HELP ME WITH MY PINHOLE CAMERA

[fiffer678]

I have a school project of building a 35mm pinhole camera out of legos but every time I go to develop it there are no image's I need help fast. every time I go to develop it they say its too exposed I need a experts help. My hole is about .5 inch away from the film and I even re-wound the film in a room so dark that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face! and my hole is so small its about the size of the tip of a medium sized nail.

plz help me

 

[Discoman]

well, how small is the pinhole?
and are you using film or paper?
last pinhole I used was a paintcan pinhole with ilford paper. took about two minutes to make a somewhat underexposed picture.
try halving the time you expose the film or paper or whatever by and see what that does. if its overexposed, half the half. if it is underexposed, expose halfway between the time you were previously using and the half of that time.
just kinda try to dial in your times and you will get it.
good luck

 

[fiffer678]

hey I'm using film 35mm and the pinhole is about the sized of a small nail tip

 

[Jeff Searust]

Sounds like you may have multiple issues.

A-- the hole may be too big.
B-- your exposure time may be too long
C-- the method of exposure you dont say--- are you using tape or a cap to expose?

 

[Ric Johnson]

"they say its too exposed"? sounds like the lego camera is not light-tight.

 

[fiffer678]

umm well the whole inside is lined with electrical tape and my method of exposure is well a door that i pull up that un-blockes the whole

 

[SMBooth]

My guess is the hole is to big, and your exposures are therefore to long. Either increase the distance the hole is from the film or make the hole smaller, something like 0.2mm for your 12mm film to hole distance. You need to measure your hole for us to help.

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Pretty much guarantee your hole is too big. Get one of mom's sewing needles and just dimple through some foil, small as you can get.

Of course, this will be of no help whatsoever if there is a light leak. Or the room where you load the film has a light leak. Or if the film itself has been exposed.

I would first make sure there is no light leak. Process a frame unexposed, see what you get. Second, make a tiny hole in foil (or better, metal from pop can) and try again.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Yes the hole is probably way to big! You can either get a thick piece of aluminum foil and poke the tiniest point in the center with a small needle or safety pin, or get a soda can and cut out a square section, and tap a needle into it and sand it down with sand paper.

vary your exposure time (bracket) on the same shots. and make sure you move the film along far enough to not get multiple exposures or overlapping edges.

good luck!

 

[2F/2F]

hey I'm using film 35mm and the pinhole is about the sized of a small nail tip

Hi,

Try a sewing needle instead of a small nail, and I think you will have better exposures (and less fuzzy pix to boot).

This being said, if you make your exposures shorter, it might work too. You will probably have relatively fuzzy pix though, due to the size of the hole.

 

[aaronmichael]

Curious as to if this issue got resolved. I definitely agree with the other comments about the hole being too large. The OP said he was using 35mm film but I don't think he ever stated what speed it was. That could have a lot to do with exposure times. Also, I'd love to see a photo of this camera.