Pinhole Camera
There are numerous websites online and books written on this subject. This is fun to research and see what is out there. Pinhole cameras can be made from a wide variety of materials and come in all shapes and sizes. I have a template for a pinhole camera below. This pinhole camera takes 5" x 7" photographic paper, which has to be developed in the darkroom.
Here is a list of items you will need to construct this particular pinhole camera:
Here is a list of items you will need to construct this particular pinhole camera:
- The five templates (pdf template below)
- Black foam core poster board
- Exacto knife (Be careful—this can cut through flesh)
- Black gaffer tape (If you can't find this—you can use black duct tape or black masking tape)
- Sheet metal from a soda can or roof flashing (about 2 inches square)
- Metal ruler/straight edge with cork backing
- Scissors
- Sandpaper
- The thinnest hand sewing needle you can find
You can go to Kinkos/Fedex or any photocopier/graphic design service and ask them to print the template out . It is designed for 12" x 18" sheets of paper. The other alternative is to look at the measurements and do-it-yourself. Place the templates on the foam core, cut the foam core out, and assemble. Here is the template (the pdf has 5 pages for each of the templates):
pinholecameratemplate.pdf | |
File Size: | 1360 kb |
File Type: |
Below is a video that shows how to cut out the template and put it together.
Pinhole Camera DIY from Susan Striepe on Vimeo.
- Place your templates on the black foam core and trace their outlines.
- Cut straight through the foam core, so that you have the five separate components.
- On the dashed lines of the three boxes, only cut half way through the foam core.
- On the shutter, cut straight through the dashed lines.
- Use the gaffer tape to hold together all the corners of the three boxes.
- Cut a 2 inch square from an aluminum soda can and pierce the center with a thin hand sewing needle
- Sand the the metal and place it on the inside of the smallest box, secure with gaffer tape.
- Place the shutter and shutter release on largest box, as shown in the video, secure with gaffer tape
Some Examples
It is interesting to note that when you take the print out of the pinhole camera (do this in the darkroom!) it is going to look like a negative when you develop it. I took a digital photo of each of the pinhole pictures and inverted them in photoshop (image>adjustments>invert). Here are the before and after pictures. The pinhole creates moody vignetting. The shutter speed varied: The first photograph was 5 minutes, the second photograph was 3 minutes, and the third photograph was 8 minutes. They were taken in the early morning in September, on the shady side of the house.