Zero 2000 pinhole images

[skinnyvoice]

I just uploaded a my first (scanned neg) photos from my new Zero 2000 into the gallery. They were taken in a cemetery local to me here in London. Not sure how to link to the gallery but they are under my name 'skinnyvoice'.

Once I got my head around the length of the exposures I really enjoyed the shoot, plus the number of conversations that started when people saw the camera!

Rather recursively, the strong sunlight through the trees results in pinhole images of the sun on the ground. Pinholes of pinholes! The strong contrast made exposure a bit difficult though.

Tis a bit of a cliche using a pinhole in a cemetery but I really like the 'ghostly' effect. Hope you do too

 

[Inayat Noor]

Aiming a Zero Pinhole Camera

Charles

How do you aim your camera? I have the 6X6 Zero and always have difficulty aiming it. It would make sense to cannibalize a viewing frame off a folder or even make my own. But the wind knob is where the frame should go.

Noor

 

[skinnyvoice]

How do you aim your camera?

Mostly by guesswork. The Zero 2000 came with a nifty little cutout frame but I was using a table top tripod and most of these were shot from the ground. I didn't fancy laying in the nettles and brambles for accurate framing so I guessed.

The little spirit level is a help with the vertical angle but I've been shooting a lot of 6x6 recently and I find I can visualise the square format quite well anyway, better than a rectangle in fact.

The 25mm 'focal length' of the pinhole is also so wide it is hard to miss the subject here! No doubt I'll find it more of a challenge if I'm going in closer.

I quite like the randomness of the 'point & shoot' quality anyway, its one of the things that appeals to me about the pinhole.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I have a spirit level taped to my Zero, and it works really well, (I have the cheapo version that doesn't come with a built-in level). After a while even close-ups become intuitive.

 

[Marco B]

After a while even close-ups become intuitive.

Like Thomas says, the experience comes with the practice...

I do find it useful though to carefully look over the top and sides of the camera to determine the angle of view. Since it IS a pinhole, you simply deal with straight lines going from the edges of the filmplane through the pinhole and out. So the angle of view can be relatively easily determined, contrary to a lens based system.

I have seen another brand of pinhole camera featuring triangles to the sides of the camera to show the angle of view. Wouldn't be to difficult to add to a Zero Image pinhole.

Marco

 

[adamc]

How do you like your Zero 2000?
I've been considering getting one. I have the multi-format version, (which is very nice) but I really like wide angle images I see that come from the 2000...to me, they feel more like a pinhole images should.

Adam

 

[skinnyvoice]

How do you like your Zero 2000?
Adam

I'm finding it very 'liberating' for want of a better word, and fun in a better way than a Holga is fun. It is small and light and really kind of defines the term point & shoot. All there is to think about is what is in front of the lens and how the pinhole might render it (and reciprocity failure and converting f/16 readings to f/139 etc etc of course, but hey! that is part of the fun). This is true of any pinhole setup the same way of course, the Zero 2000 also happens to be a beautifully built camera and very fondlable... IYSWIM

I too like the wide aspect of the Zero 2000, so much so that I've ordered the Zero 5x4 which is really wide at its most basic configuration. Its also an excuse to explore larger format. I think 5x4 contact prints from the pinhole will be awesome!

I'm reading Eric renner's 'Pinhole Photography' at the moment and enjoying that too. Hugely informative on the historical context of pinholes (I've only got that far) and a fun read.

 

[Marco B]

I too like the wide aspect of the Zero 2000, so much so that I've ordered the Zero 5x4 which is really wide at its most basic configuration. Its also an excuse to explore larger format. I think 5x4 contact prints from the pinhole will be awesome!

You might wish to have a look at a number of series of photos I shot with my 4x5 Zero Image:

http://www.boeringa.demon.nl/attack_of_the_ents/index.html

http://www.boeringa.demon.nl/amsterdam_by_night/index.html

http://www.boeringa.demon.nl/amsterdam_by_day/index.html

As you see, I even shot night photos with the camera. All with just the 25 mm setup. Some of the night shots took 45 minutes(!) on low reciprocity failure TMax 400 (beats all other films in this respect according to some test I did, even Acros 100).

Be aware that the 4x5 in 25mm setup does have a huge light fall off, requiring adjustment during printing.

My method for printing: use a very hard grade (3.5-5) for a very short exposure all over (maybe 1-4 seconds), and than use a black paper with a hole of about 5 cm to print on maybe grade 2.5, continuously moving the paper up and down during the exposure time, to burn in the center (usually 10-15 seconds). This compensates partly for the light fall off.

At some point, I even became to good at it, almost eliminating the light fall off... which beats the concept of pinhole photography a bit :rolleyes:

Marco

 

[Marco B]

An example where I probably over compensated:

And a more moderate compensation for light fall off:

Marco

 

[skinnyvoice]

You might wish to have a look at a number of series of photos I shot with my 4x5 Zero Image:

Wow Marco, those shots of Amsterdam at night are fabulous, that is just the kind of inspiration I'm looking for. Thanks!

 

[Tom Miller]

Hello Noor,

Here is how I aim my Zero 6x9 multi-format. The front dot is over the pinhole. The rear dots are over the 6x6 and 6x9 formats. The masking tape will come off the camera with no damage. Something similar could be done to a Zero 2000.