Holga: Glass or plastic lens?

[athanasius80]

Hey guys,
What are people's experiences with Holgas in regards to sharpest center and most corner vignetting? Do the glass lens models have greater sharpness or smoother light falloff?

Thanks!

[Klainmeister]

Buy both and find out?

[athanasius80]

I would but I'm broke.

[Discoman]

experiences? well, i only got vignetting when I took 16 pictures with the 12 picture insert in place.
never had it when I run the camera correctly.
plastic lens has REALLY good sharpness in my camera. maybe it's just an anomaly.
the glass lens is just a holga with a higher quality lens that will produce higher quality results.
i'd assume both can vignette about the same, but the glass probably takes slightly better pictures, assuming everything else is the same.
IMHO, it seems the 'idea' behind the holga is kinda reduced with a higher quality glass lens.
get either one. if the camera doesn't quite do it for weird pictures, then try the holga films and the holga enlarger.

[yeknom02]

I'm going to guess that the differences between the glass and plastic are going to be insignificant when compared to the differences caused by randomness in the manufacturing process. I've seen different sharpness and vignetting characteristics among a wide variety of the Holga 120N, so I think that it really depends on luck of the draw, so to speak.

That said, I did find this comparison article that may interest you:
http://www.holgablog.com/2009/07/28/...-the-shootout/

[mooseontheloose]

I'm going to guess that the differences between the glass and plastic are going to be insignificant when compared to the differences caused by randomness in the manufacturing process. I've seen different sharpness and vignetting characteristics among a wide variety of the Holga 120N, so I think that it really depends on luck of the draw, so to speak.

That said, I did find this comparison article that may interest you:
http://www.holgablog.com/2009/07/28/...-the-shootout/

+1
I have three Holgas (one being a very expensive Holgamod) with plastic lenses (sorry, never tried the glass lens) and every single one is different. The one I like best is the first one I ever bought -- sharp center, soft around the edges and mostly even vingetting around the corners. I think if you truly want a Holga look, for for the plastic lens.

[Josephine]

I have one with glass lens and I really like the results. I never tried the plastic one, but I bought mine because of an advice from a friend who own both of them. I had the same doubt at the time.

[moki]

It's all about luck with Holgas... some actually take sharp pictures and some don't, whether it's glass or plastic. The (usually bad) build quality and allignment is much more important than the lens material. I once had a box camera that I wanted to use for Lomography, but it was just too good for my taste - a light tap with a plastic hammer did the job

I'd go for the plastic... it's the classic. And it's hard to actually break anything, if you decide to "modify" it.

[michaelbsc]

I'd go for a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye.

[Sirius Glass]

Does a Holga even have a lens??