The Cheapest ways To Use Filters With Your Holga

Filters can be used with your Holga in much the same way as any normal lens.

The only difference is that there is no mount or thread on the front of the lens. there are options out there on the market but some of them are very overpriced in my opinion.

The lens mount from lomo is currently priced at over £15!

Lets have a look at some cheap ways of putting a filter on your Holga lens.

1. You can screw a 45mm filter into the plastic of the lens and create your own thread.

This is probably the most popular choice because it works really well, and it saves you a lot of money. I would rather buy a set of lens filters than a mount and then a set of filters as well! You simply screw in the thread of the lens to the plastic and make your own thread.

2. You can tape it on with black electrical tape.

When I first got my Holga my only other camera was a Pentax ME SUPER, which took 49mm filters.

I noticed that that is almost the exact diameter of the front of the lens, so i simply used black electrical tape to attach it to the front, and it worked rather well, because it also meant that i could use my Pentax lens cap on that too, to keep it nice and clean.

3. You could hold filters in front of your lens

Another cheap kind of ‘bootleg’ option is to hold a filter in front of your Holga lens. If you are thinking of doing this then you might want to consider either getting a filter that is quite a bit bigger than the lens so that you space to grab it, or pieces of filter paper in the color you desire.

Now we know about how we can attach filters, what filters are out there to use and what do they do? Here is a brief list of the most popular filters and what they do.

Black and white filters

The Red Filter

Probably the most dramatic filter for Black and White film. It Helps to create striking sky effects by adding more contrast between the clouds and the blue of the sky. On many occasions you may find that your sky just comes out white on black and white films, and this will help sort that out. It also generally adds more contrast to a picture and can also be used to simulate moonlight scenes in day time.

Yellow

Yellow filters are ideal for landscape shots. It offers the most natural tonal correction and also improves contrast.

Filters For Any Film

ND filters

ND filters, or Neutral Density filters reduce the amount of light hitting your film but without affecting the colour. These are used so that longer exposures can be taken in the day time, and so that bright situations can be darkened.

UV filters

UV filters are popular amoung photographers that want to keep their camera lens scratch free. Its a cheap way to protect it. I don’t think that needs to be done on the Holga though. They also absorb ultraviolet rays and give a cleaner, sharper photograph with less haze.

Dual Filters

Dual filters are very cool. They block one half of the frame leaving it unexposed and then you can simply twist it 180 degrees and take another shot over the same frame. Great for putting the same person in a picture twice.

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