The Art of Camera Obscura: Pinhole

2010-02-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

The most simplest form of photography, but probably requires the most planning and preparation. Simple in that is requires no lens, but relies on a single hole to project light of an inverted image into a dark chamber.

With a bit of math and research (the Internet) anyone could determine the optimal size of the hole required to Project an Image on to the adjacent Surface of the chamber. The diameter of the hole relies on a couple factors, Focal Length (f ) , and the area of the surface to be projected upon. These go hand in hand, changing the focal length changes your optimal opening diameter which will also change the amount of surface need in the projected image... too much vignetting or not enough surface area.

The Pinhole Cameras.

Camera 1: The first Camera I made out of a old chess box I found at Stardust Antiques (A place the just sell a bunch of unique junk). So what happened, I destroyed it, primary because I was unsatisfied with the results and it was time to go back to the drawing board. I saved a few snapshots of the camera and of course the images it produced. I can tell you where I went wrong the Pinhole diameter wasn't small enough. The smaller the diameter the sharper the image. I goofed up, I used a needle of a specific diameter to estimate the size, but didn't bother to scan the tin to confirm I had the correct hole diameter which threw my exposure off by minutes. My first roll of film was blank. Drag.

Camera 2: This Time I took a different approach. I started from scratch, built all of the box out of Bass wood. I also sent more time planning the key part of the camera and how they go together. Of course I'm still improving upon it. I searched the Web for resources, Here's a few that I find really helpful:

MrPinhole - a good website for cutting out the math in camera design.

ULTIMATE EXPOSURE COMPUTER - Calculating Exposure with out a light meter.

f295

Freestyle Photo Supplies

Whats not photographed below is a Lens cap that acts as the shutter and a piece of foam that used as pressure plate for the film against the dark chamber, this really helped with light leaks.

The Elements of Camera 2:

Pinhole - .008in Diameter. I cut out a piece of a coke can, and sanded it down as thin as I could, or at least until my arm got tired. Be sure the aluminum cut size and the opening in the wood box is big enough not interfere with the angle of view. In the center of this piece or aluminum, using a needle of a smaller diameter poke a hole through the aluminum. Sand the Surface and repeat this until the surface is flat. Scan and measure the the aluminum with the new pinhole in photoshop to confirm the correct diameter size (my mistake in the camera 1 design)
Focal Length - 1.125"
Film Type - This camera was made for 120 film. Fuji Acros is the best in my option, primarly because of the slow reciprocity failure. Wikipedia
Film Advancing Dial - I bought from a place that sells surplus electronics. Anything will work. Check Flickr for other creative solutions. There are plenty of people out in the community that are willing to share ideas.
Shutter - Sort of. I use a 72mm Lens cap. The lens cap is attached to a Step up ring glued to the outside of the Camera box.

Final Thoughts: Spend time learning and doing, because that's the way most creative people learn. I didn't share everything but rather give you a starting point to find the solutions.

New Orleans Streetscape

2010-02-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

The Best Part of New Orleans, Walking around with my Holga in hand capturing images that produced some pleasantly surprising results. Early in the morning the Streets and building covered in a deep haze of Fog, it produced a surreal Environment.

For these Black and White I used Kodak TMax. The best part of this film is the rich contrast and detail in the shadows.

By Sandwinch
The Light level was Perfect for the 400 iso Film, But I could see where this could be used in higher light levels... using a Filter of course. Perhaps a IR Filter. You can figure out how to adapt filters to the Holga Here

So many Possibilities. Enjoy!

Tri-cycle

2008-06-30T17:40:00.001-07:00

By Sandwinch
Memories...

China Bokeh?

2008-06-30T17:34:00.001-07:00

bud, originally uploaded by sandwinch.

Great Wall Camera strait from China. The Best part is the Awesome "Bokeh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh)". Moominsean wrote this great blog on the camera http://moominsean.blogspot.com/, enjoy!

Doll heads

2008-05-16T08:52:00.001-07:00

Doll heads, originally uploaded by sandwinch.

Creepy

The Odd Little Brownie

2008-04-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Marv found a Brownie 127 camera at an antique shop in the heights, I got some 127 film from Freestyle photo supplies and popped off all 8 shots on the film and heres what came out. Elke 127 iso 100.

IlfordsGhost

2008-04-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Opps... I forgot to advance the film. Lately I've playing around with some different film in my Holga120S. This Ilford Xp2 400Iso, the main reason I was attracted to it was it offer a higher amount of contrast, than Ilfords other films. So I decided to try it out.