Pinhole photography and sharpness

RattyMouse · Aug 28, 2014

Hi All,

I dearly want to shoot some sheet film and a pinhole camera is the lowest cost way into that size film. I'm looking at the Ilford 4 x 5 pinhole cameras and am wondering what level of sharpness one can get from such a camera. I know that ultra small aperture sizes do not produce super sharp images so I am under no expectation that a pinhole camera can rival a lens camera. However, I am not clear on how much sharpness is lost. Will it look decently sharp or would it look like an image created with a really bad lens, smeared in vasoline?

THanks for any feedback!

summicron1 · Aug 28, 2014

Vastly better than a vasoline-smeared lens, I assure you. Pinhole images on 4 by 5, if the pinhole is well made, can be decently sharp without being over so.

A lot of sharpness is perception -- light, texture of the image, and so forth, but in general a larger format pinhole image like on 4 by 5 can look pretty good, as these things go. Sample, taken with a ZeroImage 45 set for its widest angle of view, so the edges look a bit smeared:

RattyMouse · Aug 28, 2014

summicron1 said:
Vastly better than a vasoline-smeared lens, I assure you. Pinhole images on 4 by 5, if the pinhole is well made, can be decently sharp without being over so.

A lot of sharpness is perception -- light, texture of the image, and so forth, but in general a larger format pinhole image like on 4 by 5 can look pretty good, as these things go. Sample, taken with a ZeroImage 45 set for its widest angle of view, so the edges look a bit smeared:
View attachment 93611

Thank you for the very encouraging reply!

DWThomas · Aug 28, 2014

There are examples from my home brew 4x5 out here. Some were attempted on paper negatives with disappointing results, but those on film do pretty well -- for not using a lens!

(And then there's the 8x10 ... )

summicron1 · Aug 28, 2014

...I use the same 4 by 5 rig to shoot color using a 6 by 9cm Graflex roll film back. You can see, reasonably sharp in a soft sorta way...

dasBlute · Aug 28, 2014

I'll bet the Ilford will give you excellent results, you could make some nice
contact prints with the negatives, but I've never liked pinholes enlarged.

Frankly, it will not be anything like using a lens, quality-wise.
Pinhole images are soft, it's one of the endearing qualities of the technique.

[ btw - nice work Dave! ]

I'd buy a film holder, some foam core and gaffer's tape and make your own.
You'll save a bit of money, see if you like it, and have the possibility of going
bigger/wider if it suits you... and homemade pinholes are not too tough to make...

I started with ideas from here to make an 8x10...
http://pinhole.stanford.edu/foamcore.html

-Tim

some more: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stormiticus/tags/pinhole/

BradS · Aug 28, 2014

The Harman Ilford pinhole makes beautiful photos...about as sharp as you can get from a pinhole. I've a few pinhole photos from various medium format and 4x5 cameras on my flicker stream (link in signature). Here's one that was taken with the Harman / Ilford 4x5

..and here's one made with a lensless camera company 4x5 pinhole camera

There is a flickr group devoted to the Harman Ilford pinhole camera too...https://www.flickr.com/groups/1808410@N21/pool/with/8209461124/

pinholeboy · Aug 28, 2014

I believe that the sharpness depends on having an optimal pinhole size for the focal length of the camera. It also depends on the how clean the hole of the pinhole is. That being said most pinhole images had a soft quality to them which i really like. I am however surprised at how sharp they can be. Before I got into pinholes I always associated them with blurry and fuzzy images.

This is shot with a Zero Image 69, a medium format pinhole.

Gordon

Simon Howers · Aug 28, 2014

Sharpness

pinholeboy said:
I believe that the sharpness depends on having an optimal pinhole size for the focal length of the camera.Gordon

Have a look at www.pinhole.cz/en for some of the math

I use a couple of Zero Image cameras and find them excellent.

Simon

pdeeh · Aug 28, 2014

homemade foamcore 10x8 paper negative test shot

zero image 4x5 with 6x7 rollfilm back

pdeeh · Aug 28, 2014

come to think of it there was a "how sharp can you get a pinhole photo?" thread with lots of replies a while back

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 28, 2014

Well, what's with this preoccupation with sharpness from, of all things, a pinhole camera?? Comparative sharpness is not the defining factor or quality upon which a pinhole is judged, but how well an image is formed from the quality of the pinhole itself. If you're looking for Leica loveliness, forget it. Don't even dream of having a super-sharp pinhole — that is a travesty. Modern cameras are works of art and engineering, and Zero Image probably set the cat among the pigeons with a big variety a long time ago, but it has been joined by many others and creative DIYers. The quality is commonly a soft-edged, almost dreamy representation of the scene and using multiple exposure technique can enhance this into an abstract work. Have a look through the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2014 submissions from around the globe. The fanciest and most elaborate pinhole cameras are shown there along with the most rudimentary knock-ups constructed of tin cans with a paper negative popped inside.

pdeeh · Aug 28, 2014

Well, I'm not preoccupied with sharpness, far from it, but the OP asked ...

hmmm perhaps Kodak Alaris should be making very sharp pinhole cameras?

RattyMouse · Aug 28, 2014

pdeeh said:
homemade foamcore 10x8 paper negative test shot

zero image 4x5 with 6x7 rollfilm back

Those are some great photos, especially the second one.

MrBrowning · Aug 28, 2014

Ratty

These are 2 of the photos I've taken with the Harman Titan 4x5.

Shot on Tri-X

Shot on the Ilford Direct Positive Paper.

Jim Jones · Aug 28, 2014

Contrary to logic, a pinhole that is sized for optimum on-axis sharpness can resolve line pairs in a standard resolution chart that are spaced slightly closer than the pinhole diameter. That gives one an idea of the maximum sharpness a pinhole can produce. As pinhole focal length increases, so does the optimum pinhole size and the blur in the image. Thus, wide-angle pinholes can be sharper than normal or telephoto pinholes, although corner sharpness and brightness suffer. Pinholes are not a general substitute for lenses. However, they may be a logical choice where great depth of field, ultra wide angle coverage, or curved film photographs are desired.

jeffreyg · Aug 28, 2014

I have the Ilford Titan pinhole camera and am very pleased with it. I consider it to be a different medium and not to be compared with a lens. i print most of the negatives from the pin hole in platinum/palladium. That combo has a great look with the slight softness of the image coupled with the warm tones of my pt/pd emulsion.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/
Dead Link Removed

summicron1 · Aug 28, 2014

MrBrowning said:
Ratty

These are 2 of the photos I've taken with the Harman Titan 4x5.

View attachment 93630
Shot on Tri-X

View attachment 93631
Shot on the Ilford Direct Positive Paper.

wow.

Joe VanCleave · Aug 28, 2014

Check out Becky Ramotowski's blog for great examples of low-resolution pinhole images with lots of character, that prove you don't need the sharpest pinhole to make great images.

~Joe

MrBrowning · Aug 28, 2014

jeffreyg said:
I consider it to be a different medium and not to be compared with a lens.

+1

summicron1 said:
wow.

Thanks

jon.oman · Aug 28, 2014

Here are a few of my 4x5 pinhole images:

Pinhole photography and sharpness

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