Holga Blog

Sooner or later, you may find yourself looking for a cheap flash to use with your Holga. A quick search on eBay returns hundreds and hundreds of different kinds of flashes – from cheap plastic flashes, all the way up to full studio lighting. Retailing at £30, The Lomography Colorsplash flash is a fun little unit that comes with coloured gels built in.

People often ask me for flash recommendations for their Holga, and I almost always suggest the Colorsplash Flash. So why do I think the flash is so good that I consider it a must purchase?

Firstly, it is incredibly simple to use. There are two buttons on the unit – on/off, and flash test. The flash test button flashes red while the Colorsplash is charging, then becomes solid red once the unit is ready for use. The flash has no controls for setting flash strength, so its all or nothing.

The Colorsplash itself is small enough to keep in a pocket, and fits neatly on the top of the Holga, without making it fall over like more sturdier flashes do. As it only uses 1x AA battery, it weighs in at a very slim 92g (3¼ oz).

At around £30 the Colorsplash is a tad expensive – you could buy two Holga 120N’s for the price. But given the size and flexibility, it’s a good choice for photographers looking for a simple and creative flash to accompany their Holga. One word of warning though – do not use with digital cameras! The flash has an unsafe sync voltage of around 270v which could easily fry your digital camera.

Holga 120GN, Fuji Pro NPH 400 ISO, Colorsplash (Yellow Filter)

Advantages

• Small and light
• Uses 1xAA battery
• Comes with a selection of coloured gels
• Universal hot-shoe attachment

Disadvantages

• Reasonably slow recycle times (8-12 seconds), although you can get quicker recharges using 2500 mAH Ni-MH batteries.
• Can be awkward changing coloured gels
• Reasonably pricey for a toy camera flash
• No real control over the flash output
• Not particularly bright
• Sync Voltage 270V – unsafe for use on digital cameras
• You only have 4 coloured gel slots, two of which can’t be changed (yellow and blue)

Technical Notes

Below is a guide for which apertures to use when using the flash. Please bear in mind that this is just a guide, a starting point if you will. Some of the values have been rounded to the closest full-stop aperture. I’ve tried to ensure that any rounded value is rounded down so that your pictures will not be underexposed. YMMV.

Using the flash with no diffuser

ISO	2′ (Close Up)	3′ (Person)	5′ (3 People)	9′ (Group)
50	8	5.6	4	2.8
100	11	8	5.6	2.8
200	16	11	8	5.6
400	22	16	11	8
800	—	22	16	11
1600	—	—	22	16

As you can see, the undiffused flash tolerates reasonably slow film. At a distance of 2 foot, you can get away with using 100 ISO film, whereas if you use an unmodified Holga at 3 feet, you will need to use at least 200 ISO film.

Using the flash with a diffuser

ISO	2′ (Close Up)	3′ (Person)	5′ (3 People)	9′ (Group)
50	4	2.8	—	—
100	5.6	4	2.8	—
200	8	5.6	4	2.8
400	11	8	5.6	4
800	16	11	8	5.6
1600	—	16	11	8

If you use a diffuser, you need to use much faster film. At a distance of 2 foot, you use 400 ISO film, whereas if you use an unmodified Holga at 3 feet, you will need to use at least 800 ISO film.

These tables don’t take into account available light, so use only as a guide. If it is not pitch black when you take your pictures, you may be able to get away with using slower film.

Making a Diffuser

Making a diffuser for the Colorsplash is incredibly easy. All you need is a translucent 35mm film case, and a pair of scissors/craft knife. Start by cutting off the bottom of the case to make a tube. Now cut a slit down one edge of the case. Widen this slit by about 3mm or so. Now just wrap the diffuser around your Colorsplash and trim as necessary.

So why do we need a diffuser? Diffusers help to soften the light that emits from your flash. The advantage of this softer light is that many of the harsh shadows brought about by direct flash are eliminated. This technique works particularly well with portraits, and helps to avoid that ‘shiny-face’ look.