My first pinhole picture

[daveleo]

Tri-X film / Nikon FM3A / Skink Pinhole

Tri-X film / Nikon FM3A / Skink Pinhole

I am going to try a roll of Tri-X using the Skink Pinhole on my Nikon FM3a.

I did some internet homework and can take a few good guesses of exposure times. But I am wondering if anyone here has direct experience with Tri-X and a pinhole setup.

The Skink I have is 0.2mm diameter and I have a lost calculation that said the effective folcal length on my Nikon is about 50mm. (Where did I put that???) So the effective f-stop of the pinhole is f250.

I have Tri-x tables for exposure times and reciprocity adjustment. So I could start hitting the shutter button when the sun comes up tomorrow 😀

Anyone care to comment on this topic, before I waste a roll of film ? ?


EDIT: I remember now - the Nikon flange-to-film distance is 46.5mm. I am using that as the pinhole "focal length". Any comments on that too?
The f-stop = 46.5 / 0.200 = 232.5mm

Thanks for any input.

 

[Steve M.]

Wow, there's a heck of a difference between pinhole images from film and from digital. I couldn't wrap my mind around most of the digital shots, but the film shots posted here are very nice. Still, my favorites are the one from the D5100 with the plain Jane 50 1.8 lens, and the B&W shot of the bottle on its side. Beautiful. That's a very, very good shot to start 2014 with. The composition and tonal values are just perfect.

As for the Tri-X pinhole shots (D76 would be appropriate), I would just wing it and make concise notes on each exposure. A PITA, but then you'd know what's up from then on. I'd love to see the results.

 

[daveleo]

I worked up some numbers, based on Tri-X tables, for an f-stop of about 250 with Tri-X including reciprocity correction.

Sunny day = 1 second

Overcast day = 15 seconds

Early morning / evening = 100 seconds

Yes . . . I am starting a notebook too.

I am now out of here to shoot !!

 

[daveleo]

It's been over a year since I posted to this thread !
Much water has flowed under the bridge.
Here is my latest: Fuji XA1 + skink pinhole.

 

[Bill Clark]

Slow down, you're movin' too fast

You got to make the morning last,

Just kickin'' down the cobblestones

Lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy!

---

Wonderful. Keep it up.

Have you noticed how the roses smell?

 

[Dwig]

A contact print was always the best.
I shot some pinhole on 8x10, and it was possible to mistake it for a lens image. ...

+1

Contact print and control the print size by choosing/building a camera that shoots the desired negative size.

I've built quite a number of pinhole cameras over the years. My favorites were generally based on Polaroid 100/600 series pack film (3-1/4 x 4-1/4) though some were done to shoot 8x10 RC paper for the negative.

I was never particularly happy smaller formats though I did do the lens cap thing with 35mm SLRs and a derivative of Kodak's easy to build camera that stuck on the front of a 126 cartridge.

 

[Ezzie]

To be honest, with all the cameras and lenses I have, Polaroid, 135, 120 or large format, some technically outstanding, some good, some not so much, I found that the pictures I most happy with this last two years are all pinhole, from cameras I have bought (ONDU 6x6, Vermeer 6x17), and made myself (6x24, 4x5)

A few examples

ONDU:

Fallen by Eirik0304, on Flickr

Bath house #17 by Eirik0304, on Flickr

Vermeer:

Bath house #14 by Eirik0304, on Flickr

6x24

Pond by Eirik0304, on Flickr

4x5

On the beach by Eirik0304, on Flickr

 

[John E Earley]

Many years ago I shot a number of 11x14 paper negatives using an old view camera and a thin brass plate riveted to a lens board. The paper negs were interesting but due to very long exposure times and unsatisfactory results contact printing the paper negs I gave it up. If I still had an 8x10 camera I'd do it and just scan and reverse the image.

 

[daveleo]