Pinhole into the sun?

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Is the attached image what I can expect when I point a pinhole virtually directly into the sun?

Thanks,

- Thomas

[Anupam Basu]

I'd say you're doing very well in terms of flare and have a good pinhole with even round edges.

[Jon Shiu]

Here's an example of pinhole flare from 4x5 Pinhole camera.

Jon

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Thanks for posting guys. So, to answer my question - is it abnormal what I see?

- Thomas

[Jon Shiu]

You mean the dark vertical areas? It doesn't happen with my pinhole camera. Is it some type of homemade camera?

Jon

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Yes, exactly. That's what I'm referring to (sorry, I was in la-la land, not thinking to explain what I'm talking about).
No, it's a ZeroImage2000 6x6 camera. I only get that effect when I point the camera straight into the sun. I thought I didn't have to deal with flare since there isn't a lens, but was curious if something else would show up instead...

- Thomas

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Here is a frame from the same roll that was pointing away from the sun. Nice, sharp, and no anomalies.

- Thomas

[Ross Chambers]

The area upon which the rays of the sun appear might have some influence. I've attached a Zero Image 4x5 pic which worked out not so badly. In my case probably pure luck, as so often with my pinhole pictures.

It was mid morning and I was not particularly conscious of the sun's position.

My point is that Zero Image's pinholes are fairly regular.

Regards - Ross

[Joe VanCleave]

The differences between individual pinholes show up the most when pointing the camera directly at the sun. The ideal pinhole is a two-dimensional, round aperture; practical pinholes are three-dimensional, shallow 'tunnels' and are not necessarily close to perfectly round. In addition, the material the pinhole is made from, and any coatings on the inside walls of the hole, all contribute to how much, and the quality of, light flare present in the image.

I've heard that Zero Image pinholes are pretty good quality. There's also EMS electron microscope apertures, which some folks over at F295 are using in homemade cameras, and these appear to be at least as good as the Zero Image pinholes.

My homemade pinholes vary widely in quality, depending on how much time I want to spend in trying to make a near-ideal pinhole.

For coating the inside surface of the the pinhole tunnel, some sources recommend the ideal coating is blackening them with soot from a smokey candle, which is almost pure carbon; others use black marker pens.

Of course, the fun part about pinhole is that all this doesn't have to be so technically perfect. We can get all kinds of funky light flare, and still enjoy the images the camera delivers. It's all good.

~Joe

[Andrew Moxom]

Damn that North shore, it's claimed yet another negative! Not sure I can resolve your problem, but I wonder if there is the potential for internal reflections on anything inside that camera?