Brief Scenes

Lomography – Diana F+ vs. Holga?

I’ve recently grown interest with lomography cameras, and was wondering which one i should get: the Diana F+/ the Holga/ or the Holga 35mm camera.

35mm films are easier to find and get processed, but the original camera was the vintage Diana, which was originally given out as a premium at gas stations, or sold for a few dollars at the toy stores.

In the 60′s and 70′s, these inexpensive 120 film cameras were used to teach basic photography. As the word got out, more and more photographers began working with the simple plastic lensed camera as a means to escape from the more and more complicated cameras that were being made. The popularity made the vintage Diana, once plentifully sold for a dollar or two at thrift stores and yard sales, a highly sought after camera, often selling for over a $100 dollars on ebay in the late 90s.

Around the same time, a manufacturer in China was making a knock-off of the simple cameras (like the Agfa Isoly) popular at the time, to sell locally.

From this simple camera, the Holga was born. The timing couldn’t have been better, as the photographers looking for a simple plastic camera with a plastic lens eagerly accepted the Holga as Diana’s successor.

Flash forward. Lomography, a marketing company, has been successfully promoting the wonders of low-tech photography through the sales of the Chinese made Holga and the Russian made LC-A.

Building on that success, they came out with their own reproduction of the vintage Diana in late 2007. It is like the vintage Diana, with many modifications. The Diana+ closely resembles the camera from which it is patterned after, but the designers at Lomography went several steps further, adding a pinhole aperture and also a removable plastic lens. In addition to the original 75mm lens sold with the camera, they also sell a 55mm wide-angle lens and a fisheye lens. It has in effect, become a plastic or toy camera system.

Which is better? Each is good in it’s own way. If you would like to test the idea of working with plastic cameras out, I would recommend you start with Holga. It’s much cheaper than the Diana, and a good camera to have in your collection, even if you decide to move onto the DianaF+.

For Holga, look for other sellers than Lomography, as Lomo tends to charge a premium for their Holgas. For the Diana+, go to the Lomo store.

The Holga 135BC (get the BC for Black Corner effect) is a good camera, but I prefer the square format. It’s a good choice if you have trouble finding 120 film or finding labs to get 120 film processed.

To see what kinds of photos each camera makes, go to Flickr and find groups for:
Holga 135bc,Holga,Diana+

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