Well, I thnk I'm ready for WPPD

DWThomas · Apr 18, 2011

I have managed to cobble together a 4x5 pinhole camera with a decently wide angle of view. And today, I tried some just-purchased Arista.EDU #2 RC paper (recommended in some other threads). It appears to do a better job than the MGIV I tried last week.

I think I now have enough data to stumble through another pinhole day without coming up empty handed. It was a fun project, mostly using scraps from around the workshop. I actually managed to do a dimple-and-sand pinhole in 1 mil brass shim stock -- whooo whee!

The B&W is an actual contact print on Arista RC #2 from the paper negative of same paper (and yes, left to right is not reversed!) :munch:

aaronmichael · Apr 18, 2011

Looks awesome! I need to start brainstorming what my pinhole photo will be of on that day.

brucemuir · Apr 18, 2011

cool rig...

keep us posted on your progress.

bsdunek · Apr 18, 2011

Nice camera, and photo. I too need to think about what I will photograph.

jon.oman · Apr 19, 2011

Nice camera! Have fun next Sunday.

pinhole_dreamer · Apr 19, 2011

I've found my 'model' for WWPD. NOAA says Saturday is supposed to be clear so at least I can go outside without having to muck about inside.

I may even load the candy cam up for a shot at the park as the tulips are in bloom.

DWThomas · Apr 19, 2011

Excellent -- for long pinhole exposures, it's nice to have a model that holds still!

They seem to be calling for rain here, but I think five of the last six pinhole days have been drippy or threatening, so I guess I should just expect it. For some subjects, the reduced contrast can be useful anyway. I have a dozen or so filmholders, so I can take both film and paper and blast away as the mood strikes. I also ran some Arista ULTRA 100 film in my tests. Originally I didn't plan to buy any more 4x5 film since I really don't use that format and the film is pricey, but the stuff from Freestyle is pretty reasonable (and "good enough for pinhole"). I used the Pinhole Designer timing conversions for Fomapan 100. They suggest reciprocity rears its ugly head pretty badly, but I did get recognizable results.

pinhole_dreamer · Apr 19, 2011

DWThomas said:
Excellent -- for long pinhole exposures, it's nice to have a model that holds still!

No kidding! I need to make a few more mods...but that's a whole 'nother story! lol! I'm in the midst of making a new outfit for her based on a 1860s pattern I found online and have sized down for her.

I may end up getting some 4x5 for my pinhole camera. I've been debating it - and making a camera around a holder if I can find one cheap online. I've been reading about the different ways to develop the film - and tray or dip and dunk. I've not made up my mind yet so that's a bit in the future for me.

I've loaded the candy cam for tomorrow. I may take a quick shot at break in the morning as my lunch hour will be spent standing in line to renew my driver's license. *sigh*

What is "pinhole designer timing"? I'm still fuddled with the Sunny 16 rule. I just figure if it's bright, use a smaller f-stop on my cameras (I have TWO that are p&s and my Pentax) and that's pretty much what I do...and guestimate from there. Not very scientific.

Hmmm...your "good enough for pinhole" is pretty funny. I'll use whatever I have on hand! lol!

moki · Apr 20, 2011

@pinhole_dreamer: Go to http://www.mrpinhole.com/calcpinh.php and click on "pinhole exposure guide"... of course, you still need to calculate recoprocity for your particular film. If you get a good exposure with guesstimating, I see no reason for complicated calculations, though. I usually just note the Sunny 16 exposure time from the pinhole calculator and guess from there: A little cloudy is 1 stop more, shadow is 2 stops, dark clouds is 3 stops, and so on. When the exposure is several seconds to minutes, a second more or less doesn't really matter anyway.

DWThomas · Apr 20, 2011

pinhole_dreamer said:
What is "pinhole designer timing"? I'm still fuddled with the Sunny 16 rule. I just figure if it's bright, use a smaller f-stop on my cameras (I have TWO that are p&s and my Pentax) and that's pretty much what I do...and guestimate from there. Not very scientific.

Pinhole Designer is a free download for Windoze (it even seems to run OK on Win7x64) that can do a bunch of calculations for pinhole size, angle of view and all that exciting stuff. It also has the ability to generate a chart, which can even be exported as an Excel file, the chart has two columns with exposure calculations. The left column is the metered shutter speed for f/22, the right column gives the exposure for whatever f-stop you've entered. It has the additional ability to generate the second column with compensation for reciprocity failure. It has built-in data for a number of films. Unfortunately it doesn't have all films, and hasn't been updated in seven or eight years.

When I was playing with the Arista ULTRA 100, I picked Fomapan 100 as a choice (which I think is actually what it is). As an example, in the dull lighting at hand last weekend, the reading was 1/15 sec @ f/22. The uncompensated reading for an exposure at the f/210 of my pinhole would be 6 seconds. The compensated number was 44 seconds! That's almost three stops additional. A few years back, I used a similar chart with Delta 100 and got the impression the compensation for that film was a bit overdone, but that area seems to be a bit mysterious anyway!

My general sense is with pinhole it's better to err on the side of over exposure -- easier to have to draw out the print making exposure than have no shadow detail on the negative.

DaveT

pinhole_dreamer · Apr 20, 2011

moki said:
@pinhole_dreamer: Go to http://www.mrpinhole.com/calcpinh.php and click on "pinhole exposure guide"... of course, you still need to calculate recoprocity for your particular film. If you get a good exposure with guesstimating, I see no reason for complicated calculations, though. I usually just note the Sunny 16 exposure time from the pinhole calculator and guess from there: A little cloudy is 1 stop more, shadow is 2 stops, dark clouds is 3 stops, and so on. When the exposure is several seconds to minutes, a second more or less doesn't really matter anyway.

I've never figured out the "Sunny 16" rule...and I'm horrible at math. I just guesstimate. If it's really sunny, 1-2 seconds with the one one thousand method...and if it's kinda cloudy, 3-4 seconds. Really cloudy? 5-8 seconds. If it's SERIOUSLY cloudy, I don't bother.

pinhole_dreamer · Apr 20, 2011

DWThomas said:
My general sense is with pinhole it's better to err on the side of over exposure -- easier to have to draw out the print making exposure than have no shadow detail on the negative.

DaveT

I still guesstimate. I'm more of a "just give me a camera and I'll shoot and see what I get." Sometimes, it's a total failure. Sometimes, I get a roll of happy accidents. Sometimes, it's a 50/50 coin toss with what I get. I'm mostly happy with my results.

Well, I thnk I'm ready for WPPD

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