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Beyond the simple pinhole camera?


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I have some interest in shooting 8x10 film. While a simple pinhole camera would be an easy solution, I'm looking for something a little more versatile. I'm think of a "zoom" 8x10 box. Two boxes really one that would slide inside of the other adjusting the angle of view (and the exposure, although that could be somewhat addressed by swapping out different pinholes.

It seems to me that this is just a view camera without the bellows and movement. There could even be a lens board to mount lenses instead of a pin hole.

 

Has anybody seen anything like this? I'm always amazed at the amount of knowledge that shows up on this site.

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There's several pinhole camera societies as well as camera obscura societies with lots of information online...you just need to Google to check them out. Last time (about a year ago) I looked, several had published quite a bit of information, including hole size and image circle sizes related to f stops. Good luck in your project.
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I haven't tried pinhole cameras. - I feel challenged to see a need for the designated construction. Is it really that hard to get hold of a wooden classic (or Chinese challenge) in big LF? - My biggest are 13x18cms, 8x10" seems too unwieldy and expensive for me.

 

As long as you'll manage to load film into sheaths and plate holders, that you'll hopefully get with or for a classic... I wouldn't know why to want a box camera instead of a touristic field camera. Bellows seem nice to have snd an uncoated pre WW2 lens could be worth dabbling with sometimes.

 

Make sure to get matching or optimized pinholes for each focal length you are planning to use.

 

Upon boxes sliding into each other: What is the interesting focal length range? Thinking 35mm, it would be about 4.3x (21-90mm, as I am usually carrying) 3x might be bearable, less than 2x "a bit lame". I suppose it will take more than 2 box segments to cover that? Pinholes are AFAIK rather tiny. for that reason the rest of your construction needs to become really light tight (i.e.: light tighter than you'd need, to get away with, shooting a wide open lens). Achieving that doesn't seem easy to me. A portrait focal length box for 8x10" is quite a bit of furniture to haul around.

Good luck & much fun anyhow!

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As for the pinhole lens, there is a commercial f/40 lens -- Itorex 50mm f/40 Pan-Focus1912535817_Itorex-Pan-Focus-lensweb.jpg.aeac4b9b3ac903cec44a39cb7d81b0e5.jpg

It really works pretty well (with a tripod, of course)

Itorex-Pan-focus_08hd.jpg.67972d806ccfe62e642ec760a3696852.jpg

 

As with a pinhole 'lens' proper, everything is in focus (and nothing is really in focus)

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I have some interest in shooting 8x10 film. While a simple pinhole camera would be an easy solution, I'm looking for something a little more versatile. I'm think of a "zoom" 8x10 box. Two boxes really one that would slide inside of the other adjusting the angle of view (and the exposure, although that could be somewhat addressed by swapping out different pinholes.

It seems to me that this is just a view camera without the bellows and movement. There could even be a lens board to mount lenses instead of a pin hole.

solitaire.onl/ 9apps.ooo/

 

 

Has anybody seen anything like this? I'm always amazed at the amount of knowledge that shows up on this site.

 

Some people use photo printing paper instead of film.

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One of my professors participated in this: World's Largest Pinhole Camera Takes World's Largest Photo

 

They turned one of the LTA (lighter than air) hangers that originally housed dirigibles, light sealed it, go a big hunk of light sensitive material and took photos. The same teacher also invented a pinhole camera that used a metal cake box with equidistant pinholes put around the sides and a slow turning mechanism. It made these pretty cool 360 degree photos, but it looked like a mercator map. It was his MFA thesis project.

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OK there’s a f@c3 b00k group of experimental (or some such) cameras. I joined because I have a massive lens a friend gave me. I would love to build some sort of box in order to use the lens to shoot straight into photographic paper.

 

well the “owner” of the page started messaging me and for a minute I thought I had a new stalker! Ha ha

 

well

Maybe it wasn’t that bad but he did send some pix including this sliding box/box camera he built

 

ED01294F-F8F4-4BEC-8997-8936D6D88F92.jpeg.f138ef0e101576d82903c346362e6ac2.jpeg

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