I was originally going to start this review of the 120 WPC off quite technically – what the WPC stood for, what features it had, what the f-stop was. That kind of thing. Then I realised I’d been sucked into what I actually try to avoid in photography: geekspeak. So while some of the specifics are going to be useful, hard to avoid, and maybe even interesting, what I really want to focus on here is what the 120 WPC means in photography terms. In other words, how does shooting with the WPC impact on you, the photographer?
I’ve been using my Holga 120 GCFN for over 3 years now. It has rubber bands around it and scraps of cardboard stuffed inside, and I love it. Why? Because it came along and made me think differently. Its limits were my challenges. Its flaws were my surprises. So when I first saw the 120 WPC, my curiosity instantly kicked in. I’d played with a home-made matchbox pinhole before as well as the pinhole on my Diana+, but this was different for some reason. With less than 200 members in the largest WPC Flickr group, this is definitely not (yet) a mainstream camera.
Left: The 120 WPC out of its box
Geekspeak
Was it the Holga branding luring me in? The sheer ludicrousness of this stretched-limo of a camera? Or just the very idea of what “WPC” meant? If you’re new to all this, then let’s get the technicals out of the way. Using a pinhole instead of a lens gives you an aperture of f/135 (compared to, say, f/3.5 on a wide-open standard SLR kit lens). This means a couple of important things: First, the fact that so little light is coming in means you need to keep the shutter open a lot longer – typically 4 or 5 seconds in good sunlight, and anything measured in minutes for indoor shots. Second, depth of focus is as good as infinite – in other words, everything will be in focus (assuming the pinhole is good, otherwise everything will be blurry…).
Left: Compared to the 120 GCFN
The other important thing to remember (if you can forget, with the camera shaped as it is) is the “W” factor – Wideangle. The WPC is set up with a viewing angle of 120 degrees, and to take negs 6cm high (like normal 120 film cams) and 12cm across – a 2:1 aspect ratio that starts to put you in the frame of mind (ho ho) of a film director. Or a postman. The WPC comes with a 6×9 mask as well, but let’s be honest – the Wideangle is the reason the WPC exists, and it’s where that “challenge” comes from.
Left: Reverse view, on a tripod. Difficult to make out the “V” on top here though…
There are a few modifications to a standard Holga case to assist you on your journey. A screwthread in the shutter button lets you attach a cable release for added stability (and if you need one – which you will – check around for a package that includes such a device, and maybe even a tripod too). A simple green bubble-based spirit level on top of the camera tells you if the shot is level (with gravity, at least). And a handy set of “V” lines next to that indicate what you’ve got in shot – horizontally, at least. As you’ve got no viewfinder, all of these help out immensely. Once you’ve got used to them.
Going for a spin
So I went out for a bright, if sea-misty, walk the first day I had the WPC. The first thing I noticed was how useful the “V”-shaped guide lines on top were, just because otherwise I really would have no idea what was supposed to be in shot.
The second thing I noticed was how much I had to use my legs to get the shot I wanted; it soon becomes apparent that it can be very difficult not to get things in shot, especially when you’re used to standing a few yards away and focusing on a typical group-sized scene. If you’ve ever been out wandering with a close-up macro lens, you’ll know how large the world can suddenly be when you’re looking at ants’ legs and the detail of grain in wooden doors. Conversely, the eye of the WPC makes the whole world suddenly extremely small – including, generally, whatever it is you want to actually capture. I found it essential to start getting closer to my intended target to cut out wayward trees, lamp-posts, gaggles of seagulls and random buildings that I really didn’t want. Half the time, this just meant standing in the road, rather than across it.
In trying to assess each shot, I noticed a curious battle between myself and my subject. Should I try to find subjects that lend themselves naturally to a wide-frame ratio, such as fences, repetitive pillars, horizons and so on? Or should I kick myself into getting into a more interesting position to start playing about with the panoramic format? How can you put the emphasis on a single object when everything is in focus and everything is in shot?
Similarly, I was plagued at first by the glowing green eye of the spirit level. Was that a guide, or a target? Who was to say the Bubble was God – was it really only horizontal lines that fitted the comedically stretched aspect ratio? Life would be intensely dull if square format cameras could only shoot square objects.
