zero image - minimum focus distance

SusanK

Member

Joined

Apr 17, 2005

Messages

215

Format

Medium Format

• Oct 13, 2006

• #1

I recently purchased a Zero Image 69 camera. By it's simplicity, a new form of creativity is now bouncing around in my mind. So, I'm wondering, with an effective f/stop of 235... how close can I get to the subject matter in the foreground and retain focus?

SusanK

 

Jim Noel

Member

Joined

Mar 6, 2005

Messages

2,261

Format

Large Format

• Oct 13, 2006

• #2

I have used mine as close as 18". This is likely not the near limit.
Jim

 

Bromo33333

Member

Joined

Aug 10, 2006

Messages

687

Location

Ipswich, NY

Format

Multi Format

• Oct 13, 2006

• #3

I don't think there is a "focal length" per se - you will have diffraction effects that will limit your sharpness anyway - and the length from the pinhole to the film and the diameter of the hole will just determine your image crop.

Why not just shoot some extreme close ups and see what you get?

 

Pinholemaster

Member

Joined

Oct 17, 2005

Messages

1,566

Location

Westminster,

Format

8x10 Format

• Oct 13, 2006

• #4

Why not try shooting something one inch away and report back to us.

It's a great camera.

 

CarlRadford

Member

Joined

Mar 7, 2005

Messages

1,942

Location

Just outside

Format

Multi Format

• Oct 13, 2006

• #5

An inch or two is good

 

RH Designs

Advertiser

Advertiser

Joined

Apr 9, 2003

Messages

651

Location

Yorkshire Da

Format

Multi Format

• Oct 16, 2006

• #6

SusanK said:

I recently purchased a Zero Image 69 camera. By it's simplicity, a new form of creativity is now bouncing around in my mind. So, I'm wondering, with an effective f/stop of 235... how close can I get to the subject matter in the foreground and retain focus?

SusanK

Click to expand...

I remember reading somewhere (forget where, sorry!) that the depth of field of a pinhole camera is from infinity to whatever the focal length of the "lens" is. So on my Zero Image 2000 which has a 25mm (1") focal length, the d-o-f is from infinity to 25mm in front of the pinhole.

 

Tom Miller

Member

Joined

Nov 27, 2004

Messages

53

Location

Twin Cities,

Format

Pinhole

• Oct 17, 2006

• #7

The focal length of the Zero 6x9 is 40mm, or about an inch and a half. Anything from the pinhole to infinity will get recorded and, in one sense, be in focus. If the photographed object is closer to the pinhole than the focal length, it will be magnified, and will appear softer or fuzzier than the the portions of the image that are farther away. A good rule of thumb for this camera would be to photograph objects that are at least 40mm away from the camera to retain equal clarity throughout the image.

 

Jim Jones

Subscriber

Joined

Jan 16, 2006

Messages

3,740

Location

Chillicothe MO

Format

Multi Format

• Oct 17, 2006

• #8

Pinholemaster gives the most practical advice for your photography. A properly designed pinhole camera is noticably sharpest at a certain distance. Judging from the published specifications, the Zero 6x9 is optimized for fairly close subjects. Extremely close subjects will be much less sharp. This quality can be used creatively, though.