LinuxPhoto.org
The place for all photography and linux fans
Introduction
A typical pinhole camera is in fact only a box with a small hole that allows light to fall on a film placed insight. There is no lens nor shutter. The resulting image has extreme depth of field but lacks sharpness and contrast. Different hole and box sizes give a bit different results but general "look" of pinhole photography is always the same.With the advent of digital era and sharpness pursue it may be strange to use such an old and low quality techniques, still "technical" perfection is the matter of technology not art.
There are two ways of making a pinhole camera - a true one and a simple simulation that can be done even when photographer uses a simple compact camera.
Making a true digital pinhole camera
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It is aimple! Just take your body cap (supplied with you DSLR) and destroy it cutting a big hole in the middle. Then take some foil (the one you use in the kitchen) and wrap the body cap. All you need to do is to make a small (very small) hole in the middle with a needle and put it on your camera. That's it. If you want to create a "high-tech" version you may consider attaching an UV filter in front to prevent any dust from getting into the camera.
Some cameras may not allow to take a shot without a proper lens attached but usually this can be configured using one of the menu item. Turn off the autofocus and light metering as they are totally uselsess. Set the camera to about 8 seconds and check the results. Pinhole photography is about experimenting. Remember to check if light can not enter the camera using any gap between the foil and camera. |
Simulating pinhole effect
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Take the foil and wrap your lens. I use rubber band to hold the foil. Then careully make a small hole in the middle of the foil and start shooting. Your camera will propably refuse to measure light and autofocus is still useless.
This trick only simulates pinhole effect. There is extreme depth of field and image is in general soft but contrast is different and shorter times may be used. That's because lens still modifies the light that comes through the hole (in other words it's the same as using extremely small aperture). |
Additional images
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This is the result of using "real pinhole" method. Notice great image softness, higher than normal dynamic range and depth of field. Colors are "milky". |
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Tis is the result of simulating the pinhole effect using the second method. Image is much sharper (still very soft) and contrast is higher. |
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And this is the modified body cap used instead of a lens. The small dot in the middle is the hole that lets some of the light to get through. |