Today I started construction of my pinhole camera. I had great plans laid out, which I will probably upload later, however I decided that because I am an unemployed student I should rather try building it out of things I had lying around the house first. I began by constructing a rectangular frame for the rest of the construction to be based upon.
The mitre cuts weren't exact because my saw is missing a guard (don't try this at home!) but it isn't really an issue as the joints would still have to be filled later on. The frame is very square (for something I built), which is probably important. I used one 2x4 I had leftover in the garage for this part, with plenty to spare.
Next up was some sort of system for getting the film back on. Pinhole cameras don't require anything this elaborate, but I have a half dozen 4x5 film holders and no 4x5 camera to use them in. I thought this would be the perfect reason to dust them off. Film holders aren't very common these days, and you aren't likely to find them at a flea market. But if you keep an eye out on camera classifieds, they do come up quite often and are reasonably priced.
I used some extra strapping to make a three-sided frame for the film holder. My plan is that there will be screw clamps that come down from the frame that can be tightened to hold it in place. When loosened, the film holder with slide out of the frame sideways. I plan to add a narrow band of rubber weather-proofing to the edge the film holder sits against. This way, the film holder will seal nicely to the camera body when the screw clamps push it into place. This should keep it light-proof!
Next I had to put some sort of front element on the camera body. I used this old shelf I had taken out of our linen closet and cut it down to size. From here I drilled pilot holes in the middle so that I could hollow out an area for the pinhole to go. My plan was to just hammer a nail just ever so slightly into a tin sheet to make the pinhole, and then to clamp this plate over the rectangular hole on the front element of the body.
At this point I started to cut out the middle of the front element, and it split in two. With my saws already packed up and me not wanting to have to start the whole piece from scratch, I defiantly finished cutting out what I wanted (albeit the two drill holes were misplaced and you can still see them), and I will just use some glue to seal up the crack when I put the front element on the body.
I sanded all of the parts and then went to look for metal I could use for the pinhole. Serious enthusiasts (oxymoron?) seem to use laser-cut apertures, but I don't think I've quite made it to that point yet. I found an old Tazo Tea container in my garage and broke out the tin snips to cut it all up. Now I have some metal plates I can carefully punch pinholes into. It will be delicate work, and I'll probably mess it up a time or two. Then it will be a matter of sealing of the cracks and attaching the pinhole plate to the front. After that I am considering painting it if I can find an appropriate colour, and I will have to add the clamps and maybe a tripod socket. Rough blueprints to follow---it's all in my head right now!