For people on a limited budget thinking about getting a medium format “toy” camera there are a lot of options but for the most part they seem drawn to picking between the Holga 120N and the Diana F+. Both are popular on Flickr and there are many great examples of what each camera is capable of… which seems to make deciding that much harder. So I present to you an unbiased 11 image shoot out taken with expired Kodak Ultra Color 400.
Can you tell which image was shot with which camera?
To view the whole series follow the link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonevil/sets/72157621509374198/
For Part 1 of this article (the boring discussion part) please visit:
http://www.holgablog.com/2009/04/03/diana-vs-holga-round-one/
Comments
cool! I’ve been looking forward to seeing this
buut.. tags and descriptions aren’t that informative about what camera shot what. but I guess it keeps going holga-diana-holga-diana… right?
I went back and fixed it so the description says which camera it was shot with!
I’m guessing the less sharp, closer-up ones are the Diana? I think that has a 75mm lens vs the holga 60mm so are probably closer in.
Very surprised my the difference in image quality…the Holga is SO much sharper than the Diana.(If I am right!).
I much prefer the Holga over the Diana, though I have to confess, my main experience with the Diana was the awful clone Diana+ from the Lomographic Society. A vintage clone might be more fun, but in general I prefer the quite incredible sharpness and the look of the Holga shots.
i have to say i tried to guess what was what and i got it completely backwards. i have always preferred holga over the diana + but now i think i have to reevaluate that. the holga definitely has more possibility for personalization
and you got the page all snug and nice too, kudos!
anyway, yeah.. I agree with andrew. I’ll continue to be a proud owner of my holga. but I might wanna try a diana sometime to get that extra fuzz in the shots.
another thought that crossed my mind now… I’m surprised that lsi haven’t done a 35mm equivalent of their diana+ like tokina did with their holga. thoughts?
Wow. The results are surprising. I thought the blurrier of the shots would be from the Holga. Mine always come out a bit blurry. I guess that’s what happens when forget to focus BEFORE taking the shot.
[...] Holga Vs Diana+ Shoot Out! (Holga Blog) [...]
Well, imho Holga has a “sweeter” sweetspot, so I’d bet on Holga images that have more blur (and vignetting) at the corners.
FINALLY! I’ve searched all over to find something like this. Nobody was able to tell or show me the differences between the two. I think this pretty much says as much as you can about the differences between the two.
It’s interesting that when you upgrade Diana+ to the wide angle 55mm lens (also by LSI), you get all the picture to be very sharp, and all images look almost like they’ve been taken with Holga
That adds extra 35$ to the price in Diana+ case.
It’s nice that these cameras can be compared and you make come out with some ideas which you prefer over the other etc.
Need to add that when you shoot Diana+ not in 12 but 16 frame mode, blurriness almost disappears because of the crop factor which eliminates the edges of the lens blur…
Very interesting! I’d have guessed wrong, but then I didn’t even think of the lens mm. (Go figure.)
This explains why I really prefer the B&W pics I’ve taken with my Diana+ to the color shots and why I like the 55mm lens better than the one that comes with it.
I guess I’m just a Holga boy. Maybe it’s ‘cos I got a Holga first & I tend to use a Holga more than the Diana? I just like my Holga pics better than my Diana shots. Diana’s cool but I loves me my Holga!
Thank you for all of the comments, I’m glad people are so receptive to this comparison.
One of the hardest things about being a camera hoarder is being familiar enough with all of your cameras to remember their strong points and their weak areas. I’ve seen some great shots with the Diana+ and judged on their own I think they’re good. I like that they’re different enough that I can recomend both to someone who is on the fence about which one to buy.
For someone new to film toy cameras and on a budget I would recomend starting out with the Holga first because it’s cheaper, easier to use and gets more consistant results.
For someone more familiar with photography the Diana+ is a lot of fun; it has some great features and accessories. In the toy camera realm it may seem expensive, but the deluxe+ kit with all the goodies is still less then a pro-sumer flash for your dSLR!
nice sum-up derek. and goos points… if I would buy one now (imagening that I have a job and some cash in my pocket I’d probably go for the diana just cause of all the accesories.
but now I’m fine with cheap and experimental~
btw, when’s flickr monthly best coming back?
THAT’S “GOOD” POINTS FOR ALL YOU WHO DON’T… oh, nm 9_9
Jonas, thanks for reconizing my goos points
They sell a 35mm back for the Diana so I would be surprised if they come out with a 35mm version like the Holga 135. The 75mm lens would be a telephoto on 135 negatives 
interesting that the Holga seems to give the imagers more of a magenta caste. I am a Holga fan. Have thought about buying the Diana but it doesn’t seem to do anything the Holga can’t do. And the Holga is cheaper and more robust.
Brilliant comparison. I’ve been searching for this. I guessed !00% correct; guess ’cause I LOVE my DianaF+ and the artistic effects, which i think are more pronounced than w/ the Holga.
This is a great site, i just came across a couple of Toy cameras and am purchasing a Holga. Thanks for making the Manual available.
Nice simple comparison. The only reason I decided to try the Diana F+ was to experiment with pinhole photography since it’s so easy to remove the lens and play with the F/150 pinhole. Loading film on the Diana is precarious and film winding is very inconsistent. Really poor design.
[...] Eventually I will be doing a heads up shoot out between the Diana+ and the Holga. We’ll call that Round Two. The purpose is will not be to prove once and for all which camera is better; it’s only to serve as an objective means for comparison for someone that may be getting ready to take the plunge and invest in one of these camera’s. I plan to accomplish this by shooting 2 rolls of film from the same batch, shooting the same subject from a tri-pod. There are so many variables that exist that to do a scientific comparison under all conditions would be pretty expensive. I don’t have time to write grants for this type of research so you’ll have to just accept whatever it is I decide to shoot and at which time of day. I can promise that the shots will be taken within a couple of minutes each other for continuity. If you don’t like it do your own Diana+ Vs Holga shootout. One thing I will say is that the quality of image you get has more to do with your artistic vision and your understanding of lighting, exposure and composition. Sure happy accidents exist and some people love purely abstract photos, but ultimately someone with a better understanding of these principles will get more consistent results. The fun factor is that many toy camera users aren’t looking for consistency, they’re just having fun shooting film through a fun camera. To view the follow up with pictures of this comparison please go here: http://www.holgablog.com/2009/07/15/holga-vs-diana-shoot-out/ [...]
[...] difference at a glimpse. More sophisticated shootout of Holga vs. Diana+ was very recently covered here at [...]
unfortunately, I can’T visit the side with the whole set, so I still don’t know which one is which…can anyone tell me please because this way (without the result) the whole shoot-out-thing doesn’t pay off for me!
cheers!