy one.

If you want to experiment with plastic-lens digital photography, you can buy a
lens for Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Pentax cameras here: <http://holgamods.com/>

Here's an example of a picture shot with my DSLR + Holga Lens:

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/martincron/862955606/in/set-721...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/martincron/862955606/in/set-72157601784588704/)

------
aaronbrethorst
Where's the Kickstarter page?

------
Yaggo
I like the Holga concept, although I doubt it can be manufactured cheaply
enough, being not a mass-market product.

What I really would like to see, is a micro four-third format camera with
slim, simple, retro-style body equipped with built-in hi-res EVF and only
essential controls through physical knobs (aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc).
No LCD, no menus, no face detection. In other words, take Panasonic GF1 or
Olympus PEN E-P2 and strip them down to absolutely minimum.

------
jberryman
I'm really into this idea of lo-fi digital that I'm seeing for the first time
in this thread!

I wonder how difficult it would be to create a cheap digital back for a holga?
I guess the easiest thing would be to cannabalize the cheapest digital camera
you could find, but i wonder if there are any home-brew approaches to the
sensor...

~~~
angusgr
Unfortunately the terms "cheap" and "digital back" don't seem to go together.
:(

You could mod a 10 year old old Hasselblad/Mamiya/? 6x6 back onto a Holga but
even those backs are still worth plenty of $ I think. Enough that you'd want a
Hasselblad or a Mamiya to go with them. Lot of trouble when 'Hipstamatic' is
$5 or so. ;).

That said, I'd love to build a digital rangefinder camera from a 70s era
rangefinder. If anyone has links to any successful frankencameras of this
kind, I'd love to see them.

~~~
jberryman
Ah, I forgot that the holga was a medium format camera... and I just realized
I have no idea how physically large the sensor in my cheap digital cam is...
hmmm.

------
sbierwagen
So it's a crappy keychain digital camera, except bigger, and far more
expensive, thanks to the big sensor, small production run? Sign me up!

------
elblanco
I'd pay ~$20 for one of these. Make it waterproof so I can dive with it and
I'd pay ~$30-$35.

