I own a holga, I admit it. I didn’t buy it though. A friend had bought it, used it for almost a full roll, and decided it wasn’t for him. I’m never one to refuse a free camera, so home it came with me. I’ll also admit that I have enjoyed it from time to time, but it certainly hasn’t become my one and only camera. Mine has no light leaks and simply gives a soft shot with vignette, I don’t think I would like the ones that leak.
From the makers of holga comes the Sprocket Rocket, a new camera that takes panoramic film images and can even expose the entire film (hence the sprocket part of the name). I can’t help but think if this camera had been available during my xpan search, I might have bought it first to try and satisfy my panoramic urges without spending too much money. I guess in a way I’m glad I didn’t as I would have still bought the xpan and then had also wasted money on the above camera…
It shoots 35mm film, has a 30mm lens (zone focus), and has one shutter speed (as I said, same people who make the holga…). It does have two wind knobs which allows you to move the film forwards and backwards while shooting, enabling you to do cool overlap effects. I like the design and I think it’s a great way to get into panoramics, but I’m not sure if I’d spend the money on this one.