Pin Prick
By Darren C.
12 November 2007
Remember when we made pinhole cameras in grade school using an oatmeal container and a needle? Neither do I. But many students made them and discovered pinhole photography can be a lot of fun. With no viewfinder, you never know what you're going to get. The images have unlimited depth of field and often a surreal quality.
It's photography at its most basic level. There is no camera lens. Light enters through a tiny hole and exposes the film or paper at the back of the camera. You can even shoot digitally by replacing the lens of your DSLR with a body cap that has a pinhole in it.
People use just about anything as a pinhole camera -- a matchbox, pumpkin, full-size van, even their own mouth.
I made my first one a few years ago by converting a plastic Holga toy camera I bought new for under $20. This year I built one from wood.
You'll find instructions online and in books on how to make a pinhole camera, and how to determine exposure times. Whether you build a pinhole camera from scratch, convert an existing camera or simply use a pinhole body cap for your SLR or DSLR, the experience will be the most rewarding if you drill your own hole. You can buy laser-drilled pinholes, but what fun is that?
Start with a piece of aluminum or brass. Metal from a soda can will do. I go to the local hobby shop and buy small brass sheets with a thickness of 0.002 inch -- just a bit thicker than aluminum foil.
Cut the metal into a square a couple inches wide, and lay it on a piece of cardboard or wood. Then poke a tiny hole into the center using the smallest sewing needle you can find. To do this, place the tip of your index finger on the top of the needle and apply slight pressure while spinning the needle between the thumb and index finger of your other hand.
The goal is to make the hole as tiny as possible, so stop after the very tip of the needle is through.
Turn over the metal and look at the opposite side through any kind of magnifying glass. You'll probably see a raised surface around the hole. Using fine sandpaper (about 400 or 600 grit), gently sand away this raised bump. Turn over the metal and sand the other side. Continue sanding until, viewed through the magnifier, the surface seems flat around the hole on both sides.
I use an 8x loupe and a 60x handheld microscope ($10) to inspect my progress. Plan to sand for about a 10 minutes to do an efficient job. You can measure the size of the hole by holding the metal and a metric ruler up to a light. With the ruler running alongside the hole, look through the magnifier and estimate the hole's size. Knowing the size will help you determine the required exposure times. Usually, the holes I drill are about one-fifth of a millimeter in diameter (0.20 mm).
The smaller the hole, the sharper the image.
Now you have a homemade pinhole to use in an SLR body cap or pinhole camera. The exposures are long, so have a tripod or somewhere to rest the camera.
Experiment with it. Let the long exposures capture the movement of clouds or water. Try some night shots. Get close -- real close -- to experience the incredible depth of field. Light is often diffracted in unusual ways, so try shooting directly into the sun.
Be prepared for some surprises.
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