Getting perspective
After a while and a roll of film, I found you can escape these “traps” readily enough. One thing to remember is that perspective can be your ever-present friend – choose both your subject and your position carefully, and all the important lines will converge. Where and how they converge is always powerful in any photo, but the WPC gives you space to really play with the length of these lines, and to track their development from one corner of the frame to the other with renewed vigour. Get away from left to right, start seeing the edges of the frame rather than the length of it. With everything in focus, you can stop worrying over foreground and background and think about things more in terms of their shape, texture and colour in comparison to everything else. With low shots taken on a short tripod, the floor ahead can be just as much part of the photo as the clouds in the distance, all wedged into a single solid world view on your negative.
The second change I noticed in how I started approaching photos was the timing. Often, photography can be a deeply intense waiting period, followed by a sudden snap of activity as a bird reaches the right spot, a leg falls into place, or a water droplet starts its spin. But pinhole photography is the opposite of this, and the WPC is no exception.
A photograph is no longer a snapshot of frozen time, but can be built up, second by second, layer by layer, to compress an entire series of moments into a single glimpse. Where I had worried about people walking through shots or deliberately tried to include a blurry flock of starlings, figures now vanished like ash. Only the permanent remained, stubbornly ignoring my continuous assessment of the present, and I had to learn to see the world in the same way. In a way, pinhole photography speeds the world up so that instantaneous occurrences become obsolete. But when you’re taking the shot, it almost feels like you’re stopping time – and concentrating only on those things which have stopped along with you.
Carrying the WPC around is meditative. You cannot rush a shot. You cannot point-and-shoot. It requires time – remember to take a stopwatch. It requires focus. It is best used when you have nowhere in particular to be.
Results
If you’re expecting that classic Holga “dream” look but on a wideangle basis, think again. Without a lens, there can be no dream-like blur, no coalescing point of lucidity. There is some great vignetting to the WPC shots, although unlike square format, this obviously only really applies to the two sides, rather than a more rounded fade. Other than that, it’s quite difficult to draw parallels or comparisons between my GCFN and the WPC on anything more than the film and the shell, although the ability to confound passers-by with that shell – and to shock them as the back pops off – remains – hurrah!
I’ve been pretty pleased with my first two rolls to come back so far. My previous experience with pinholes seems to have stood me in good stead, and I’ve only had 1 or 2 frames (out of 12) that really didn’t come out, and that was because I was playing with filters. If you have a head for figures, you can probably get more accurate exposures using a light meter or a second camera, and multiplying by the right factor to determine the right exposure range. There’s a world of difference between a 15-second pinhole exposure and a 30-second one, so getting your steps right can often be far more important than when following a Mr Motivator work-out video. My advice for beginners would be to stick to bright days and fairly short exposures to start with, as it’s harder to get wrong. Then notice when you’re underexposing (which will generally be the case until you develop an understanding of Patience and Making-Tea-While-The-Shot-Takes).
If you’re looking for something different – and, as a HolgaBlog reader, I’d guess difference is something you thrive on – then the WPC is a great investment to get your photo-chops around. The main problems are likely to be technical: can you get the film developed, or prints made? Or is it worth getting hold of a film scanner to avoid such issues? (This, incidentally, is what I’ve done, which accounts for the Newton’s rings in some of the photos…) Or otherwise you might just not fancy the idea of spending over a pound per image.
But if the expensive eclectic is something that appeals to you, then the WPC is definitely something you should try to get hold of, try a few rolls in, and try to use creatively. Letting your eyes take a step back and seeing what fills them is liberating, and a great exercise for any kind of photography. Too often, we photo-fanatics spend too long with our pupils trying to cut everything out, trying to hold our fingers up and working what crop will be best. But when your natural field of vision is your crop, perhaps we’re forced to re-connect with our own sense of perception. Perhaps it does us some good to take a wider perspective.
Either way, the Holga WPC will remain a unique beast indeed.
Comments
I got mine today, thanks for the review!
Awesome write up on a cool camera.
cool review, snx
i got few links pinhole site with calculator-may be it’s help)) http://www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholedesigner/
http://pinhole.stanford.edu/phcalc.htm
Awesome review, what speed film were you using? Just ordered mine, can’t wait.
