video: episode 8 , 35mm pinhole camera
May 5, 2008 – 12:01 am
Despite major technological advances in photography, I still enjoy getting back to the basics. Few things are more satisfying to me, personally, than constructing my own camera and using it to take photographs. If you haven’t tried it before I hope you’ll give it a go sometime.
This is one of my favorite projects, a 35mm pinhole camera made from a tin box from the crafts store (it costs around $10 to make). The video does run a little longer than usual, over 7 minutes, so if you’re in a hurry there’s also a photo gallery below. If you’re a real DIY person the photos will tell you a bunch. Rather than ramble, I’m going to let the video and photos tell this story…
Any readers shooting with a pinhole?
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A few notes:
- Film loading must be done in a completely dark room or a changing bag. The film must be pulled out of the cassette before loading the camera, then the film advance pulls it back into the cassette with each 1 1/2 turns of the knob.
- The tin box was approximately 3 1/2″ x 5″ x 1 1/2″ and the wooden dowel was 3/8″ diameter. The holes in the wooden spools had to be enlarged with a drill to fit the dowel. I used a #9 sewing needle to make the pinhole because it was small, it’s what I had and it just felt right.
If you want to dive deeper into the technical details of pinhole photography and sizing a pinhole for best sharpness, try this Pinhole FAQ and the Mr. Pinhole pinhole size calculator. Another good starting point is the Pinhole Resource . If you don’t want to build a camera but want to find a pinhole body cap for your brand DSLR, you can Shop Calumet Photographic - It’s Where the Pros Go
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Looking for deals on film? Try B&H:
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10 Responses to “video: episode 8 , 35mm pinhole camera”
Great little camera! Does the film get scratched much when winding, if so, does it add to the look?
By Jason Phillips on May 5, 2008
Surprisingly, the first one I made didn’t scratch much at all. Felt or velvet could probably be used on film contact areas if someone wanted to take the design “to the next level”.
There were, however, light leaks coming through the film advance spindle on my first model. On this one I made little black felt washers to put on the shaft between the wooden spools and camera body.
And I actually don’t mind a little film scratching and a little light leaking. The design could be refined to produce a more perfect image but I like to see what distinctive characteristics the camera itself gives the photos.
By Jim Talkington on May 5, 2008
The ones I used to make don’t use 35 mm. These are too delicate to handle. I use plain B&W photographic paper in boxes. One great fish eye lens effect can be obtained if you don’t make the camera squares. Instead just use any round tin, with one exposure at a time. and with those you have absolutely no way light can sneak in , expect from the pin hole. Though not convenient for multiple exposures.
Have’nt don’t that in a while though. So let me get my hands on some Photo graphic paper.
By WordPress Guru on May 5, 2008
I think thats the beauty of pinhole photography, there is no single right way. Your imagination is the limit.
By Jason Phillips on May 5, 2008
This is awesome! I have got to give this a try someday.
I wonder what the aperture is? I suppose I can assume it was sunny outside when you took that 2s exposure. You had ISO 100 film, and the sunny 16 rule says f/16 and ISO 100 and 1/100s.
2s is 7 2/3 stops away from 1/100s. So if I add 7 2/3 stops to f/16… well, f/256 is 8 stops away and that’s pretty close.
All this to say that if you used this indoors where you might normally have ISO 100, f/2.8 and 1/15s… f/256 is 13 stops away from f/2.8… so… “OK, everybody hold still and say cheese… for 9 minutes”
By NormMonkey on May 6, 2008
Hi..I really enjoyed your “making of the pinhole camera”video.. had an idea..why not use an empty canister on the take up side and put the new film on the other and then you wouldn’t have to unwind the film first..but just start it into the empty cannister to begin with..
just a thought
Diane
By Diane on May 6, 2008
I love Diane’s idea, it is awesome.
I suppose you’d load it by taping the loose end of the new film roll to the empty canister’s spool, assembling the canister and then stretching it across the box.
I guess there’d need to be a spool on the take-up side to advance the film, as well as one to rewind it after.
I’ll bet that wastes less film than a normal film camera. Too cool! Any project involving power tools and spray paint is awesome already; that the end product is an old-timey fine-art generator? Priceless.
By NormMonkey on May 6, 2008
Great idea, Diane, that would greatly simplify loading. I like it. I seem to remember that’s how the original Leica 35mm cameras did it waaaaay back in the day.
Norm, it sounds like you’re up for the task of creating the next generation? I’ll add some links on Friday to more pinhole creations.
And Norm, did your 9 minute exposure calculation take reciprocity into consideration?
By Jim Talkington on May 6, 2008
Nope, I didn’t take reciprocity failure into account at all. I hadn’t even heard of it before now. Hooray for ProPhotoLife.com! and Wikipedia.
A quick search tells me that the actual required exposure is almost always LONGER than the indicated exposure by some factor. Is that how it works?
By NormMonkey on May 7, 2008
Yep, reciprocity was a huge factor in film photography. Long (and extremely short) exposures typically result in a loss of film speed (requiring additional exposure) The actual factor is specific to individual films and included in the film data sheet with all professional films. In color films there are somewhat predictable shifts in color specific to each film, also.
For example, a slide film might say that at exposures from 4-10 seconds you need to +1 exposure and add 10cc magenta filtration (I just made up that example).
I still have boxes of expensive Kodak color correction gel filters for this kind of stuff. Now I just click things with an eye dropper!
By Jim Talkington on May 7, 2008