Build a 4x5 Pinhole camera - Part 2

Part 2 of the 4x5 Pinhole camera construction.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• film
• 4x5
• pinhole

[nellybelle87]

hi there, i am really interested in making my own pinhole camera and am following your instructions. i think i have the same film holder as you. There are just a few mesurements im not sure about. What is the thickness of the wood used for the body? and also the width, 15.7 x ?, and 12.15x ?.

also im interested in what the width was for the piece on the side where the negative holder slid in. on another note how far into the wood did you saw the grove and how deep was it?

thank you so much

[davidamosphotography]

Thanks for your comments... well I just used what I had in the shed. It is just panel strips that I think are used for window finishes. Hardware has a lot of variety of this type of wood pre cut already for you.

The width for the holder is exactly the thickness of the film holder.

The depth of the grooves is about 3mm, I just used the tip of the saw coming through the table.

[tiboat8h]

nice videos thx, guitar's too loud tho

[main873]

How would i go about making my own exposure chart is the aperture was f221?

[dgm1514]

@lyhome Heh. Yeah. I do get what you mean, that really, there isn't any focusing going on like in a lens. It's a different mechanism. Totally see that.

I'm trying to build a pin hole camera like the one above so figuring out all the needed parameters has been... and adventure. :P Take care!

[lyhome]

@dgm1514 lol. I find it funny how we seem to be explaining the same thing but in totally opposing ways.

It is like those root questions in philosophy. If infinity means that the absolute number cannot be calculated, why I should not say there is no infinity. The same thing with my 'focal length' explanation. I was trying to explain why it is paradoxical to call it focal length while the image is not focused.

[dgm1514]

@lyhome In the context of pinhole cameras the focal length is the distance from the hole to the film plane. There is even a well known formula to calculate the aperture (the size of the pin hole) if you have a focal length. Focal length isn't "sharpness" since that is an aspect of depth of field. Different FLs can change the angle of view. In PH cameras DoF is infinite across the image plane. Essentially, all areas are equally "sharp" (but can also be very blurry at the same time).

[lyhome]

@dgm1514 no, that is not correct. Pinhole camera cannot focus like a lens does. Therefore no matter where you put the film plane, it is equally sharp/unsharp. Therefore there is no focal length. The size of the aperture does affect how sharp the image is, but no matter where you put the film plane, the image is still not focused. Of course there is also no depth of field. However, the exposure does take longer if the film plane is far away from the aperture.

[dgm1514]

@lyhome With pinholes the focal length is a measure of the distance from the hole to the film plane. Everything is equally sharp but the size of the pin hole (aperture) effects the fl and also how far the film plane needs to be. What you're thinking of is depth of field.

[lyhome]

A pinhole camera does not have a focal length. Everything is equally unsharp! Your exposure time is not accurate.