Photo paper Vs. Film for pinhole photography

I don't go here but for my engineering class, we're working on making a pinhole camera. Which is cool! But I don't know too much about the difference between using photo paper vs film. (For extra context, my team doesn't want a supa sharp image. Not that we want an extremely blurry one either but somewhere in the middle would be cool!) In y'all guys experience, which one is perfect for this sorta pinhole camera?

beachboyslover769 said:

I don't go here but for my engineering class, we're working on making a pinhole camera. Which is cool! But I don't know too much about the difference between using photo paper vs film. (For extra context, my team doesn't want a supa sharp image. Not that we want an extremely blurry one either but somewhere in the middle would be cool!) In y'all guys experience, which one is perfect for this sorta pinhole camera?

Click to expand...

go for the optimal pinhole size and too sharp won't be your problem.

If you mean black & white and not colour, then as a retired photography lecturer, I can tell you my students used Ilford multigrade paper, as it's quicker and easier than using film. Once dry you can contact print it onto another piece of paper to make the positive, or scan and introduce colour.

Thank you for helping me.... This will be of use.

have a wonderful January 16th

Welcome to Photrio.
I tweaked your thread title a bit for those who might have missed the sub-forum you were posting in.
Have fun with your explorations!

The tradeoff on film vs. paper is cost (paper is cheaper per frame, MUCH cheaper than large format film) vs. exposure time (film will need much less exposure than enlarging paper) vs. processing convenience (paper develops in open trays under safelight, film develops -- usually -- in tanks and must be handled in total darkness unless in a light-tight container or developing tank).

Most beginners in photography and pinhole are well advised to start with paper. Exposure time in daylight will still be minutes rather than hours (vs. seconds for film in most cases), but the ease of handling and cost difference more than make up for taking a little longer.

That said, I've never done pinhole in paper -- mostly because almost all of my pinhole experience has been either with converted film cameras or with homemade pinhole cameras too small to work well with paper (Altoids or Altoids Gum tins, for instance), or Polaroid/Instax cameras that had their proprietary films.

Don't you have to get the exposure more accurate with paper vs. film? Or does it not matter if you develop it by observation

beachboyslover769 said:

(For extra context, my team doesn't want a supa sharp image

Click to expand...

First off, welcome aboard!
What kind of subject matter are you planning on photographic? If there's anything that moves, it'll be very blurry by definition with a pinhole, but some slowly moving subjects may still register if you're using film. Paper is a whole lot slower and slow moving subjects may not even register at all.
Otherwise, it doesn't really matter and both film and paper will be kind of blurry when you're shooting pinhole. Which is a different way of saying that the limitation isn't in the medium; it's in the pinhole concept itself.

Paper is cheap and fairly quick to use, and an added benefit is that you can handle it under a red safelight.

What size print do you want to make. Large film is expensive. Large paper is not.

Both will give you a negative image. To make a positive image, film will give you a clearer image than paper since you don't create an image through a piece of paper.

xkaes said:

you don't create an image through a piece of paper

Click to expand...

A contact print of paper when done properly is every bit as clear as one made from film. Just emulsion-to-emulsion as you'd do with film as well. The exposure time will be longer, that's all. With modern RC papers, this is not really an issue.

beachboyslover769 said:

I don't go here but for my engineering class, we're working on making a pinhole camera. Which is cool! But I don't know too much about the difference between using photo paper vs film. (For extra context, my team doesn't want a supa sharp image. Not that we want an extremely blurry one either but somewhere in the middle would be cool!) In y'all guys experience, which one is perfect for this sorta pinhole camera?

Click to expand...

I will go out on a limb and suggest using xray film such as fuji hru you can buy on ebay cheaper than paper or other films and get great results because it's not a very sharp film due to halation from rear surface of film and it's at least 50X as sensitive as papers. The very low sensitivity and long exposures are the main reasons for choosing film, which is extremely expensive, except for xray. 8x10 costs about 50 cents per sheet today, but it is harder to process than other films or papers because it has two surfaces coated with very soft emulsion that is easy to scratch. It processes in the same chemestry as other photo films and papers. 8x10 negatives can be easily scanned on flatbed scanners, printed on traditional photo paper, or printed as transparencies on another sheet of xray film and presented as a transparency, also so called alt printing is practical. You can adjust your sharpness by making pinholes of various diameters on aluminum pie plate material using needles of various sizes.

I would suggest to start with paper for pinhole class. Developing large format film in a school setting will be a bit complicated and overwhelming. On the other hand, developing paper in three large trays under red light is so much easier for students.

Even though you need a few minutes for exposure on paper, it should not be a huge issue since it will take at least a few seconds even with film.

Alan Townsend said:

it is harder to process than other films or papers because it has two surfaces coated with very soft emulsion that is easy to scratch.

Click to expand...

For this reason, among others, this is not the place I'd start.

xkaes said:

What size print do you want to make. Large film is expensive. Large paper is not.

Both will give you a negative image. To make a positive image, film will give you a clearer image than paper since you don't create an image through a piece of paper.

Click to expand...

when making a positive copy on paper from a paper nrgative make sure to have the two paper emulsion sides on the emulsion side. This way, you are not projecting the image through the paper fibers;just diffused light is projected through the paper, and the positive image will be as crisp as the paper negative.