Should I purchase a Holga or a Diana?

You know, I have seen those before, but I have never actually used one. For 40 bucks, I have always been curious about their quality. I don’t think you could go very wrong for that price, though. I’d say give it a shot. Hell, I might order one just to play around with.

I just called a photography friend of mine and he said that with the Holgas, you get what you pay for. But he also said that he liked the cheap nature of the camera. As he put it, the images can have some serious flaws due to the cheap plastic lens, but these flaws often have a way of working with the resulting print.

Now I’m kinda curious.

Very interesting @sacaver I have never used these so honestly I’m of no use.

Thanks for the extra research sacaver. I’m just looking for a cheap-o camera to do some artsy photography with (I’m tried of the slickness and precision of my digital camera). From what I’ve read, the Holga and Diana are pretty similar (both “toy” cameras that came out in the ‘70s), they vary in terms of available features. For example, you can remove the lense on the Diana and use it as a pinhole camera and the Holga can be converted to use with 35 mm film. I guess I’m just trying to figure out which model to begin with.

Holga vs Diana – post#1

Holga vs Diana – post#2

Holga vs Diana – post#3

I say get an Holga (which I have and enjoy). The simpler version can be found for $25 retail. With a built-in flash is a bit more.

I love my Holga, though the diana is sort of more sophisticated nowadays (at least, the NEW ones are, made by Lomography and marketed as Diana+). I might just go for both.

Holga, you will enjoy it, as the purpose is to have a toy camera to expect “happy accident” (a picture that you didn’t expect it will be like that). For my part I have a Holga and a FishEye: tons of fun.