My Holga 120 GN scratches the film all over with the mask on.

[Iridium]

A couple of weeks ago, I gave Shangai GP3 a try in one of my Holgas. The result was also frustrating like with the Fomapans. The scratches are all over and along the film. I developed it in HC-110 and the negative looks quite nice. Perhaps, I will try another roll of GP3 more carefully, but I see another cheap film useless for 120 Holgas.

Up to the moment, 400TX, Acros, HP5+ and FP4 are the films that work without scratches in my 2 Holga GNs.

[2F/2F]

Holgas scratch films. Sometimes. Especially if you put more tension on the film.

I believe the OP was talking about adding pressure to the sides of the take-up spool in order to prevent the "fat roll" problem.

[Smudger]

It does not help,I admit, but just today I saw an Unhappy Post on a local auction site from a discontented buyer who was upset by the relative sharpness,and lack of vignetting of their Holga camera, and wondered if they had a faulty copy..

[pentaxuser]

So it would seem that unless you are very careful or lucky a Holga scratches film! I wonder how long Simon Galley could pay his mortgage if his company sold film that had a similar fault rate?

Perhaps Ford, General Motors etc could try putting some fun back into motoring by selling vehicles that reminded people of the early days of motoring when breakdowns were part of the fun!!


I confess to being perplexed about the thrill of Holgas

pentaxuser

[eddie]

I confess to being perplexed about the thrill of Holgas
pentaxuser

It can be a more primitive experience, especially for those that are used to exacting exposure/development techniques. For me, it's a nice break from large format... limited controls allow you to work faster, and concentrate on only the image. I do prefer Dianas, though.

[JessicaDittmer]

they are just kinda fun...LOL. I love mine, it has just the right effect for me. I hear that many times the masks scratch film and that a fingernail file/emery board is a good idea and a good de-dust of it then after file job to clean it out. It is a fun camera to toss about and not worry about too much. For $24 I've always been happy with mine. I have to push like 2 stops typically but I just keep that in mind. Here are a few old shots from mine: