Building a Pinhole Camera

[WGibsonPhotography]

Originally Posted by DWThomas

Methinks accuracy is a somewhat subjective term here.

One of the formulas often referenced is:

d = c * sqrt( f * l)

Where d is the pinhole diameter
c is a constant (that's where the trouble starts)
f is the focal length
and l is the wavelength of the light (more trouble)

Folks seem to use 0.00055 for the light wavelength (which might be a green) but the spectral sensitivity of the film could come into play. Ortho film would likely produce sharper results if one optimized for the appropriate wavelength.

The constant --- oooh --- I think Lord Rayleigh, an early tinkerer with these matters, came up with 1.9. But I've seen people using numbers as low as 1.5. Obviously this cauld bend the results quite a bit. In my quick perusal of the MrPinhole calculator, I didn't see an indication of what he used, although it may be lurking there somewhere. Pinhole Designer defaults to .00055 for the light wavelength and 1.9 for the constant, but gives a user the option to edit those values.

Edit: The 0.0366 is simply bundling numbers, the product of the constant, c, and sqrt( wavelength) for metric values; 0.0073 for inches.

When one considers the issues of fabrication, pinhole cutting, reciprocity failure and possible film flatness problems, it's probably not worth doing three decimal place calculations here.

DaveT

Well all of that makes sense. I actually did some research on the subject and found an article mentioning Rayleigh and some of the physics involved, including wavelengths of light and the constant and what the constant meant. I had an allergy headache from mowing grass, so none of it really made much sense. I printed it out, and I'll read it again tomorrow.

Maybe I shouldnt research too much on this subject. Perhaps I should just take the recommendations of the pinhole calculators, not worry about all the physics, and just have fun.

[ralnphot]

Whatever happened to the simple oatmeal box pin hole camera? I made one in college a hundred years ago, and there wasn't all this fuss over all this rediculous math. All we did was paint the thing black inside, cut out for the "lens" cut the stupid steel beer can and drill it and tape it on the box. All the fun is wasted and lost fretting over the math just to get it PERFECT. My daughter is thrilled to be just making something that will show results , and allows her to EXPERIMENT with all the variables. IMHO we all spend too much time overcomplicating our hobbies and our lives by trying to be the absolute authority on any given subject(self included). My daughter remindes me daily what a ninny I am for this, when all she is interested in is the "fun" aspect of photography.
Rick

[WGibsonPhotography]

Originally Posted by ralnphot

Whatever happened to the simple oatmeal box pin hole camera? I made one in college a hundred years ago, and there wasn't all this fuss over all this rediculous math. All we did was paint the thing black inside, cut out for the "lens" cut the stupid steel beer can and drill it and tape it on the box. All the fun is wasted and lost fretting over the math just to get it PERFECT. My daughter is thrilled to be just making something that will show results , and allows her to EXPERIMENT with all the variables. IMHO we all spend too much time overcomplicating our hobbies and our lives by trying to be the absolute authority on any given subject(self included). My daughter remindes me daily what a ninny I am for this, when all she is interested in is the "fun" aspect of photography.
Rick

You got a point there. I might just make one as good as I can without all the math, and then experiment later.

Trying to figure out all this "rediculous math" is pretty cool, I think (even though math isnt my strong point, and I'm probably spending more time figuring it out than a smart person )

[Darkroom317]

Originally Posted by Darkroom317

Any idea what size pinhole I would need for 6 x 9 120?

Also how far would the pinhole have to be away from the film?

[fschifano]

Originally Posted by WGibsonPhotography

I have one more question: Would balsa wood be an appropriate material to make a pinhole camera out of (painted, of course)? I think I can get sheets of it at a local crafts store.

As BetterSense wrote, balsa may not be light tight enough, but that's only a secondary consideration. Blacking it out with surface coatings is easy enough. A couple of coats of primer and flat black paint will fix that. But balsa is pretty flimsy stuff, and cameras get knocked around a lot. Not a good combination. Basswood might be a bit better.

[Greg Heath]

Mrpinhole.com is what I used...

It calculates it for you.


here's another cool site..

http://www.corbis.readymech.com/en


You can spend a fortune on laser drilled pinholes...and if you have money to spend...go ahead,

but if you are building a pinhole, go to ace hardware and buy a sheet of (.003) brass... and dimple and sand the hole to the size you need. I used a #10 "between" needle..which was about .017" perfect from the 102mm focal length.

I built my whole camera out of black foam poster board and used instant glue and hardener from the model airplane shop.

The camera is a 4x5, and takes pretty good shots. I have posted some in my gallery.

Here is the link to what and how I built it.


http://gallery.me.com/kb2qqm#100294

Yea, it's foam...but it works pretty good.

It is the Earl Johnson special from over on f295.org

Here's the first shot...


Greg

[Greg_E]

I don't want to do the math:

http://www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholedesigner/

[Greg Heath]

http://www.concepthouse.com/products/PinholeCalc/


(Mac software-works on my intel mac)


Greg

[SMBooth]

Originally Posted by Darkroom317

Also how far would the pinhole have to be away from the film?

My 6x9 is 60mm focal length using a .3mm pinhole. Works fine

[Darkroom317]

Originally Posted by SMBooth

My 6x9 is 60mm focal length using a .3mm pinhole. Works fine

Thanks for the reply. How would be the best way to go about making this pinhole? I do have access to an engraving laser.