Pin Hole camera? some of you may ask and the others would remember the days playing around with bits of photo paper or film in college or uni.
“A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens and with a single small aperture – effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box. The human eye in bright light acts similarly, as do cameras using small apertures.”
A Pin Hole camera is great fun for all ages, as you can play around with taking images and sometimes get some great Photos (unfortunately not always). They can be easy to make as they can be made with anything! but you can go over the top with the decorating by making it look like a camera. Below is a photo of my first attempt at a Matchbox camera. I found a great site on how to make the matchbox camera. if you want to have a go CLICK HERE. This is a good one as you can use normal film and get it developed at any photo lab.
The trick with the pin hole camera is to keep it still as you can just end up with a colourful mess! Also you are going right back to basics with photography, as you only have a manual shutter. There is some guidance with times you should open the shutter for but mostly pot luck! my first attempt i’m keeping a shoot diary of how many secs the shutter is open for and also how many clicks i have turned the film to wind to the need frame. As again it is all manual.
Please see below my First attempts.
Overcast/Sunny
Shutter open 1/2seconds
“in the Garden”
Overcast/Sunny
Shutter open 1/2seconds
“in the Garden”
Indoors (Day Time)
Shutter open 2 minutes
“Sunflower kitchen 1”
Indoors (Day Time)
Shutter open 10 minutes
“Sunflower kitchen 2”
Indoors (Day Time)
Shutter open 1 minutes
“Wispa @ Work”
Outside (overcast/sunny)
Shutter open 3 seconds
“Brush Leaves”
Outside (overcast/sunny)
Shutter open 10 Seconds
“Brush Leaves 2”
Outside (overcast/sunny)
Shutter open 5 Seconds
“Brush Leaves 3”
Indoors Evening (overcast)
Shutter open 5 Minutes
“conservatory garden 1”
Indoors Evening (overcast)
Shutter open 2 Minutes
“conservatory garden 2”
Indoors (Daytime)
Shutter open 5 Minutes
“desk day”
Indoors Night
Shutter open 5 Minutes
“The Hall”
Indoors Night
Shutter open 2 Minutes
“iPhone Table”
After my first attempts i will alter the Pin hole to a smaller size as hopefully this will get the images more in focus. This was great fun to do and i will have another go with the camera but with the modified hole.
Why not have a go yourself? CLICK HERE to download the PDF to show you how.
Retro Camera UK 