Many thanks for all the comments…
Patrick: Sweet – hope you have fun with it! The colour film is Fuji Provia ISO 160, although it might be better to go with some negative film first time round, as I think these are generally more tolerant of under/over exposing. Looking forward to cross-processing some Velvia in the WPC in future though. The B&W film is HP5+ ISO 400, so bright daylight exposures were more like a couple of seconds (although could probably have been a little more…)
Both were scanned in on a Canoscan 8400F, with usual decisions about colour and exposure made at scanning time, tidied up in iPhoto or Gimp.
Hey thanks for the info, ya Im a big cross processing fan, since I run a lab and studio its easy for me to develop. Im gonna start with 400 speed to get a feel for the camera and then eventually go to 100 or 160 since its doing long exposures anyways. Ill be posting on flickr once I get my camera and take some photographs. Thanks again Take Care
[...] are some sample pinhole photos taken with my Holga 120WPC over the past year. Click on a thumb to open the full 1:2 image. [...]
I’ve been using my Holga 120WPC for about a year now and absolutely love it! That “one-sided vignetting” you mention is because the back “shutter” doesn’t always quite clear the image area of the film. If you like it, fine. If you don’t, it’s easy to crop.
I have some photos from my Holga here:
http://www.photojazz.ws/2009/02/tamsui-taiwan-pinhole-holga-photos
and more here:
http://www.photojazz.ws/2009/07/how-to-make-a-pinhole-camera
Ok so I shot my first roll with the WPC, well I should say test roll. I live in Chicago and want to do night shots of the city. So I did several exposures factoring in reciprocity and all. The best image I got was the longest I took at 45 minutes using 400 Fuji color neg film. I didnt have my good tripod with so the image is a bit blurred, but my main concern was getting a time down. Heres the link to my test and I will be posting more hopefully sharper in weeks to come.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chitownfoto/3723607701/
That’s a great exposure, Patrick – congratulations. I haven’t been able to get great sharpness with the WPC, so it might be the nature of the pinhole, rather than your tripod. But looking forward to the results of your experiments, for sure.
OK so I maybe someone can help!
My Wpc hole isnt sharp at all, I poked it with a sewing needle gonna do a test in a few, but if I need to make another hole does anyone have suggestions on what type/best material to use?
Patric, pinhole cameras aren’t supposed to render sharp images.
I know, just seems it produces worse than others Ive seen, I know its the nature of the camera also. Thanks for the input.
OK got a new/old fun technique I used with this camera. I Light Painted this TV, Here’s the link and it explains more on how and what I did.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chitownfoto/3820380307/
[...] Holga WPC, 6×9, Kodak T400CN expired Stichworte / Tags: Fotografie·holga·holgawpc·Leipzig·lochkamera·pinhole Weiterlesen / Further Reading:Windspiele in der FeinkostDiptych Drive-By-ShootingHachDas “Protzblech”: Marx, abgeschobenErgo, Lindenau, Leipzig [...]
Great article. I’m wondering if I could use the polaroid back that is available for the holga that uses Fuji FP-100? Anyone tried it or know if it will work. Easier to ask than to spend the $$$.
Thanks,
Jeffery
Hi Jeffery, as the WPC is twice as wide as the normal 120 Holga, with a back to match, I’d imagine you’d have difficulty – BUT I don’t really know much about how the Holgaroid backs work, so I might be completely wrong
Hey.. Nice shots. Like your review. Please stop by and take a look at some of my shots with the WPC: http://blog.holgasquare.com/2009/04/holga-wpc-medium-format-wide-pin-hole-camera/
cya!
Great article. I was given one last christmas and sadly have not used it as much as I should. Though I am going to make a conscious effort to. A tip for working out exposure times (if you have a hand held lightmetre) is to take a reading at f5.6 and multiply the time by 1000. This has given me good results on the few times I have used my wpc.
Thanks for the great article! I had no idea Holga made pinholes until recently. Several years ago I frankenstiened a Holga with my own pinhole, and then added a bracket for a shutter release. But now Holga does everything for you (even with cable release accessory). I also wondered about the possibility of adding my Polaroid back- looks like it would fit on the “regular” 120 pinhole, but not this wide angle version. I haven’t done that much pinhole photography, so I would welcome any tips/resources for calculating exposure time…
[...] “I’ve been using my Holga 120 GCFN for over 3 years now. It has rubber bands around it and scraps of cardboard stuffed inside, and I love it. Why? Because it came along and made me think differently. Its limits were my challenges. Its flaws were my surprises.” -holga blog [...]
