Holga 120PAN Camera

The famous Holga plastic "toy camera" from Hong Kong was originally designed for 35mm film but was reconfigured for 120 medium format for the Chinese market in the 1980s. This can result in light leaks, vignetting and unpredictable soft, dreamy images and is a great way to get into medium format photography at a much cheaper price than more sophisticated alternatives.

The Holga became very popular through the 2000s thanks to specialist suppliers such as the Bookshop and Lomography with a wide range of cameras and accessories but in 2015 the factory suddenly closed down. Luckily the molds were saved and another company Sunrise is now manufacturing several Holga models again.

The Holga 120PAN is a panoramic camera enabling capture of images of almost 180 degrees from left to right. It's a fixed focus camera but with four focus distance settings. Shutter speed is 1/100 but with long exposure mode. To help capture panoramic pictures it has two hotshoes for external flash units and a built in spirit level to keep it straight.

Specifications
Format: 120 medium format roll film
Type: Compact camera
Lens: Plastic 90mm
Focal length: 1 metre to infinity
Aperture: f/11 or f/22
Shutter speed: 1/100th or bulb
ISO: No setting, 400 ISO optimal
Flash: Hotshoe mounts for two external flash units