Climbing down from the dizzy heights of a digitally equipped Hasselblad it's probably fair to say that one fitted with a film-back can be bought for $2500 or thereabouts. In this configuration both cameras use 120 roll-film, available in various makes, types, emulsions and speeds. 120 roll-film is (by 2006... was!) the bread-and-butter format of the professional photographer who wants quality images.

With a Swedish Hasselblad you have the choice of a superb range of high-quality German Zeiss multicoated optics ranging from 30mm fisheye to 500mm telephoto - or Fuji lenses for the newer Japanese built 645 format system - whilst with a Chinese Holga you have an uncoated lens probably little better than a plastic toy magnifying glass, of 60mm focal length or thereabouts, an optimistic maximum aperture of f/8 and made up of an unknown (to me) number of elements... I doubt if it's one, may be two, could be three, won't be four or more!

The reputation of the comprehensive Hasselblad system is understandably legendary... but surprisingly the Holga has rapidly grown in popularity and stature with certain photographers and aficionados, poseurs and weirdoes (just kidding!) who use the camera's quirks and jerks to create art. In fact I get the feeling that every shot taken with a Holga becomes art of some form or another judging by the number of internet sites displaying such results... type "Holga" and "Gallery" into Google and well over 20,000 pages come up. An interesting example is Holga Mods which has over many pages of really excellent Holga images from users around the world.

I'd better explain what I meant by the camera's "quirks" in the previous paragraph. Quirks include light leaks onto the film from a poor fitting back... vignetting from an over-stretched lens... and soft images from, well, I did say that the lens was over-stretched. You can't do anything about the lens but you are advised to use adhesive tape to make the join good (or better) between the body and removable back.

Samples understandably vary given the cheap quality and lack of control of it... so a number of photographers buy them in bulk. One of the best places to buy from (after all they wrote the instructions which come with the camera) is The Photographic Resource in Maine... (in 2004 the deal was $20 if ordering one, $17 each if ordering from 2~5 or $15 each camera if ordering 6~31 and so on. However, at the time of this Nov. 2006 update the unit price is $25 and I see no discounts being offered on their website). You pay your money and you take your pick.

It's quite likely though that none get thrown away for being too quirky... simply that the better samples are used for more exacting jobs. Some guys and gals are selling their Holga images for several hundreds of dollars and the crap cameras get used for the personal stuff... find a really horrible example and it may be just great for shooting into the sun (lots of wonderfully artistic flare all other lens makers try to guard against) and nothing else.