Pinhole, Paper Negative and hour long exposure , better than film ?

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

I found a guy at web makes ceramic pinhole cameras. I looked his paper negative results and even better from my lens cameras. Sharpness is tack , shadow details are creamy and whites elegant.

Is it the holly grail or do I cheat myself ?

Photographs were under artificial light ceramic objects , not scenic or human

Umut

 

[NB23]

Well... I don't believe it.
I'm a pinhole addict so you can convince me. Show us pictures.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

search ceramic pinhole cameras at google and there are many examples per ceramic camera.

 

[Hexavalent]

From what I can see, the cameras are ceramic, but the actual pinholes are the standard fare: metal, plastic. Nothing special.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Hello Ian,

I think they have needle drilled pinholes but some of the images are very good , I rarely see such stable , lack of flare , not ghosly images from pinhole cameras , look to the images of my vermeer 66 and % 98 of them tasteless , horrible images.

I am asking , at least flare resist images result of the long exposures and lower asa papers ?

Thanks,

Umut

 

[pen s]

Pinhole photography is not about "tack" sharpness, or image resolution. That is why you often see 4X5 and larger formats being used in pinhole photography. However, contact printed or printed at very modest enlargement factors carefully executed pinhole negatives can have sufficent resolution to appear 'sharp' at normal viewing distance.

Flare resistance is often a product of keeping direct sunlight off the pinhole and making the interior of the camera non reflective.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Sharp images are not characteristic of pinhole cameras. I am growing very tired of seeing 4x5 pinhole camera images reproduced with razor-edge clarity: it's quite a nonsensical trend. A true pinhole, in its simplest form, has poor focus but excellent definition and depth of field. What is not desired is a pinhole behaving like a field camera and showing everything in crisp relief. Flare can be very creatively employed — even zealously sought after, and is often a reflection on the accuracy of the actual pinhole. Nobody should seek to eliminate flare completely from a pinhole because it will to a greater or lesser degree to a characteristic of it.

 

[NedL]

... I am growing very tired of seeing 4x5 pinhole camera images reproduced with razor-edge clarity....

I agree! I think it's a sort of spillover from regular lensed photography that some people end up on a quest for sharpness while using pinhole! Strange when you stop and think about it, although a bad pinhole can have unpleasant softness. When a large image is reduced for viewing on a computer, it can gain sharpness and lose that character. Sometimes I feel mine lose something essential when displayed on the web. I'm not sure what to do about it...

Imperfect pinholes also have a "personality" and give their photos a particular signature or character. It can be subtle. I have some favorites for the character of the photos they produce, and I'm certain they are not "optimal"!

Umut, if you are looking at photos from the photographer I'm thinking of, he is a very good photographer and is also very exacting and careful about lighting. Not to mention the cameras are beautiful works of art in themselves.

Hope you are feeling better!

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Thank you Gary and Ned,

I know your feelings about sharp pinhole photography , sharp or all character but internet is full with terrible pinhole photography, I think all the photoraphers were chinese young people, I dont know how they can success with taking green skies with a leica , if I want very very much , I dont think I can take green sky with a Leica , may be yellow filter but I had to wait 1 month to reach me.

I found a pinhole picture with 5mm wide photon sieve and thats it , grain was sharp but image looks like a modern computer generated - I dont believe no computer could do it - image. Its dynamic and sexy. I love how a good camera pan with slow shutter speeds. I am talking about it. If that lovely but terrible engineering example vermeer dont cope with me , I will change it to extra large photon sieve with 5-6mm diameter.