Pinhole Photography

A pinhole camera is devise that you can make yourself It might be a fun project to do at home. The camera itself is a simple closed black box or chamber. In one of its sides is a small hole created by a pin or a needle through a little piece of tinfoil or even a piece of tin that’s cut out from a can. Light travels through this little hole and projects on to film paper creating an image of the outside space on the opposite side of the box. The photo paper can then be developed exactly like the average film from an old film camera. There are tons of “how to” videos on YouTube showing and indicating exactly how you can build your own pinhole camera.

Example of home made pinhole camera.

I find this quite fascinating, its very different to the normal film or digital photography. The film paper used for these cameras usually have a film speed of ISO 10 – 15. The average exposure time for these cameras is usually about two(2) to 40min for a proper clear image. The images will be somewhat blurry in the sense that all the movement are imprinted to the film for as long as the shutter stays open.

Note that 'pinhole' is the camera aperture, it is obvious to think that the aperture is really really big. Some of these pinhole cameras have an aperture of 200 (f-stop of f200) this means that everything in the photo will be in focus. Cameras today have an average aperture of f-stop 0.95 to 22 depending on the camera and lens. The smaller the physical number of the f-stop, say for instance f3.4, the larger the opening is that light passes through to the film or sensor, by this, it will mean that you will be able to get a proper depth of feel in the photograph.

This an image that i took with an average bridge camera at f6.5, this is providing a good depth of feel.

Here are some really beautiful images taken with pinhole camera:

In conclusion, I think pinhole cameras can be something interesting to try out and see for myself, but I don’t think that it will be something I would use for taking proper photographs and visual compositions. I don’t think any one really have the time for a 2-40min exposure. But still, an interesting way to express an interesting photograph.