Pinhole work with 4x5 or 8x10

[tim atherton]

Having not done any pinhole photogorpahy since we set of cereal boxes and old Ilford paper at school. what's the easiest way to set up to do some pinhole photogorpahy with and existing 4x5 or 8x10 camera?

Making pinholes? Buying apertures? What do I need to know here....

thanks

tim

[ronald moravec]

I would buy the premade ones on shim stock from pinhole resource. Then you can still use your esisting camera.

[jnantz]

i would also suggest buying lasar cut pinholes, or zoneplates from the pinhole resource. they are made to specific apertures, and you can use a light meter to figure out your exposures relative to f64.

- john

[Tracy Storer]

Hey Tim, You can buy the ready-made pinholes, or make one from brass shim stock or an aluminum pie-plate. (brass works better than the aluminum, but both are do-able) Black matboard for a lensboard, black tape for a shutter and you're good to go! Have fun. Good info on the pinhole resource site. http://www.pinholeresource.com/ Best, Tracy

[MattO]

Check out Lenox Laser - best pinholes available, and very precise.

http://www.lenoxlaser.com/

[Tadge Dryja]

I just took the lens elements out of my copal 0 shutter, stopped it all the way down, and moved the standards about 300mm apart. That's more or less a pinhole, and you already have a bunch of shutters presumably.

[Jimi]

Hello,

I think (but that's me) that part of the pinhole thing is to make your own holes. ;) The results from Lenox Laser is said to get "uncommonly sharp pinhole photographs" (quote from their website) but I find the soft fuzzy aesthetics (oahh - the dreaded word!) of a homemade pinhole to be my way. If I need sharpness, I'll use a lens. Check out http://www.pinhole.nl/index.htm for some nice pictures and inspiration.

[Moe_4073]

Making your own pinholes is not too hard if you have a pin chuck and set of miniature twist drills from sizes #80 to #64 (0.0135" to 0.036") both of which are available from a hobby shop. To get clean round holes, use 0.005" thick brass shim stock. Drill a pilot hole which should be 2-3 sizes smaller than your actual hole first. Then enlarge it to actual size. Sand both sides of the hole with #600 sandpaper to remove burrs and you are all set.

To mount to a camera, you can either make up a lensboard for each size of pinhole you have, or tape the individual pinhole shims over a common lensboard. For a shutter, I use those 1/32" thin die-cut fridge magnets with a tape hinge on the top side. To figure out what diameter of pinhole you will need for a given bellows extension/focal length/film coverage, check out www.mrpinhole.com which has several online calculators. Regards,

[tim o'brien]

My advice,

get an old Speed or Crown Graphic and make a new lens board (old speeds used wood or bakelite lensboards) with a 1/4 hole in the middle. Use the existing infinity stops, set the focus to infinity and make your measurements there. Calculate your optimum pin hole, drill it using a pin vise in thin sheet brass, sanded down as thin as possible and mount centered on the 1/4 hole in your new lensboard. You will have an approximate focal length and aperture. Knowing this, you can calculate exposre using reciprocity compensation. Using a flap system for a shutter (or use the focal plane shutter setting '0') and put the whole thing on a tripod.

This method allows you maximum control and ease of use for standard film holders. It also allows you to set up more than one infinity stop for different size (focal length) pinholes.

tim (mr. pinhole (or is it pinhead?)) in san jose

[Christian Olivet]

Jimi, I went into that website you suggested. I don't know what happened to me. I can't figure it out. I think my mind has been blown away.

PS: Never did any acid. Maybe I should!

[Jimi]

Christian,

I think pinholes are a less hazardous way to experience other realities. :) The pictures inspired me a lot. Taught me something about vision, which is essential to photography, in any shape.

[K. Praslowicz]

Here is how I did it.

1. Determined optimal pinhole size.
2. Bought a set of baking sheets and cut them into small squares.
3. Bought a set of small needles and started punching holes into them.
4. Scanned each one at 2400 dpi and used photoshop to measure the diameter and check the roundess of each one until I found one that was at my optimal diameter.
5. Pulled the elements from my shutter and created a plastic plug to fit into the shutter. The plug was just the top plastic top from the case that rolls of 35mm Tri-X come in trimmed down.
6. Cut a hole in the plug and tape the pinhole to it.

[robert colognoli]

Hi, Sorry,the text in French, but may be interesting for you. www.galerie-photo.com/stenope.html

Regards, Robert.