This month is a simple build. I constructed the camera from a metal watch box. Placed the pinhole in the lid and used a simple tape shutter. I folded a 7 inch square of photo paper to fit inside the cube.
I was surprised how the image was captured inside the cube, I was expecting more distortion up the sides. Cutting the paper to fit in the cube was a little time consuming. Overall I was overall happy with the results and this could be an interesting start to a larger project.
Came across this in the Dollar Store and thought it would make an interesting camera. I am going to put a pinhole in each of the sides and a circular core in the center to hold a 3.5 x 6 inch strip of photo paper.
I am glad that I built the 8 sided camera but it is not something I will use regularly. The camera is really fiddly to load and I don’t find the resulting images all that exciting.
I often re-read Erin Renner’s book Pinhole Photography or go through past issues of the Pinhole Journal. I find that this provides inspiration and makes me consider the camera as object. For a project this year, I will build a different pinhole camera each month. I will document the build and show example images from the camera.
Stay tuned.
I had been looking for a wider option than my Zero Image 2000 camera, and looked at a couple of commercial options, but in the end, decided to make my own. I had a Nettar body that I had used for another project so I converted it to a 18mm pinhole camera. I initially had quite a few problems with light leaks so I used a lot of black caulking in the interior – not pretty, but effective. I am very pleased with the results from the first roll.
The Kodak Tourist is a folding 6×9 camera that takes 620 film. This example is an original Tourist that was made between 1948 and 1951 and was replaced by the Tourist II which was produced until 1958.
I bought this back in 2005 but for some reason, never got around to using it. I respooled some llford FP4 120 onto a 620 reel using these instructions.
It has an Anaston F4.5 150mm lens with zone focusing.
I was very happy with the results.
I was interested in exploring the world by sending pinhole cameras through the mail, and having them record their small journeys.
I built pinhole cameras and loaded them with photo paper. I took them to various post offices in the area, opened the shutter and then mailed them to myself. They would generally arrive back within 2 to 10 days.
After the camera returned home, I developed the photo paper to reveal a record of the camera’s journey. I then rewrapped the camera with brown paper, and then sent it out on another journey. The camera pictured below, was reused 9 times.
I conceived of this project before the pandemic, but as things progressed, the idea of sending something out to explore the world, became more relevant.
I first became interested in how elements of the environment could participate in the image making process during the “Beneath” project. For “Beneath” I was using a modified film development tank as a pinhole camera. As I was filling the tank with water in order to make the photograph, I realized that the water became an active component in the image making process.
I was interested in seeing how the water collected from the environment where the image was being made, could contribute to the final image. The clarity and quality of the water all had an effect on the final image.
I constructed the camera around a 4×5 film holder and a salvaged shutter from a discarded Nettar camera. I created a compartment in the front of the camera to hold a plastic sphere that I could fill with water. I filled the sphere with water that I collected on location, placed it in the compartment and taped it shut to make it light tight. The light entered through the shutter and the water filled sphere became the lens to form the image.
I made the exposures onto photo paper that I had loaded into the film holder. Most of the images had exposure times of 1/25 of a second.
The Asahi Pentax SP1000 was my first camera. I bought it in England in 1975 and used it extensively for a number of years. Later when I upgraded to an Olympus OM1, I foolishly lent the Pentax to a friend and never got it back.
I recently found one in good condition online and couldn’t resist it. It is just as I remembered it – built like a tank and with a very satisfying thunk when the shutter is pressed. Although it doesn’t require a battery to operate, I was pleasantly surprised that the meter works with a new battery.
Shot a couple of rolls of Rollei RPX 100 and was very happy this the results. Not bad for a 46 year old camera.
Worked this week on the film holder and focus mechanism. I found this surprisingly hard to build and tested multiple designs before settling on this one.
The biggest challenge was getting the focus/film holder to slide smoothly and evenly on the rails. Next up – the rear door, arm hole and lid.
As a project this year, I am attempting to make a Kamra-E-Faoree, also known as the Afghan box camera. There is a lot of information and great example of images taken with this type of camera in Lukas Birk’s book “Box Camera Now“
Here is what I have constructed so far:
I have constructed the body, the focusing screen/film holder and the internal supports for film holder and focus rod. I will use a 135mm f4.7 Graphlex Optar lens on the camera. I mounted the lens and it projects a nice image on the ground glass that I made out of an acrylic sheet. I have made it so the film holder can be rotated so both horizontal and vertical pictures can be taken.
Next I will be making the rear door, the arm hole and the lid.
Here are some videos that show the camera in operation and the construction steps