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The Holga Instant is a Holga 120 camera with an Instant back attached. There were several different Instant backs in the course of the Holga history. The first try was a back for Polaroid Pack 80 peel-apart film, the sqare version of pack 100 film. With this back only a 6x6 cm (56x56mm to be exact) part of the film area is exposed, the rest remains black. The second try was a back for Polaroid 80 film with full frame covering. To achieve this, the back is further away from the film plane which needs a correction lens. It was sometimes marketed as Holgaroid. Type 80 film is no longer available, so these back are obsolete. They are easily recognizable: seen from the front, the right side of the back is no longer than the body of the Holga. Then there was a Holgaroid back for pack 100 film, this type of film was available from Fuji until 2015 and is still on the market. All these backs obstruct the finder, so there was a framing aid. If you buy one of these, check whether finder and correction lens are furnished.

The next try was a back for SX70/600 integral film. Those I have seen had a 6x6 exposure area, as the instant film plane was at the same spot where the roll film would have been. Full frame versions surely have been made. The main snag of the integral film version is that the image is inversed. In Polaroid Cameras the integral film is exposed via a mirror. Without this bulky mirror the image is inversed.


The back shown here is for Fuji Instax Mini film. To cover the 46x62 mm image area, the film plane is a bit further away from the lens. In order to keep focussing right, there is an additional  lens which has to be attached in front of the Holga lens. This back is not motorized as the Diana Instant back. After the exposure you have to push the photo via a lever towards the rollers and then turn a crank handle to squeeze the photo through the rollers. This is quite easy and works well. No batteries are required and the price of the back was much lower than the price of a Diana Instant back.
 The main features of the Holga Instant are:

60mm simple plastic menikus lens + correction lens, ~F13 and F20, zone focus 1- 
Shutter ~1/100, B
Size 140x140x105,  Weight 448 gr.
Picture size
99x62 mm, image area 46x62 mm, covers full Instax Mini format

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Camera front. Viewer and correction lens attached.

More pictures of the camera and examples of pictures taken with this camera are on my plastic camera website www.plastikcam.com. The link opens in a new window.

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