January 24, 2003

The other day I ordered a Woca from Freestyle Photographic Supplies, and to my delight, it arrived today.

Mostly spurred by a recent Washington Post article about this cheap plastic medium-format(!) camera and its even more primitive sister, the Holga, my burning curiousity about its capabilities, or lack thereof, led me to order one.

Upon first sight, it looked better than the US$ 28.99 pricetag led on. Of course I already knew that it was going to be super-light, but I was pleasantly surprised nonetheless. The plastic construction seems sturdy, and all the very simple functions were working flawlessly.

As recommended by anybody who has ever worked with a Holga/Woca, I immediately kicked out the 6x4.5 mask, turning it into a 6x6, and threw away the lens cap.

Loading the first roll of Ilford XP2 turned out to be a pain in the you-all-know-where, and I had to stick little pieces of cardboard under both the right and the left spool to keep the film tightly wound. I'm sure I'll get better at it though as time progresses and I get more comfortable with the camera's quirks.

Foolishly though, I ordered the flash version. It requires two AA batteries to operate the flash, which is not only an added thing to keep track of while travelling, but since the 6x4.5 mask seperated the chamber with the batteries from the emulsion-side of the film, I'm a bit worried now that a leaking battery or some gawd-knows-what toxic fume from the batteries will screw with the film.

Also, I decided to shot the first roll of film without any gaffer's tape around the various seams to see where and how bad the famous light leaks really are. And btw - can't find gaffer's tape anywhere? Filmtools.com has it. They're not cheap, but the order was here in no-time, and the tape is definitely the right stuff for taping up the camera. I can't imagine having to do it with messy electrical tape.

I shall report on my experience with the Woca and more after I return from my trip to Mexico's Copper Canyon around the 11th of next month.