Visit my new blog

I´ve decided to split my blog in two. I will continue to post DIY projects and musings here, but (serious) pictures, taken on film of course, will be posted in my new blog "Silver Halides"

I now consider Caffenol to be a developer like any else. As such the new blog will focus more on the pictures, rather than the process.

Friday 19 April 2013

In time for the Worldwide Pinhole day?

Bad weather over the weekend tends to result in indoor projects of some sort. No backlog of film to develop or scan, so I had to find something else to do. What about a 4x5 Pinhole camera, might indeed be ready in time for Pinhole day on the 28th of April.

I used a well known recipe really, take a Bjurön plant pot from IKEA (same as for my other 4x5 DIY camera) and smack a 4x5 Graflok compatible back on it and you have the beginnings of a camera. Drill a hole in the other end and cover it with a piece of foil punctured by a pin, and there you have it. That would have taken but an hour or so. But I had to make things a bit more difficult for myself by adding an internal shutter, actuated by a release cable. In fact that took more than a few hours, indeed half the weekend. Worked fine indoors, but when I finally went out to take some test shots it failed. Which meant I had to use the dark slide as a shutter, giving questionable results. Needed to rethink the shutter construction some, and now it works.

Details:

  • Sinar 4x5 back, has the advantage of being very compact - and fits the Bjurön plant pot very nicely. 
  • 118mm focal length, 32mm 135/35mm film equivalent when shot on 4x5
  • First pin hole was 0.5mm (f236) - a bit on the big side.
  • Current pin hole is 0.4mm (f296)
4x5 Pinhole, shutter open
4x5 Pinhole. Cambo back. Shutter release cable enters body
Shutter as seen from the rear, slider with opening can be seen protruding on each side

First test shots on a DAYI 6x12 roll film back, awaiting delivery of some 4x5 film.

6x12 test shot, dark slide as shutter, 0.500mm pinhole

6x12 test shot, revised shutter and 0.400mm pinhole