The Holga camera was a cheaply produced medium format camera intended primarily to be a working toy. First produced in Hong Kong in 1982, its name is possibly a corruption of "ho gwong" which means "very bright".

The camera has a growing following amongst enthusiasts and lomo photographers. The cheaply manufactured plastic lens exhibits many serious faults including soft focus at the edges and chromatic aberations. The plastic camera body itself often leaks light, and fails to hold the 120 size film flat against the backing paper.

There is no connection between the film advance and the shutter release, which leads to many unintended multiple exposures during use.

It is the unpredicable and other worldly results that many enthusiasts find most charming. Many photographers modify the camera to make it more or less reliable depending on the desired results.