Easiest 120 cameras to convert to 6x6 pinhole

Anupam Basu · Dec 8, 2005

Hello,

I recently converted a Brownie Hawkeye flash to a pinhole - it takes great pictures and even takes 120 film but the take up spool just HAS to be 620. Which kind of throws the spanner in my plan of only taking a pinhole camera and a small tripod on a trip as I only have 2 620 spools.

Hence my search for the most convenient 6x6 pinhole camera continues. Ideally it would have the following "features":

Easy to take apart and remove the lens

A bulb feature would be nice, but usually I just remove the whole shutter system and device some sort of a lens cap, so preferably the shutter system would be less complicated than my Brownie Twin-20, for example.

120 FILM in 6x6 (I prefer it to 6x9, somehow)

A waist level finder would make it perfect!

Any suggestions, tips would be greatly appreciated. I seem to remember a database that listed brownies by film type, but can't find it now.

Many thanks,
-A

Foto Ludens · Dec 8, 2005

what about a cheap 6x6 folder? Get one with a bad lens and bellows, take the lens out and tape the bellows over. Since I bought an agfa isolete in good condition for 12 bucks from a store, I can't imagine busted ones being too expensive

You woulnd't have a WL finder, but you'd have a window to compose if you kept the focal lenght the same.

André

Elox · Dec 8, 2005

Anupam Basu said:
120 FILM in 6x6 (I prefer it to 6x9, somehow)

A waist level finder would make it perfect!

I have a Kiev 88 with a blown shutter curtain that might work. You would have to use the dark slide as a shutter, but it does include a WL finder. PM if you are interested.

tpersin · Dec 8, 2005

folders are great to convert, and if you want a superwide angle you can hack off the bellows part, put a cover over the hole and put a pinhole right on the body.

heres'a 6x9 conversion:
http://f295.tompersinger.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b=cm,m=1132709228

could make one from scratch:
http://f295.tompersinger.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b=cm,m=1116615408
or
http://f295.tompersinger.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b=cm,m=1103650926

Ansco Sure-Shot
http://f295.tompersinger.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b=cm,m=1109524848

convert a lubitel:
http://www.creativegalleries.com/duckworth/pinhole/lubitel.shtml

intructions that work for about any vintage box camera
http://www.creativegalleries.com/duckworth/pinhole/vintagebox/Converting-a-Vintage-Box.htm

and one more:
http://www.creativegalleries.com/duckworth/pinhole/Down-on-the-farm.shtml

good luck!
Tom
f295

Dave Wooten · Dec 8, 2005

A,

620 film is still available try J & C.

jimgalli · Dec 8, 2005

Polaroid is hard to beat. Below copied / pasted from an earlier post:

A little more seriously, for a really wide look, get the polaroid back from an old CRT / oscilloscope camera from ebay (they used 108 / 665 film packs) and cobble a pin hole about an inch in front of the film.

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/021502/pinhole0.jpg

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/021502/pinhole5.jpg

I should add the "Tonopah Nevada" script is on the bottom of an antique Coca Cola bottle about an inch in front of the pinhole.

removed account4 · Dec 8, 2005

a zone plate fits right into the shutter of a lubitell 166

MattCarey · Dec 8, 2005

Elox said:
I have a Kiev 88 with a blown shutter curtain that might work. You would have to use the dark slide as a shutter, but it does include a WL finder. PM if you are interested.

If you don't donate the camera for pinholes, I remember that the cost to replace the shutter on my old Salyut was not too bad. I can look up the guy who did it (Eddie something in NYC. Rumored to be a former worker in the Kiev factory).

