4x5 Homemade Pinhole - I finally made one!

[CuS]

Well, I went and did it. I cobbled together a nice box (with a 50mm focal length) from black foamcore and black matte board.

I had an old lens/shutter assembly from an Agfa Viking 4.5 from which I removed the front and rear lens elements. I then made a pinhole from a diet coke can, cut it to fit in the front lens-element holder assembly and screwed it into the back of the shutter assembly.

After I made the pinhole, I scanned it and it measured ~0.3 mm (almost the perfect size for a 50mm focal length - I got lucky).

I mounted the shutter in the front of the box and rigged some elastic to hold the film holder against the back.

I just shot two sheets of tmax400 and i'll dev them tonight.

I'll also take some pics of the camera and scan the film and post for all to see.

Sorry for the rambling post, but I was really excited to share.

[bobwysiwyg]

Look forward to the pics and pics of the camera.

[DWThomas]

Sounds cool -- looking forward to seeing the results.

DaveT

[Greg Heath]

Great JOB ! I built one in March... and it works great. I picked up some of the 100speed (50 count) 4x5 Ultra EDu...film ... from Freestyle photo for $20...and it's been a blast ever since.

Post some pics when you get them done...

Congrats.

Greg

[CuS]

I'll also take some pics of the camera and scan the film and post for all to see.

Well, here they are - let me know what you think. The film is currently in the photoflo - i'll get them up tomorrow.


Here's a link to my flickr page where you can see more of a description of the camera and materials.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colusit...7620033768138/

[BetterSense]

I was wondering, where do you get your film holders? I want to build a 4x5 pinhole camera and it would be neat if it used film holders, but I don't have any.

[bobwysiwyg]

I was wondering, where do you get your film holders? I want to build a 4x5 pinhole camera and it would be neat if it used film holders, but I don't have any.

Try eBay. They're out there all the time.

[Andrew Moxom]

Great camera... Must nice and lightweight too

[DWThomas]

Good job! The camera looks well thought out.

My past pinhole efforts have been centered around Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day in April each year. So far, I've gone high tech, using a regular camera with a special lensboard or body cap for good solid film handling. But having done that a few times now, I was already thinking of building an "engineered" design from from scratch, as you've done nicely here. Or maybe even going really low tech -- back to the traditional cans, cookie tins or whatever. I have liked the ability to go out on the road and take multiple shots without a darkroom or changing bag, but I suppose I don't need to do a "road trip" every year.

Now and then it's a fun change from using novelties like lenses.

Keep up the good work!

DaveT

[Paul Cocklin]

Just curious, how would one calculate coverage of image circle? I've been thinking of doing a 4x5 pinhole camera myself, (and will, eventually) and was wondering how far back the holder needs to be to ensure full coverage. Also, I know that it's said that these types of cameras have infinite dof, (or lack thereof) but is there an actual hyperfocal distance?