PinHole question

[kayrode]

I'm having difficulty with my pinhole camera that I made. When I develop the paper that I exposed (for 2 mins) the only thing that appears on the paper is the image of the hole. I have no clue what to do?

 

[TheToadMen]

I'm having difficulty with my pinhole camera that I made. When I develop the paper that I exposed (for 2 mins) the only thing that appears on the paper is the image of the hole. I have no clue what to do?

Hello Kayrode,
Welcome to the forum!

Could you describe your camera and how you use it? And post a picture of it? Otherwise it is hard to advise. And post the developed paper to give us an idea of what happened. Was it blurred or a sharp and round image of a hole?

For now it would be guessing, but it could be that:
- the pinhole is too large
- light is reflecting/bouncing inside the camera, thus blurring the image
- the photo paper was loaded backwards, thus exposing through the photo paper?

For the first problem, use the Pinhole Designer at http://www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholedesigner/ to calculate the right pinhole size.
For the second problem, paint the camera matt black on the inside of put a piece of black paper on the inside for eliminating reflections.
For the third problem, test again and mark the photo paper upfront so you know what side should face the pinhole.

"Have fun and catch that light beam!"
Bert from Holland
http://thetoadmen.blogspot.nl
http://tinyurl.com/pinholegroup

 

[kayrode]

Hello Kayrode,
Welcome to the forum!

Could you describe your camera and how you use it? And post a picture of it? Otherwise it is hard to advise. And post the developed paper to give us an idea of what happened. Was it blurred or a sharp and round image of a hole?

For now it would be guessing, but it could be that:
- the pinhole is too large
- light is reflecting/bouncing inside the camera, thus blurring the image
- the photo paper was loaded backwards, thus exposing through the photo paper?

For the first problem, use the Pinhole Designer at http://www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholedesigner/ to calculate the right pinhole size.
For the second problem, paint the camera matt black on the inside of put a piece of black paper on the inside for eliminating reflections.
For the third problem, test again and mark the photo paper upfront so you know what side should face the pinhole.

"Have fun and catch that light beam!"
Bert from Holland
http://thetoadmen.blogspot.nl
http://tinyurl.com/pinholegroup

I tried a few different styles in pinhole cameras, one shoe box, a bigger box and a oats box. All three are painted black in the inside and I used a dr pepper can to do the pinhole except the largest box which I wanted to try foil. They were all consistent but when I would develop the paper it would be gray with just the hole. At first I thought maybe the hole wasn't big enough to get an image but making the hole a bit larger didn't do anything. I know the photo paper was in correctly glossy side up. I've made a pinhole in the past but never had this problem.

 

[kayrode]

Photos Of Pinhole Cameras

These the cameras I was using and one of the photo paper that I developed.
Thanks!
Kayla

 

[Gadfly_71]

These the cameras I was using and one of the photo paper that I developed.
Thanks!
Kayla

A couple of things come to mind;

1. The materials your cameras are made from may not be opaque enough. The paper seems pretty uniformly fogged.

2. Is the paper good to start with? Was it loaded properly? To check if the paper is still good, I'd process an unexposed sheet to verify.

3. What's your exposure time? It's possible that you have more than one thing going wrong (i.e., camera leaks light coupled with not enough or too much exposure).

4. I'd also check your pinhole size. Optimal pinhole size will vary depending on the size of your recording media (paper or film) and the desired focal length.

Good luck!