Matt

waynecrider · Dec 8, 2005

For 6x9, maybe a Century Graphic which seems to be priced much cheaper today then before. Of course it will still cost alot more then your average cheap folder, but lens boards are available undrilled and the bellows can be moved for whatever pinhole FL you want. 6x9 rollfilm backs, cutfilm holders and 2x3 film are available. I've decided to turn mine into a pinhole so thats why I suggest this camera. In the 120 realm of cameras there are it seems a million, so just find something cheap with a good bellows and go from there. A Holga might also be the ticket.

k_jupiter · Dec 8, 2005

I recently sent a Balda Baldinexxe or some such rubbish to Donald Qualls. I thought it took great pictures when I sent it, He of course broke it down and made it better. The point being is this camera cost about 4 bucks on EPay and has not a bellows to let light through, but a can that pops out with a shutter on the end of it with 'b' settings. The lens was pure crap (unless you like Holgas) and the pinhole gave sharper photos. I took some great picts with it and 50 speed Fuji Velvia. That's the best 120 pinhole I have seen. I have also used my 2 1/4 speed but no better results and a lot heavier.

tim in san jose

Bill Bresler · Dec 8, 2005

I made a couple of pinholes for an old crown graphic. The only trouble is that at the shortest focal lengths the camera focus bed is in the photo, even if it's in the dropped position.
Bill

Mongo · Dec 8, 2005

If you're willing to fork over the money, a Bronica S2/S2a is probably the best body ever made for lens hacking like this. (6x6 on 120, by the way, with a waist level finder, bulb, and easy to remove lenses...it meets your criteria well.)

The best thing about the early Bronicas is the lens mounting system. Most of the lenses went into the bayonet on the focusing helicoil, which was then mounted on the camera. Some lenses mounted directly to the bayonet on the body. You have three places to mount a lens on one of these bodies. The body has a bayonet mount. The helicoil has a bayonet mount. And the helicoil also has threads just outside of the bayonet mount (57x1mm...not the most common threads, but any competent machine shop can help you out if you want to get fancy). For a pinhole, you can just remove the whole lens and helicoil and tape the pinhole over the opening in the body. With very little work, you can mount just about anything on the body...enlarger lenses, LF lenses, loupes, whatever else you care to try. Since the camera has a focal plane shutter, you don't need shutters in your lenses. I've had a blast over the years, attaching various things to the front of my S2a. And when I'm done, I mount up the Nikkor lenses that were made for the camera and get amazingly sharp pictures.

This wouldn't be your cheapest solution, but it definately gives you a body that's great for experimenting with, and that takes great photographs with the lenses that were made for it.

Best of luck.
Dave

Anupam Basu · Dec 9, 2005

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll look into some of the folders. However, I don't think I want a 6x6 SLR right now for two reasons - the viewfinder might get too dark if my "lens" is about f256 wide open. Secondly, I am making do with a TLR now, but I know I'll end up spending way more than I can afford on MF lenses once I get a body

-A

derevaun · Dec 9, 2005

What about a Holga? They're easy to take apart and it's easy to seal up the famous light leaks. The 120n has a bulb shutter; you can just unscrew the lens, tape the pinhole in place, and you're done (after a couple spots of tape for the lightleaks). Its main drawback is that it doesn't take a cable release (a wire nut and some glue fixes that).

Donald Qualls · Dec 10, 2005

For 6x6, I'd suggest looking at the broad range of pseudo-TLR consumer cameras made by companies other than Kodak. Most had simple rotary shutters that are easy to convert to B-only (or even T-only, by removing the return spring from the shutter release arm), the lenses are simple meniscus that's easily removed and replaced with a pinhole, and it's usually possible, with a little effort, to find a location for the pinhole that won't vignette. I have a Spartus Full-Vue that took me about half an hour to convert, most of that spent figuring out how to remove the lens without damaging the very thin aluminum front plate; it's native 120 and works well.

Waist level finders aside, a Dacora Digna is another name, a camera that's the size and shape of a Holga and can likely be had for $5 on eBay. The retracting lens Baldixette works pretty well, but it's a little tricky to install the pinhole to avoid vignetting (OTOH, it has an internal baffle that *really* cuts down on flare -- it's now my #1 6x6 pinhole camera). An Agfa Click would work well, and surprisingly the bellows on a Speedex Jr. are usually okay, even though newer and "better" Ansco folders typically have the plastic coated bellows that are virtually guaranteed to leak; as a bonus, the lens glass (double meniscus) is easily removed, and easily reinstalled later if you choose (the two elements are identical, so interchangeable); the camera has a tripod mount and cable release socket, and the shutter has a true T (press once to open, again to close). The pinhole can go on the back of the aperture; conversion ought to take no more than an hour, possibly less than half that.

