Pinhole for X Pro 1?

[rybolt]

I don't want to bore anyone but here's how this started. I have 6 lenses for the pair of Pro 1 cameras and got tired of them rattling around in the Domke bag slots. So I bought ten rear caps on the auction website and did this:

Old Nikon School trick that still works.

With the ten rear caps I also got ten body caps. I'm thinking of drilling them out and trying to make a pinhole lens. For a 35mm frame I seem to need a .25mm hole. For an APS-C frame I would think that the hole should be about .18mm. Or am I going the wrong direction? I'll probably drill a couple of these and see how it works. I know that the plastic isn't going to drill round enough but if I can make it work I might have a brass insert put onto one of them and a more precise hole cut.
Or should I just forget the whole thing and go take pictures with lenses that have glass in them?

 

[daveleo]

I am 99% sure you will need to use a metal insert.

Also, I am 75% sure that drilling won't work too well as it leaves burrs around the hole edges. If you can somehow de-burr the edges (that's a small hole !) . . . ?

You can buy a body-cap pinhole for $20 or so.


EDIT: you should move this to the "pinhole" subforum !

 

[Godfrey]

I have Skink pinholes in Leica M-mount, FourThirds SLR and Micro-FourThirds mounts. They aren't cheap ... $50-90 ... but provide way more options for doing pinhole photography, and are very nicely made.
http://skinkpinhole.com/wp/

I just keep the stack of excess body caps in a bag in my equipment cabinet. ;-)

G

 

[daveleo]

I have Skink pinholes in Leica M-mount, FourThirds SLR and Micro-FourThirds mounts. They aren't cheap ... $50-90 ... but provide way more options for doing pinhole photography, and are very nicely made.
http://skinkpinhole.com/wp/

I just keep the stack of excess body caps in a bag in my equipment cabinet. ;-)

G

This is true.
My experiments with pinhole images have not been good, but I am using a cheap lenscap type pinhole from Ebay. I'm getting the same old same old "blah" pictures (and of course I blame my equipment ).
I have a Skink set on order - "hope springs eternal . . . ".

 

[Godfrey]

This is true.
My experiments with pinhole images have not been good, but I am using a cheap lenscap type pinhole from Ebay. I'm getting the same old same old "blah" pictures (and of course I blame my equipment ).
I have a Skink set on order - "hope springs eternal . . . ".

I've put some of my Skinky pinholery and zone plattery here for your amusement:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdgphoto/sets/72157627775078690/

Whether it's any good is, of course, a toss up based on personal aesthetic. I have more, just not posted ... like a set of pinhole portraits I'm working on. It takes a while to learn how to use pinhole and zone plate effectively.

G

 

[daveleo]

I've put some of my Skinky pinholery and zone plattery here for your amusement:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdgphoto/sets/72157627775078690/

Whether it's any good is, of course, a toss up based on personal aesthetic. I have more, just not posted ... like a set of pinhole portraits I'm working on. It takes a while to learn how to use pinhole and zone plate effectively.

G

Yes, Godfrey, I have viewed your work before (in fact it was a big factor in me trying pinhole) and I just love your pictures.

It's a totally different mindset to pre-visualize a good pinhole composition, and I haven't found that groove. The one common element seems to be a very rock solid composition of areas in the frame (maybe strong thick lines too).
And I can imagine using the Skink gear effectively takes much practice and tons of evaluation.

Always something new to learn.

 

[alienmeatsack]

I've successfully made pretty decent pinholes myself using soda cans as the material and a tiny drill bit or pin tip. But I found the quality to be much better from the laser drilled versions you can find online.

If you are going to convert a few of those body caps to pinholes, you might consider purchasing a few sizes of pre-made pinholes and gluing them to the caps for an assortment of sizing options to try.

Have fun either way, as that is what really counts.

 

[fer_fdi]

I bought an m39 (LTM) pinhole in ePay
Only tested it in my E-P2 since the m39 adapter for the Fuji didn't arrived yet.
I already have the Holga pinhole and the PinWide for micro4/3 and this m39 is probably the best of them (crisper) and cheap as the Holga one. It's FL it's around 50mm

If you want to find it just look for a m39 pinhole made in a LTM body cap using an etched copper film in the center of the cap

 

[GaryLH]

I bought some lens caps for my Fuji and did the same thing when I first bought my xp1.. I now have two extra body caps..collecting dust. Nice idea.. I think I will give it a play

Gary

 

[NigelL]

Forum newbie here, so Hello All, and my apologies for coming to this a bit late.

I had been dabbling with pinhole photography on my Canon slr and dslr, so it seemed only natural to have a go when my X-E1 arrived . I bought one of the brass shim pinholes off an auction site, I think I worked out it needed to be 0.18mm dia. I fitted the shim to a drilled out body cap, and from the 'test' shots, all seems to be OK, I just need to find a bit of time to head out and take some serious, properly composed images!

Links to a couple of the 'test' shots on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigell/8754529485/in/set-72157633353310993/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigell/8755653288/in/set-72157633353310993/

Nigel

 

[fer_fdi]

I received my LTM adapter and can happily confirm that the pinhole (see above) works very very well with the X-E1.
I'll post some examples when possible, did some landscape tests.
I also attached a dark yellow filter in front of it for some.
It's FL is 45-50mm equivalent (so around 35mm on a real LTM camera, wow)
Happyness!