I Built A 4x5 Pinhole Camera...

Looks pretty good so far. I kind of like the softness. It adds a surreal, dreamy quality.

I will have a couple of pinholes which I can replace depending on the effect, shatpness, etc I want. But I really want to get the sharpest as well as an option.

Isn't a cell phone just a digital pinhole camera? }:-D

Great first attempts Marcio. I like playing with cameras myself. Here was my first attempts at a pinhole I made. http://www.pbase.com/macha/pinhole

My husband made a panoramic pinhole camera out of wood, stainless steel and tape though I've not tried to use it yet.

My next pinhole camera will be 8x10.
I think make you own pinhole camera is the cheapest and easiest way to get into the large format.

Gregory,
I have never thought about it. Is it?

Almost. My first one had an aperture of about 1/64th of an inch diameter. Not much glass there would be my point.

I'm building a 4x5 myself. It will be a view camera though. I have a Schneider lens with a Copal #1 shutter and a bunch of Regal holders all set to go.

Congrats, those are great photos for your first pinhole, I have always wanted to try it.....is there a formula, to be focused clearly the subject must be a certain distance from the pinhole box.....have you tried taking the photo from the area where the pinhole box is would that affect the over exposure....etc...

Hello Gregory, I think your answer would be no, because a digital camera deals with pixels and a pinhole is film, there are no pixels involved because a true pinhold has no lens, it is the perfect camera....the only grain would be from the type of film used....the speed of the film......

Marcio,

What are you using to create the hole? It looks too big to me. Did you use an actual pin? How long are you exposures?

Rich

To get a sharp image I need 0.422mm pinhole.

The first hole I made is about 2mm because I made a mistake. But the soft and blur effect is interisting and I may use it.
Then I made a smaller hole about 1.2 mm.
Then a smaller 0.8mm.

Yesterday night I finaly menage to make a 0.5mm hole which will give me a sharp image. But I will test it this morning.

I am using neddles to make the holes on a heave black paper, but I will make the holes again on aluminioum from soda can, just to make my camera 100% waterprouve (a professional camera rsrs).

Yes! It is sharper now. :)

http://www.marciofaustino.com/uploads/1/6/4/6/16464874/897305_orig.jpg

It is f200, 45sec exposure.

I think the white part was a light leak wich I can fix easy. :)

I am using print paper as negative paper. The Paper is Ilfors MGIV RC Satin. And as the test show it is ISO 6.

Marcio,

Much better! And it's either a light leak, or a piece of the paper from the hole puncture inside. When you use the metal, use can sand the inside smooth and then spray it black and the whole inside of the "camera" black.

Good Luck!

Rich

I was wondering about using print paper as photo paper. I was thinking in terms of using it in an 8x10 but the pin hole is a great idea.

AM,

Print paper is used because it's cheap and much easier to "develop" vs 8x10 film and then sending it to get processed or trying to do the film your self, in total darkness!

Rich

Now I have a flare issue that happens when shooting outside. It seems to be only with straight sky light. So I think it may be UV light which the paper is sensitive.
I will try a UV filter and see if helps.

Marcio,

What is your "camera" made from? You can make your own box using black mat board and black gaffer's tape and then spray the whole thing with black paint. The issue is usually the back where the film/paper goes in/out. Even better is a product we have here called Gator Board, which is a heavy duty foam core and the real stuff has a wood veneer and is real tough stuff.

As a last resort, try throwing a black cloth over the"camera" and see if that helps,

Rich

I founded out the problem. Is the bigger hole which is curved reflecting lighting back to the pinhole.

But instead of fixing this camera I will build a 7x9 inches one that will make nacer contact prints. :)

The photos of my camera e from my camera are here:
http://www.marciofaustino.com/test.html

Here's a pinhole camera that I made many years ago. Still works well:



and here's an image taken with it:

Murray,

Incoming!!!!!

Marcio,

What's really nice about Murray's camera, is that it uses a film holder, which will keep the film/paper flat through long exposures, your paper may bend and warp over a long exposure, which will aggrivate the situation,

Rich

Rich, the camera was built to last. It was made of high-grade modeler's plywood. Using film holders allows me to change film without a darkroom or changing bag. It's very light-tight. The pinhole was drilled and chamfered to provide a uniform hole, rather than the common practice of poking a hole with a sewing needle. This resulted in pictures that are really sharp, which belies the stereotype that pinhole camera images are soft and 'old-timey.'

There are also a couple of luxuries, like steel tripod sockets in the bottom and left side as well as 'viewfinder' arrows to indicate which way to point the camera. Yeah, I know . . .

Murray,

A work of Art and the work of an artist! Pinhole cameras are truly a tool to allow photographers to photograph stuff, rather than take snapshots! If you are going to use this camera to create images and everyone will be unique, then that says a lot about what and who you are. I do remember longer exposures though,

Rich

Based on my scribblings inside the camera, the lens is a 29mm f:195. That equates to a 5.3mm wide-angle in a full-frame world.

I built a giant pinhole camera years ago from a refrigerator carton. It was for an art in the park thing our art department put on to expose kids to art. It layed on its side and I had a white screen attached to one of the walls. A kid would get on each side of the pinhole and after their eyes adjusted for the dark they could see the park upside down on the wall. It was on another piece of cardboard and we would spin them around so they could see the whole park in motion. We got a really good response but I think it was mainly because they liked being spun around in a dark box. I did also have one for film that I took a picture of a pony on Assateague Island which came out pretty good, not sharp but no blur.

I've heard of making digital large format cameras from flatbed scanners. Would love to try it some day.

Jim,

Probably fun in the park, but I sure wouldn't want to go do landscapes and hiking and stuff with it.........

Rich

@John Ayo, I've heard of that too. It sounds like a lot of fun and with an assistant, shouldn't be too bad to pack around. Inverter included.

I made today a 12x12in camera to make 8x10in photos and 7x9in.

I like the larger prints but this big camera don't allow me to go to streets or woods shoot and change paper negatives in a change bag. It's too big.
It could be smaller but I don't want the images too wide. But maybe I will have to make a smaller one 8x10in, to take shots in the woods, which will be very wide angle shots.

The 4x5in one I think is perfect, I can go anywhere and since it's metal I can place on wet ground. 4x5 is too small. :(

I am now taking a 12h shot with my new camera. If I like it I will use for self portraits.


I bought tools to install on my pinhole cameras to allow use them on a tripod, and I have a rule which indicates the angle and direction of the shot, so I can know what will appear in the frame and what will not. But I want to make a perfect 8x10in camera.