I got my WPC a few weeks ago, and have put one roll of Ilford through it and am about to fire off a roll of 160 color neg to the lab. The one thing I’d recommend to anyone using this, besides the obvious of a tripod, is to work with different planes–to not get caught up in typical “panoramic think” and only shoot wide at a distance. Because of the pinhole depth of field, having things intermediate and closeup work really nicely, because you have all that horizontal frame to play with. The counter at the back is weird: you have to remember, or, like me, continually refer to the instructions, which hole to use for the 6×9 mask and which for the 6×12 mask, because the numbers are somewhat counterintuitive.
Hey there, i just got this pinhole as well about 1 week ago, and i want to start shooting film 120 for the first time, so i loaded a film in that pinhole [not sure if the film is still fine or ruined, and i loaded in my office room with low light of ceiling on my back], and i didn’t add any mask in it, so is it in 6×12 format size now? Also how i shoot in this format size then? [12 or 16].
I put film B&W T-Max ASA [ISO100], so if i will shoot in day light until before the sunset few minutes, how long should i need to expose? do i need to cover the camera with any tapes on any part of it for not get any light leaking? This is first time for me so i want to be sure i didn’t do any mistakes even if i will do a test, at least i do test first time and not always every time i do test and ruin the film by any fault or mistake.
And i have a question, when i finish shooting the roll, how can i unload it? can i unload it in same low light room or must be totally dark or can i use red light only room if available?
[...] “I?ve been using my Holga 120 GCFN for over 3 years now. It has rubber bands around it and scraps of cardboard stuffed inside, and I love it. Why? Because it came along and made me think differently. Its limits were my challenges. Its flaws were my surprises.” -holga blog [...]
Used my Holga 120 WPC for the first time yesterday and need a shutter release cable. My didn’t come with one. Is there a particular one that will fit or anyone will work? Also exposure time a guess? experience will help? another camera will help? light meter? Get the pictures back today so we’ll see. I did take notes about what I did for each exposure. Don’t forget to advance the film.
[...] Our review of the Holga 120 WPC [...]
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I want one but what would you need to enlarge the negs? I have a medium format enlarger and a universal negative carrier that might take 6×12 size
@Clifford Davis: I’m using a film scanner, so not much help there I’m afraid. If the 6×12 holder works, then you’re probably OK. Otherwise, could you shoot at 6×9?
Anyone else developing WPC prints themselves?
[...] wurde ich auf die Holga 120WPC durch ein Review auf dem Holgablog. Ich fand die Idee einer Lochpanoramakamera so gut, dass ich unbedingt selbst [...]
Love that wide angle! Can see how it would change your approach.
[...] is where the magic happens – here you can set your camera (a standard 120N Holga, or the 120WPC), the mask you’re using, and how to display units for winding on. The camera and mask [...]
Inspired by your article I order and receive my 120WPC on Friday; took my first rool on HP5+ on Saturday and home processed it the same day. Delightful! All 6-exposures were fine. I used gaffers tape along the seems of the back and on the frame counter window; might use tape on back cover latches also (light leaks near latches). Overall it was a enjoyable escape from digital.
[...] up a little, the pick comes from the Holga 120 WPC pool, to show off what people are doing with this “little” gem. Seems like Black and White is a popular choice [...]
Hey, just read this post. Not sure if you maybe know this by now but betterscanning.com makes an anti newton ring glass and custom neg holders. I use mine with my v750. Hope that helps!
Hi,
(that’s a compliment) I was just wondering what brought more joy to me the informative character or the way it was communicated. I ended up reading paragraph after paragraph out load to my girlfriend because it was so beautifully said. Continue!
Completely new to your postings but maybe you should quit on photography and focus on writing poetry.
[...] November, Mike, Simon and myself went on our first pinhole-camera photowalk. Sporting a couple of Holga 120 WPCs, a modified box-camera, a Holga 120CFN/ice-cube-tray hybrid, and a recently-hacked-together [...]