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  4. Whats the purpose behind pinhole photography?

Whats the purpose behind pinhole photography?


3 years 9 months ago #689680 by E Rodriguez
Can someone share with me the purpose behind taking a lens cap and drilling a small hole into it to take photos through?

AKA Pinhole photography?  

Why?
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3 years 9 months ago #689685 by Nikon Shooter
The modification permits one to explore the possibilities
of "most rudimentary gear" in approaching photography
like it was done in the late Renaissance by architects and
artists..

Interesting it is, and valuable too, to understand very ba-
sic principles but in not the way to go for good pictures
even if the subject and box are absolutely immobile.

If you spare an old lens cap, on a digital camera, you will
have the benefit of a modern lens… which none then had.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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3 years 9 months ago #689748 by Prago
Yep, I'm with you.  Not a form of photography I ever got or understood the purpose of.  But to each their own, if someone wants to tool around with this, good for them.  
SWM into chainsaws and hockey masks seeks like-minded SWF. No weirdos, please
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3 years 9 months ago #689757 by Hassner
It was one of the first things we did as students, still way back in the days of film.
(Photography was just a subject in my studies.)
We built our own box cameras, so had to understand, the shorter or longer the distance between the pin and film, the more wide or tele the image. 
It taught us that the smaller that pin, the more will be in focus, the longer the exposure and visa versa. 
You had one shot only, so make it count.
The result was always unexpected with a creative, old worldly feel.
Big fun, a way to get young ones interested in photography.

But doing it digital defeats the purpose somewhat.
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3 years 9 months ago #690009 by E Rodriguez
Oh you just gave me an idea.  I'm going to see about tracking down some plans to make a homemade camera.  That should be a fun 'at home project'!  
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3 years 9 months ago #690202 by Hassner

E Rodriguez wrote: Oh you just gave me an idea.  I'm going to see about tracking down some plans to make a homemade camera.  That should be a fun 'at home project'!  


Go for it, E!
I hope you have a darkroom. At one exposure at a time, the fun was running back to develop and and see what you captured. 
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3 years 9 months ago #690212 by jasonlee3071
I've heard of pinhole cameras but I think they are as useless and impractical as any other non-digital camera. I can take better looking pics with my iphone instead. Also if I want to get that same pinhole style pic, I can use a photo editing app that has that feature as a filter.
Or use a vignette style filter.
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3 years 9 months ago #690250 by garyrhook

jasonlee3071 wrote: I've heard of pinhole cameras but I think they are as useless and impractical as any other non-digital camera. I can take better looking pics with my iphone instead. Also if I want to get that same pinhole style pic, I can use a photo editing app that has that feature as a filter.
Or use a vignette style filter.


There are certain things you cannot do, precisely as done in reality, in post. Tilt-shift lenses are a good example. Lensbaby lenses are another. Petzval lenses. Freelensing. Tintypes. A circular polarizer. These things exist because someone thought they were interesting and/or useful, and others followed suit. No, your photo editing app can't produce the same results.

So: define "better"?

Then perhaps get and read a copy of Why It Does Not Have To Be In Focus . Expanding one's horizons can be liberating.

N.B. there are pinhole "lenses" now for digital cameras.
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3 years 9 months ago #690277 by icepics
I have a couple of those things Gary, Lensbaby, Petzval lens... and a couple of pinhole cameras. One is a plastic p&s I bought from another photographer adapted as a pinhole to shoot a roll instead of one frame at a time. The other is a pinhole blender that's basically a tin can with a lid and knobs to advance film and more than one pinhole to shoot a blended panoramic style shot on a roll. I made lens caps out of fridge magnets so use it to shoot a photo then advance the film (had to figure out how far to advance it).

You can find info. online, try Alternate Photography's website. If you make your own it's necessary to drill a precise hole because the slightest rough edge will look huge in the photo. If you find out about camera obscura that would give you some idea how they work.

There are pinhole lens caps too. You won't be able to see thru the lens (so I've used them with a rangefinder instead of an SLR) so you'd need to frame first then change the lens for the pinhole cap. Try to frame with some leeway so if you get somewhat more or less of a scene framed it will work in your composition.
Sharon
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3 years 9 months ago #690278 by Ozzie_Traveller
G'day all

Dig a 2" hole in the end of a shoe box - stick alfoil across that hole then punch a pin thru the alfoil

Done & dusted, ready for use :)

Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
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3 years 9 months ago #690457 by CanonKid
The challenge of capturing something from such limited light I think has much to art.  
Canon 7D, 15-85mm, 18-55mm, 70-200mm, 100mm Macro, Sigma 120-300mm, Speedlite 430EX II

A bad day at the race track is better than a good day in the office
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