Film in Pinhole

[aaronmichael]

I've been using paper negatives with all my pinhole cameras but recently have wanted to try messing around with film. I have one that takes a 4x5 size piece of paper so I'll probably just buy 4x5 film and I could also use it in some other pinhole cameras I have. Any tips on making the transition? I think I'll just buy the Arista film since it's cheap.

http://freestylephoto.biz/190125-Arista-EDU-Ultra-BandW-100-iso-4x5-25-sheets?cat_id=404

 

[DWThomas]

Shouldn't be a big deal. I started out pinholing with an adapted press camera and assumed I would want fast film, so I bought some 400. When I finally got to the point of using it, I discovered - at least with my specific camera parameters - that the fast film was putting me down into 1/4 second or 1/2 second exposures. That's pretty difficult to time consistently or accurately with a simple flap shutter, so I ended up getting some 100 speed to get out into the seconds range. Since it looks as though you're about to do 100 stuff; I'd say that's a good start.

Being faster than paper, it will be more sensitive to light leaks or handling errors outside the camera, but that should be manageable. Some films are pretty bad on reciprocity, so you may have to compensate the exposures relative to what the meter indicates, but I think we had that discussion earlier.

So try it! Have fun!

 

[Pinholemaster]

Any film will do. You simply have to learn how it "seeing" through the pinhole. I love shooting color transparency film in my pinhole cameras, but you might like to start with B&W or color negative film for more latitude.

 

[Rick A]

I shoot loads of Arista 100 in my 4x5 Calumet and my pinholes. Just make sure you figure in reciprosity for pinholes, exposure times can go into the minute(s) range.

 

[aaronmichael]

Thanks for the replies. Is there an easy way to tell which side is the emulsion side when I'm loading it into my camera? I know that the emulsion side has a much more matte finish than the non-emulsion side, but I'd be reluctant to be rubbing my fingers all over the film.

 

[Ottrdaemmerung]

If you hold your sheet of film vertically, and the notch(es) is at the upper right, then the emulsion is facing you. If horizontal, then lower right.

 

[BetterSense]

When I use film like Arista EDU 100, it has bad reciprocity failure, so I have no problem using 10s exposures even in bright daylight. When I use TMAX, I find that 1 second is about right.

 

[aaronmichael]

If you hold your sheet of film vertically, and the notch(es) is at the upper right, then the emulsion is facing you. If horizontal, then lower right.

Thanks for the tip.

BetterSense - I'd much rather be using a slower film or a film with reciprocity failure rather than a fast normal acting film. The shutters on all my pinhole cameras are just a piece of electrical tape over the pinhole, so having exposure times of 10 seconds or more would be much more convenient than having exposure times of one second or less.