Holga HL-N 60mm f/8 Lens for Nikon DSLR Camera Black

This thing is definitely not a conventionally 'good' lens... But its cheap as heck and gives a pretty good disposable camera look, especially with a harsh flash when shot indoors. I will say its a bit hard to focus due to how dark the image is when shooting not in direct sunlight, but with some practice it's a pretty fun little doodad for artsy photo stuff.

Obviously a lens for a very niche purpose or just not take seriously and have fun with it. You have to lean into what it demands since there is no focusing at all and requires lots of light. Only downside on my Nikon D7200 was that the viewfinder was so dark that I had to use the live view on the screen. Here are a few unedited pics that I took quickly just to test it out.

try in different situations and some look more interesting than others.

Fun accessory if you are into lomography or toy camera images. Requires a lot of light. Definitely makes an image similar to a film holga vignette and all no post process needed.

If you are looking at this lens, you know it is not very sharp or technically good. It's bad. You know it's bad, but it is in the "so bad it's good" category. If you shoot indoors, it's super dark; even outside, it's dark. It's got a ton of vignetting. The sharpest you are going to get is in a little spot in the center; it's just a very crap lens. BUT THAT IS WHAT MAKES IT FUN AND CREATIVE. I have used several Holgas in my film days, and they are very unpredictable. If you shoot a portrait with it, it gives you magic (when it works). In the digital age, you can see what you shot and try to work with it. I know when I used the film version of this, each copy was its own special snowflake. I expect this lens to be the same. I don't know if I will buy 5-6 of these to find the one I like, but at <$20, it's not that expensive to try.

I wanted to like this lens as I enjoy using my Holga GCFN 120. The thing is, with my Holga camera I can focus from close up/head and shoulders shots all the way to infinity. I expected the same for this lens, as it supposedly is the same as used on their camera. But in my testing with my Nikon z7 to see where it actually focuses, it only focuses out to about 15 ft. Beyond that things become more and more out of focus. I tested it on my digital camera first because I wanted to use it on my film Nikons. And it is important to see if the zone focus symbols on the lens are accurate because it is pretty much impossible to focus it accurately on a film camera as the lens aperture is so small. I will keep this lens as I already pulled out the disc that creates the vignettes, and without it, it is an f8 lens. I checked this by seeing the exposure reading at a fixed iso, then checked it with another lens set to f8. Same exposure. So for all those people who claim it is an f32 or whatever lens, well, no. Would I recommend this lens? No. Because with the vignetting disc the only novelty is the vignette. And without it to gain the actual f8, it does not show any personality apart from being an unsharp lens. Oh and because it only focuses out to 15 ft. If you want to use this lens, get a Holga GCFN 120 and see it perform the way it is meant to.

The beauty of this lens is just how imperfect it is. The shots I can take with it are just like disposable cameras from my childhood. The lens doesn't let a lot of light in, which requires a really high ISO, which then creates grain and makes it feel way more disposable. It locks perfectly onto the mount of my Nikon D500, I just have to make sure it's not upside down first. It's highly portable, so I just stuck it in the side pocket of my camera bag. It barely even takes up more space. I highly recommend this.

Crazy how a cheapo lens can give you immediate vibes. No editing, it’s all in the lens. It gives off a film look with vignetting. Saturation is very noticeable in the sun, I love it. It’s a super dark lens, so use it in the light, preferably the sun. Indoors/out at night, crank up that iso fool. That’s it. It’s also plastic so it’s super light—you’re basically just holding your camera body. It’s worth it because of how cheap it is and if you don’t want to buy a whole film camera. Can’t complain at this ridiculous price.