Your favourite pinhole camera?

[Jerevan]

What is your favourite pinhole camera - the one that always comes along on an outing, the super polished extravaganza or the cobbled-together shoebox thingy?

Show it off and maybe a photo from it too.

 

[mcfitz]

At the moment, it's one I made using a lozenge tin. There's a pinhole in the side of it, and one in the cover. I use strips of film cut to size in it, either from 120 or 135.

First of these two was taken using the pinhole in the top on sprocketless 135mm film, second was using the pinhole in the side, on 120 film, Delta 100.

 

[grahamp]

My Zero Image 6x9 (multi-format, but always 6x9 for me) has been the most successful. My cigar box 5x4 is likely the next for most/used and best results.

Out of my World Wide Pinhole Photography Day submissions, 10 were with the Zero Image, 3 with the cigar box, and a couple on actual 5x4 cameras. This is not to say the Zero Image is necessarily better than others, but of my options it seems to suit me best.

 

[MattKing]

My only pinhole camera - a Noon 6x12 pinhole camera. The second edition I believe.
I think I prefer using it with the masks set to 6x9.
EDIT: from the roll that supplied this year's WPPD submission:

 

[NedL]

Simple and practical but not fancy. I usually grab a gallon ziplock bag that has two coffee cans in it, each containing a 5x7 inch piece of photopaper. It fits into the little knapsack that I always take when I go on a hike or walk the dog. The plastic bag serves two purposes: sometimes the cans get mud or dirt or water on them, and it keeps the cans from rolling around while I'm walking so that the paper inside doesn't shift.

The cameras are as simple as they look. A coffee can with a hole drilled in the side and a pinhole taped on the inside of that hole. Tape shutters. The only thing you can't see is that there is a circle of black construction paper that sits on the lip of the can under the plastic lid. The aluminum foil and rubber bands stops any light leaks around the edges of that. The most important feature of these cameras is that a 5x7 piece of paper fits into them perfectly, so that there is no fuss and no effort in swapping out the paper -- it only takes a few seconds to pop the old paper out and the new paper in. I know from experience that the cameras that take fuss and effort to swap won't be ready when I want them and so they end up sitting on a shelf rather than getting used all the time. I've made hundreds of pictures with each of these cans, while some of my "fancy" cameras have only been used a few times or only on WPPD.

 

[DWThomas]

Well my "goto" pinhole camera might change depending on where I plan to go to! But the last few years I have worked with my self-designed and built 8x10. (I have to confess I may be slightly more excited about building the cameras than using them! )

The aforementioned camera, and a shot taken on Fuji HR-T x-ray film for WPPD in 2015:

I have a 4x5 version of similar design except for the tapered "nose cone" and also a pinhole body cap with fancy home brew shutter to fit my Bronica SQ-A if I feel compelled to go with less bulk.

 

[Nick Dvoracek]

It’s usually the last camera I’ve made. Currently that means the 6x6cm Variable Cuboid with a new 45mm front and the Manic Expression Cube with the pinhole 24mm from a 24x24mm frame. Both have adjustable rising fronts.

 

[BAC1967]

Voigtlander 116 Roll Film Camera converted to a pinhole camera. The lens had a bad case of haze and possibly some separation of the lens elements. Since it was not repairable I removed the glass from the front housing and removed the rear element. I used the front housing without glass to hold a laser cut pinhole in place. The shutter works and the bellows are still in good condition with no leaks. The camera takes 116 film so I cut down sheets of 4x5 film to about 3.5" x 5" and it fits perfectly. I taped some 120 film backing paper across the back of the film chamber to cover the film window.

The pinhole is 0.5mm diameter, fully extending the bellows gives a focal length of 135mm and f/270. I can decrease the focal length as well, I have a chart for a few different bellows positions.

Voightlander 116 Pinhole Conversion by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Dent Bridge Closeup by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... Both have adjustable rising fronts.

Clever.

Heh - I just figured out how the triangular aiming device is used.

 

[narsuitus]

What is your favourite pinhole camera - the one that always comes along on an outing, the super polished extravaganza or the cobbled-together shoebox thingy?

I once used 35mm and APS film canister cameras but abandoned them for the better image quality I was able to get from 4x5 film used in Pringles cans, PVC pipe, and oatmeal cans.

I made single-shot, do-it-yourself, curved-plane, pinhole cameras from 35mm and APS film canisters.

I used a modified Argus C3 rangefinder camera to make flat-plane pinhole images on 35mm roll-film. I have abandoned all my 35mm pinholes because I was never satisfied with the images made from small format film.

I purchased medium format roll-film pinhole cameras from Holga and Zero Image. I especially like the 6x6, 6x7, and 6x9cm images I can make using 120 film in these cameras. I also like the panoramic images I can make using 35mm film in these cameras.

I have made a variety of single-shot, flat-plane, cardboard and wooden, 4x5 and 8x10 inch, large format pinhole cameras. I stopped using the 8x10 pinhole camera because it is much easier for me to develop 4x5 film than 8x10 film.

I have made a variety of single-shot, curved-plane, 4x5 inch, large format pinhole cameras from oatmeal cans, Pringles Potato Chip cans, and PVC pipe. The curved-plane images from my 4x5 inch pinholes are my personal favorite.


Pinhole Cameras by Narsuitus, on Flickr


Pinhole image by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[Arbitrarium]

My favourite is the only one I have...

Uses a Dacora 6x6 tubey camera with everything ripped out, a Polaroid MP-4 shutter and a 0.2mm pinhole from Au Premier Plan. About a 35mm focal length.

 

[Jerevan]

Great stuff - keep them coming!

Here is mine (see thumbnail photo below) - a commercial effort, the LeRouge 612. It has its small quirks, but I enjoy the chocolate box quality of the wide angle panorama - as shown:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/24BDrkv] Tree and stone by Jerevan, on Flickr[/URL]