The Shanty.

[ChristopherCoy]

I’m calling it Shanty, after the Shanty boats of the Mississippi.

After seeing Zero Image pinhole cameras yesterday, I decided to take a play out of their playbook. Started with some scrap oak I had in storage and ripped them down on my crudely built “table saw.”

The back is framed. I have enough play to put some foam rubber for light seals. I’ll start building the front, and the expansion frames later today. I’ll have to find some nice bronze or brass hardware at the boat resale shop for the fixings.

I’m working on a boat, with cordless hand tools, so not everything is precisely square, and it ain’t pretty, but it’s mine.

Total investment thus far..... $0...zip....nada.

 

[Rick A]

More fun than tying flies.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

More fun than tying flies.

Absolutely!

 

[Valerie]

That just looks great! I imagine some great beachside images with those.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Got the front part done this morning. The expansion frames aren’t going to work on this version. It’s way too wonky, but I’ll paint the inside later today and add the foam rubber all around the inside and I think it’s going to be fairly light tight. I was going to order a laser drilled pinhole from eBay, but I’ll save the money and find a discarded aluminum can somewhere. If I like this, I’ll order a zero image when they’re back in stock.

Focal length on this one is right at 80mm from the back of the lens board to the film plane.

It’s ugly as hell, but it is a fun project. I’ll have to cut down some 8x10 film I have in the freezer. Now all I need is a way to develop 4x5 in my round tanks, or find a cheap 4x5 tank somewhere.

Total investment was $0.99 for foam rubber sheet, and $3.49 for the pack of craft plywood for the lens board. Not bad $4.69!

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Your woodworking skills are on par with mine ...but if it does the job, who cares? How will you hold the film holder on the back?

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Your woodworking skills are on par with mine ...but if it does the job, who cares? How will you hold the film holder on the back?

Either screws and rubber bands, or some kind of rotating pieces of wood tabs on the back side.

my dad keeps the barn door closed with a bent nail. Maybe I’ll go that route. Lol

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

What about these?

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Those could work.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Those could work.

I used them all over my 14x17. Not to hold the big film holder in, but for locking all the camera movements. They've held up well after 10 years.

 

[Nige]

I was recently given a pinhole camera that uses some levers to hold the back on. One was a bit dodgy so I made a new one out of MDF (not ideal, will make one out of some hardwood at some stage). Whilst looking for a picture of this (which I couldn't find hence my attachment) I did see a variety of methods that people have used.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Ohh that's a good idea!

 

[fgorga]

Here is another approach to the film holder clamp for a pinhole camera

This is from a camera I bought at a yard sale. I think that the folks who made it are still in business, see: http://www.pinholecamera.com/

I don't use it much, but the clamp works well... it is simple and secure.

The camera came with a plain wood back that fits where the film holder goes, this make it easy to use paper rather than film. You just tape the paper to the wood and install in the camera.

 

[fgorga]

Arrgh... I thought that I had attached photos to my last reply.

Hopefully they will show this time.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

The camera shop I visited a few weeks ago had a Santa Barbara just like that. Matter of fact, it was the Saturday before WPPD. I should have bought it. Maybe he'll still have it when I go back up in two weeks.

 

[Rick A]

 

[awty]

Great work, love it when people make their own stuff.
Hardest part about making a camera is getting all the light leaks. I usually go into a darkened room and shine the phone light inside and outside to track them down.
I just use rubber bands on my 8x10 and 14 x 17 cameras to hold the film holders.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I just shoved wood glue into any crack and crevice I could find and then painted it. LOL

I'm going to cover all the interior with black foam rubber just as an added layer of safety.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

As awty mentioned it is great when people make their own stuff. I grew up with the do-it-yourself generation where performance out weighted looks.

There are still thing I like to build or modify but micro-circuits and computers have replace a lot of springs and levers. Still film is film, it does not care what you use to get the right amount of light to it.

Good luck and let see some pictures please.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Very clever ways to hold the film holder in! Thanks for posting!

 

[Donald Qualls]

More fun than tying flies.

My dad would probably disagree -- or maybe not, I know he fishes with them, but I'm not sure he ever got into tying them.

 

[Rick A]

My dad would probably disagree -- or maybe not, I know he fishes with them, but I'm not sure he ever got into tying them.

I've been fly fishing all my life, I never was into tying my own flies, that would take time away from more important things.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I've been fly fishing all my life, I never was into tying my own flies, that would take time away from more important things.

LIke most things, it's a matter of skill level. I used to know a fly tier who carried a kit -- he'd get to a trout stream and look at what was falling in the water and getting sucked down and tie a matching fly on the spot in about ten minutes (including time for the lacquer binding on the knots to dry). An older technique was to catch one fish by any means available and cut open its stomach to see what the fish were eating -- and again, tie a fly to match.

 

[Rick A]

LIke most things, it's a matter of skill level. I used to know a fly tier who carried a kit -- he'd get to a trout stream and look at what was falling in the water and getting sucked down and tie a matching fly on the spot in about ten minutes (including time for the lacquer binding on the knots to dry). An older technique was to catch one fish by any means available and cut open its stomach to see what the fish were eating -- and again, tie a fly to match.

I never felt the need to do that, I've always caught fish (no just trout).