Of that lot, I'd suggest the Speedex Jr. if you can get one for less than $10 or so. The ability to fold the camera and put it in a pocket, even after conversion, is priceless...

John Alton · Jul 2, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
For 6x6, I'd suggest looking at the broad range of pseudo-TLR consumer cameras made by companies other than Kodak. Most had simple rotary shutters that are easy to convert to B-only (or even T-only, by removing the return spring from the shutter release arm), the lenses are simple meniscus that's easily removed and replaced with a pinhole, and it's usually possible, with a little effort, to find a location for the pinhole that won't vignette. I have a Spartus Full-Vue that took me about half an hour to convert, most of that spent figuring out how to remove the lens without damaging the very thin aluminum front plate; it's native 120 and works well.

Waist level finders aside, a Dacora Digna is another name, a camera that's the size and shape of a Holga and can likely be had for $5 on eBay. The retracting lens Baldixette works pretty well, but it's a little tricky to install the pinhole to avoid vignetting (OTOH, it has an internal baffle that *really* cuts down on flare -- it's now my #1 6x6 pinhole camera). An Agfa Click would work well, and surprisingly the bellows on a Speedex Jr. are usually okay, even though newer and "better" Ansco folders typically have the plastic coated bellows that are virtually guaranteed to leak; as a bonus, the lens glass (double meniscus) is easily removed, and easily reinstalled later if you choose (the two elements are identical, so interchangeable); the camera has a tripod mount and cable release socket, and the shutter has a true T (press once to open, again to close). The pinhole can go on the back of the aperture; conversion ought to take no more than an hour, possibly less than half that.

Of that lot, I'd suggest the Speedex Jr. if you can get one for less than $10 or so. The ability to fold the camera and put it in a pocket, even after conversion, is priceless...

I am thinking of trying to convert a Baldixette to a pinhole camera and came across your post. I know it was a long time ago but do you recall what size pinhole you used and how you installed it? Thanks.

Peltigera · Jul 3, 2020

My Zeiss Ikon Nettar was very easy to convert. The lens came out easily and the shutter has a T setting which is much more useful than B.

Donald Qualls · Jul 3, 2020

John Alton said:
I am thinking of trying to convert a Baldixette to a pinhole camera and came across your post. I know it was a long time ago but do you recall what size pinhole you used and how you installed it? Thanks.

I haven't even found my Baldixette since my move five years ago (just been digging for photo stuff for a few months, though). I don't recall offhand what size I used, but I usually use one of the various calculators (or the formula and an actual calculator) to determine "optimum" hole size, then go just a little smaller (in my experience, the optimum calculators usually overestimate the effects of diffraction, so steer you to a larger hole than is strictly the sharpest). As I recall, the Baldixette is around a 75mm focal length, and I had to mount the pinhole from the inside to avoid vignetting, leaving it around 70mm projection distance.

Even when I find the camera, I'll probably have to remeasure the hole, because I had a bad habit back then of assuming I'd always remember the aperture for a given camera, so didn't mark most of them.

BAC1967 · Jul 3, 2020

Not a 120 camera but this is how I converted a Voightlander 116 Roll Film Camera to a pinhole camera. The lens had a bad case of haze and possibly some separation of the lens elements. Since it was not repairable I removed the glass from the front housing and removed the rear element. I used a heat gun to get the glass from the front housing hot then dunked it in cold water. Doing that a few times cracked the glass enough to easily remove it from the threaded ring. I used the threaded ring to hold a laser cut pinhole in Place. The shutter works and the bellows are still in good condition with no leaks. The camera takes 116 film so I usually cut down sheets of 4x5 film to about 3.5" x 5" and it fits perfectly. I taped some 120 film backing paper across the back of the film chamber to cover the film window and help hold the film in place. Sometimes I use expired 116 or 616 film in it. I measured and marked different distances on the bellows extension rail and use those for different focal lengths. I have a cheat sheet that gives me the calculated f-stop for each focal length.

