New Pinhole cameras from ONDU

[HHPhoto]

Hi,

ONDU keeps on innovating with a complete new series of improved pinhole cameras:
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...as-perfect-shutter-snap-on-f?ref=project_link

Cheers, Jan

 

[lxmike]

I must dabble one day with pin hole camera

 

[Papercut]

Thanks for posting that Jan. The Rise is a neat idea and it works really well (Reality So Subtle has been making pinhole cameras with this feature for years -- I have one of the RSS 4x5s and love it). I need a new pinhole camera like I need a hole in the head (hah!), but these are tempting still.

EDIT: I do wish that pinhole camera makers would start offering longer focal lengths. Everything out there, including these new ONDUs, is ultra-wide angle. I get a bit tired of seeing every camera and every image with that stretched out look. I've shot it myself so I'm not immune to the charms, but I do wish there was more variety and some more "normal" perspectives. I was glad to see Ilford's Kardon Titan for "daring" to include longer focal length cones. But those are now discontinued too.

 

[BernardL]

EDIT: I do wish that pinhole camera makers would start offering longer focal lengths. Everything out there, including these new ONDUs, is ultra-wide angle. I get a bit tired of seeing ....

Agree. But there is (IMO) a technical reason. For a given film format, the shorter the "focal length", the smaller the pinhole diameter, and the "sharper" the image looks.

 

[Papercut]

Agree. But there is (IMO) a technical reason. For a given film format, the shorter the "focal length", the smaller the pinhole diameter, and the "sharper" the image looks.

Indeed. It's just a shame to see just ONE goal (perceived sharpness) be so dominant. I dunno if that's because that's all that is commercially viable? (Witness Ilford's discontinuation of the longer cones for the Titan cameras.) Or if there's just some blind spot among the makers / users that cannot see how (perceived) sharpness isn't everything, an irony given pinhole's lack of sharpness relative to lensed photography. I just want to see more variety in expressiveness -- a variety that pinhole is so well suited to offering. But I'm preaching to the choir, I'm sure.

Still, kudos to ONDU for making another high quality line of pinhole cameras. The easy filter attachments is also very cool and I may, in fact, back this KS despite my lack of genuine need for another camera. 😀

 

[Godfrey]

Very nice!

I have a ReallySoSubtle 6x6 that is (sadly) underused, but these Ondu cameras look to be a step beyond that. Of course, I need another pinhole camera like the aforementioned hole in the head, but ... sigh. :angel:

For a longer focal length capture, I have a Skink pinhole originally designed for Olympus E-system FourThirds DSLR camera. I fit that onto an mFT mount adapter for an approximately 70mm eqFOV pinhole:

Olympus E-PL1 & Skink Pinhole f/71 Zone Plate
ISO 1600 @ f/71 @ 1/6​

You can't shoot for resolution images with this configuration, but I like the aesthetic with simple subject matter.

G

 

[zuiko85]

I like 4X5 for pinhole. Used film holders are fairly cheap and the image size is not too small. I just build my own, a rear part that holds the film holder and front part with the pinhole. I use black foam core between the back and front to establish the focal length and angle of view. Within reason, a pinhole size of .35mm can be placed at 63mm, 90mm, or 125mm for f180, f256, and f360. So from very wide to slightly wide with even, one stop jumps in exposure.

 

[zuiko85]

What I'd like to build for 4X5 pinhole is a simple monorail camera with a bellows that would allow for extensions from 60mm to 150mm and by tilting the rail some rise and fall. The catch is the bellows. I've looked online and read a lot about building your own, but have not tried it myself yet.

 

[aizan]

are pinholes always superwide angle? the 6x12 rise version looks interesting for urban landscapes, but i'm wondering if i have any use for the others.

 

[Papercut]

are pinholes always superwide angle? the 6x12 rise version looks interesting for urban landscapes, but i'm wondering if i have any use for the others.

They certainly don't have to be, but all the commercial ones (especially medium format) that I'm aware of are. Some older companies (Leonardo, etc.) make 4x5 cameras that are longer.

Like zuiko85, I've made my own 4x5 before. But these days I'm far too busy for that trial-and-error process and I'd rather much prefer to buy something nicely made. Hence my lament above.

 

[zuiko85]

I should note that for 4X5, I've only used photo paper as a negative, then contact print to make a positive. The advantage is that paper is;
1. Cheap
2. Can be handled under safelight
3. Equipment to develop and print is minimal
4. Cheap (I like cheap)
Several disadvantages also, ie;
1. Slow, ISO 6~12 range
2. Not panchromatic, harder to control contrast.
3. Poor latent image stability (at least in my experience)
It might be nice to have a 6X9 roll film pinhole and I have a extra Kodak Tourist body that could be adapted to take 120 in the feed chamber. Place a pinhole where the lens used to reside and you would have a focal length of about 100mm, close to the diagonal of that format. That way the viewfinder could still be used to frame the shot.

 

[leicapixie]

My kid had to build a pin hole camera..
Used a flat cigarette box, made a hole, added silver foil with needle hole.
Blackened foil with marker..some photo paper.
Exposed and rinsed after dev,water,fix,.
Dried in microwave, made positive..
I love those wide, w-i-d-e format..