Pinhole photography has fascinated me for a long time. I know little about it and have never tried it.

I saw a pinhole "lens" for an M-6 advertised recently. About $50.

Would this be a more interesting and productive way to get started in pinhole rather than, say, a Quaker Oat box with a hole in it?

Any suggestions on type of film, procedures, etc.?

Incidentally, I have the M-6, so that would not be in the "need to buy" list.

-- Paul

-- Paul Arnold (osprey@bmt.net), July 26, 1999

Answers

I saw an ad in the last issue of Ilfrpro magazine for a shop somewhere in Arizona I think that handles pinholes cameras starting at $20 or so - cameras made from cardboard and such. I suggest contacting Ilford and asking them. The shop also had a internet address containing the word "pinhole". best wishes. slb.

-- steve bougie (steve.bougie@notes.bosch.de), July 26, 1999.

Any camera, which has removable lens and body caps, can easily be used as a pinhole camera. Drill a hole in the body cap and tape a piece of aluminiun foil on it. Make a pinhole in the foil, and - ready to shoot!

a 0,3 mm hole and body thickness of 50 mm would mean f/stop somewhere around f/170 - a atarting point for your exposure calculations.

Sakari

-- Sakari Mdkeld (sakari.makela@koulut.vantaa.fi), August 09, 1999.

Pinhole photography is exciting and pretty much endless in possibilities My suggestion is to start as I did using those (light tight) coffee cans, old suitcases, anything and everything you can find and use the aluminum pieces with pinholes(few of them in one camera is interesting to try too!)like someone else suggested before. I say goes from the very basics,..you learn more about it comprehensively. Cheers! film: try using the photo paper itself, you only get one but contact printing is always there...otherwise depending on how big or small your camera is you can get sheet film and experiment with that..Ilford! Procedures: Only to try and trry again to get the exposure time down to accomodate the amount of light let in but your pinhole. The best.. but sometimes tedious, way is to make an exposure develop it and up the time or decrease depending on the existing image ...make notes and keep track and once you have the time down you'll be able to mentally adjust according to lighting conditions aswell. STart on a day with good sunlight. then go from there. Hope this helps! Enjoy

-- photo student (jblblnc@mta.ca), December 15, 1999.

Large formats and wide angles give the sharpest results in pinhole photography. 35mm negatives can be enlarged very little without a lack of sharpness that some of us find objectionable. 4x5 negatives from a properly designed wide angle pinhole camera yield almost tack sharp contact prints. 4x5 film holders and film are much less expensive than larger sizes. A 4x5 press camera without any light leaks works fine, even if it is missing a shutter, view finder, rangefinder, etc. Homemade 8x10 or larger pinhole cameras can give even better results. One web site anyone interested in pinhole photography should visit is www.pinholeresource.com

-- jim jones (jjones@greenhills.net), December 19, 1999.

Another website with excellent information on pinhole photography is www.photo.net

-- jim jones (jjones@greenhills.net), December 19, 1999.

Calumet has the pinhole for m6 I have one its ok but pinhole is best with larger format. Check out some of my pihole photos at www.pinholeformat.com

-- James Romeo (jromeo@iopener.net), February 06, 2000.