Holga Light Leaks and How to Control Them

As you may well know, the Holga is known for its wild and characteristic light leaks. Many of us like them and many of us don’t. There are a number of ways that you can control them to get your Holga taking photographs in the way that you want it to.

1.Remove Your Mask

Removing the mask inside your Holga means that there is a greater chance of light getting to the film. The mask MASKS off the light leaks.

2.Tape up holes and gaps inside

Two small holes are inside the camera and can let through light. Tape them up to eliminate light or keep them untaped to increase the chances of leaks.

the two walls that define the two spool areas both have a small gap in them. Tape these up to reduce light leaks, and leave them to increase.

3. Don’t tape up your Holga.

If you want to increase light leaks big time, then use minimal tape around the gaps between the camera and the cameras back piece when shooting a film. Remember you still need to make sure it doesn’t fall off when you are using it!

4, Spray the inside matt black

You can spray the inside of your Holga matt-black to reduce the bouncing around of light. My Holga here has not yet been done, but its something I plan to do soon.