VANTA BLACK?

Whom here knows where to buy "Vanta Black 100" and can share a link for 3 -6 ounce bottles?

I am wanting some for lens hoods, pinhole cameras, and other odd jobs where I would find the high quality light absorbing factor would be welcomed.

Anyone... ?

I really doubt Vantablack is suitable for the applications you are thinking of. It's not a normal paint or pigment and it's not engineered to be applied by yourself. You offer the objects to be coated to SNS in the UK and then they will apply the material and perform the post-processing. This post-processing takes place at high temperature and many materials will not withstand these. Vantablack is also not suitable for any application where direct contact with the coated surface is possible.

What you're looking for is some kind of matte black paint, which will be perfectly adequate for your needs. There's very little advantage and no realistic need to resort to something niche as Vantablack.

PS: given the production method of Vantablack, I expect that if you were to be able to find the base material for sale, it would likely cost hundreds to thousands of dollars per gram. Purchasing 3-6oz would mean remortgaging the house.

Here's something more sensible: https://www.musoublack.com/products/musou-black?variant=44798745346294
Optimal results probably require an airbrush setup which I assume you either have or are willing to procure.

I've wondered about these ultra black paints for edge coating optics. But I haven't tried it yet because I'm more concerned about long term stability and adhesion than percentage of light absorption.

I use Black 3.0, now superseded by Black 4.0 https://www.culturehustleusa.com/collections/paint/products/black-4-0 but honestly all this hype about "super-black" is largely irrelevant for any normal photographic application such as lens hoods and pinhole cameras.

I would recommend you save your money and just use any matt black paint from your most convenient supplier!

I usually use the black self adhesive optical flocking. It seems to absorb light better than many black paints, but it does potentially shed some fibers over time. It's nice that it's easier to apply than paint in many cases.

As others say, I too used a small tin of branded matt black paint from my local DIY store, for all of my pinhole cameras interiors etc. and I've had no problems at all. And it's a LOT cheaper than the one the OP mentioned. That sounds a bit over-hyped to me.

Terry S
UK

I prefer my Vanta 5:

It's only half black, though.

Thanks for the feedback and the opinions as to its qualit.

One thing I want to mention is, Golden Acrylic Paints offers a ‘paper paint ground’ which will accept acrylics, watercolors, oils when they’re painted over it.

A base layer of this might help with lens baffles, wood camera interior, etc.

koraks said:

Here's something more sensible: https://www.musoublack.com/products/musou-black?variant=44798745346294
Optimal results probably require an airbrush setup which I assume you either have or are willing to procure.

Click to expand...

Having used it on a few occasions I can confirm that Musou Black is well beyond sufficiently black for the applications the OP mentioned, though I'd caution that it is also not a surface intended for much contact. It does dry to a very dark and flat surface but will gain reflectivity or just come right off if you touch it very much.

For pinholes in particular, I think the traditional way is to hold the pinhole plate above a candle flame to deposit carbon directly.

I was under the impression that Vantablack was unavailable to individuals, due to an exclusive agreement with the artist Anish Kapoor, hence the Culturehustle product, which is available to anyone except AK.

The lens hoods and wooden/paper pinhole cameras I’m thinking about using this on shouldn’t get much wear and tear, but I might just confine the space being painted to camera interiors and use a less vulnerable paint for hoods and areas that receive wear.

Or, I might just listen to those that have used these paints and go for more durable paint.

Might be worth giving them a phone call...