DIY FBPHC build

awty · Nov 20, 2018

Hi all
I bought some 14x17 xray film and thought I would make a pinhole camera to use it on.
Have ordered a .8mm and a .7mm lazer cut pinholes.
Using pinhole calculator wizard.
pinhole 0.7, focal length 276mm, f394, angle of view 90 deg, coverage 529mm
pinhole 0.8, 360mm focal length, f450, angle of view 75 deg, coverage 691mm
Decided to make a film holder to take 2x sheets of film styled roughly (very roughly) on conventional film holders with dark slides.
Camera will be a box in a box to be able to adjust for the different focal lengths. Inner box will have the lens, outer box will take the film holder.

Here is things so far. Probably a better way of doing it, but I couldn't see anything online when I looked, so just made it as I went. Feel free to sledge.

8x10 pinhole verses 14x17

inner and outer box with film holder.

Slots for film and dark slide.

Film holder
Seems to be working after a lot of pulling apart and starting again, and swearing of course.

Testing with a sheet of film, all fits snuggly, just need to make sure the mettal dark slide doesnt come in contact with the film. Looks to be light tight once in place.

DWThomas · Nov 20, 2018

Awesome project -- looks as though you're off to a good start. I (so far) have stopped at 8x10 and using standard film holders. My aging self doesn't have the patience to do film holders! Will look forward to seeing what sort of results you get.

AgX · Nov 20, 2018

I photo #3 I see 3 aluminium profiles stacked.
Why 3? To form a slit of custom width 2 profiles would be sufficient.

awty · Nov 20, 2018

DWThomas said:
Awesome project -- looks as though you're off to a good start. I (so far) have stopped at 8x10 and using standard film holders. My aging self doesn't have the patience to do film holders! Will look forward to seeing what sort of results you get.

Thanks Dave, have always wanted to try and build my own camera, with 8x10 and smaller its just as economical to buy one. With the ULF its rare and expensive, so I get to play. Might make a view camera later on if this works out.

awty · Nov 20, 2018

AgX said:
I photo #3 I see 3 aluminium profiles stacked.
Why 3? To form a slit of custom width 2 profiles would be sufficient.

I just was utilizing what was available from the hardware shop, very limited choice. Had to contact cement them together to get the 2x slots. As you can see by my work shed I dont have any precision tools, so just making do with whats available. Will test with just one side before I do the other in case it doesn't work well.

AgX · Nov 20, 2018

2 slots... Now I understand.

NedL · Nov 21, 2018

Impressive! Film holder / dark slide seems to be the difficult part of a home-built camera.

awty · Nov 22, 2018

NedL said:
Impressive! Film holder / dark slide seems to be the difficult part of a home-built camera.

Yes Ned. The film isn't very stiff at that size and needs to be supported well, think I have it sorted. Will need to finish it off and do a test run.

NedL · Nov 22, 2018

You know that's an advantage of paper negatives I never really thought about before, but the occasional problem with paper sagging in the holder, or bowing, or coming out from under the film rails... can usually be solved with a small piece of tape! One thing that's worked pretty well with large paper negatives is to cut a window mat and then - instead of having the paper slide behind it - use the window mat to firmly clamp the edges of the paper on all four sides. Not practical if you want to make more than one photo with your 14x17 camera though!

Those 14x17 negatives are going to be amazing.

MattKing · Nov 22, 2018

NedL said:
You know that's an advantage of paper negatives I never really thought about before, but the occasional problem with paper sagging in the holder, or bowing, or coming out from under the film rails... can usually be solved with a small piece of tape!

Of course, with film, there is always strawberry jam!

Jim Jones · Nov 23, 2018

Sagging film is not the problem in pinhole photography as it is with fast lenses.

NedL · Nov 23, 2018

Good point Jim

awty · Nov 24, 2018

The problem was that there was nothing supporting the film on the side where the dark slide entered and film would just buckle and fall out if tilted down any.
I did contemplate using tape but that wouldn't work too well with the set up, so I made a short dark slide to go in after I remove the main dark slide. Is just enough to support the film.

Elastic back holder on'a.

Shutter/filter holder

Film stays in now.

Just need to mount the pinhole and load some film and give it a test run. Hopefully it will work.

awty · Nov 24, 2018

Seems my xray film is past its use by date. Bought for next nothing with some photo paper, so I guess I will have to buy some new stuff.
Did get an image, although very dense one, so at least the camera works.

awty · Jan 1, 2019

Fixed a few light leaks, but still cant get the dark slide to stop leaking light. Have been sealing it up in the darkroom.
The xray film has been showing plenty of challenges, but Im getting better at using it.
Long windy exposure, so even softer than normal.

DWThomas · Jan 1, 2019

Looks like a great start to a new year!

awty · Jan 4, 2019

DWThomas said:
Looks like a great start to a new year!

Thanks Mr Thomas, looks promising .

DIY FBPHC build

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