Voightlander 116 Pinhole Conversion by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Dent Bridge Closeup by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

GRHazelton · Jul 3, 2020

Hmmm..... I bet my Pentax LX could make a good pinhole camera. I'd use a good body cap, bore a hole in it and tape a pinhole made in thin sheet metal over the hole. Since the LX can meter off the film to minus EV 6 (on auto, users have reported and posted good exposures of several hours) a sturdy tripod, cable release and all should be good. Any thoughts out there?

Another thought. How about fastening a pinhole in sheet metal over the taking lens on a TLR? Use the bulb setting on the shutter, of course. Would the camera lens have any effect on the pinhole? It would be nice to have a good viewfinder which the TLR would furnish.

Ko.Fe. · Jul 3, 2020

2005 thread .
Brownie was made as 120 camera as well .

Maris · Jul 3, 2020

[QUOTE="GRHazelton, post: 2297240, member: 13027"...... Would the camera lens have any effect on the pinhole? It would be nice to have a good viewfinder which the TLR would furnish.[/QUOTE]
By the time your pinhole is getting toward f300 or smaller the image is totally dominated by diffraction and the presence or absence of glass makes no difference. In principle there is no need to remove a camera lens, just put the pinhole in front of it. But the best pinhole imaging is a subtle business and lens type cameras tend to have focal lengths too long for optimal pinhole conversion.

Donald Qualls · Jul 3, 2020

Go back up thread a bit, you'll see I converted an Argus Full-Vue pseudo-TLR (huge bright finder, but the finder doesn't focus). Works fine. I've also converted other cameras with a pinhole where the original lens was, and they work fine. Not the super-wide "optimal" view people often think of as pinhole photography, but still pinhole. I've got an interchangeable shutter for one of my Ideal plate cameras that has a pinhole mounted in place of the lens glass (which I just unscrewed from the shutter and still have), that lets me change focal lengths like the Voigtlander above; I can go from about 60 mm to around 300. I've got a pinhole body cap for M42 that I can use with my SLR bodies -- it's a pretty "normal" focal length, but with fast film in bright sun, I can shoot "sorta hand held" -- shutter speeds get as fast as 1/15 (though the old CdS meters in those cameras won't work with the pinhole's illumination levels, I can barely see light in the eyepiece).

And, of course, there was my Polapin 210, a pack film Polaroid converted to auto-exposure pinhole for 3000 speed film only. Worked great. Too bad about the film.

Polapin 210, Polaroid 667, hand held.

John Alton · Jul 5, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
I haven't even found my Baldixette since my move five years ago (just been digging for photo stuff for a few months, though). I don't recall offhand what size I used, but I usually use one of the various calculators (or the formula and an actual calculator) to determine "optimum" hole size, then go just a little smaller (in my experience, the optimum calculators usually overestimate the effects of diffraction, so steer you to a larger hole than is strictly the sharpest). As I recall, the Baldixette is around a 75mm focal length, and I had to mount the pinhole from the inside to avoid vignetting, leaving it around 70mm projection distance.

Even when I find the camera, I'll probably have to remeasure the hole, because I had a bad habit back then of assuming I'd always remember the aperture for a given camera, so didn't mark most of them.

Thanks very much for the recollection of your conversion of the Baldixette (and other cameras). The Baldixette looks to have a 72 mm focal length for which Mr Pinhole’s calculator suggests a 0.358 mm pinhole. I’m going to follow your lead and try to mount a smaller (0.3 mm) pinhole from the inside.

Grandpa Ron · Oct 12, 2020

These are all very good approaches to the problem. I think the common theme is a larger format.

If you want view a 5x7 or 8 x10 inch photo or to scan onto a computer screen, I think 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (6x6 cm) format is about as small as you want to go.

In my opinion, it is a delicate line between a good soft focus pinhole print and an out of focus photo.

Of course if you are looking for "artsy" or creative photographic expression, then all bets are off.

Good luck, PH photos are challenging, interesting and fun to shoot.

Easiest 120 cameras to convert to 6x6 pinhole

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