Pinhole is My Large Format

[dazedgonebye]

No, I don't shoot large format pinhole. I just mean that pinhole photography sort of fills that niche in my photography experience.
I carry a heavy tripod a mile or so in to the field, set up an awkward camera, take time to compose, meter the scene and even consult a table for reciprocity failure.
These ain't snap shots.
Anyway...some day I'd like to own a nice 5x7 kit, but for now, my cheap old slapped together pinhole cameras will have to do.

fp4+ in Barry's 2 bath developer
6x9 pinhole at about 35mm FL and f144. Exposures were about 75 seconds or so, (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi...).

That's 6 off a roll of 8. One had very bad flare and the other was a double exposure...because I can't count to 8, apparently.

 

[charjohncarter]

I think those are interesting. I'm surprised because they look better than many 'pro' set ups I've seen. It is a perfect spot to use it. Is that in AZ, that looks like real water.

 

[dazedgonebye]

That's up along the Mogollon rim at 7700 feet John. Yes, we have water in AZ. We often have trout fresh from a lake for dinner on our camping trips.

I'm actually concerned that my pinhole camera may be too good. Heck, I didn't even get any vignetting this time out!

 

[dazedgonebye]

😀
I've noticed in your gallery that they look more like large format shots with a great grey scale.
You must be trying too hard.😛


edit: You thought about trying a wider field of view?

I don't have enough experience souping my own to know if I'm doing particularly well or not...but the Ilford films (pan-f and fp4) plus the barry's 2 bath developer seems to be a winning combination. I've yet to be disapointed.

All but one of those are 15mm equivalent...I can't get any wider with that camera.

 

[Papercut]

nice pinholes, Steve! I especially like the first one with that rock in the foreground and the bottom one with the tree's root bole exposed.

Barry's 2-bath is a wonderful developing solution I think. I use it for everything ISO 400 and under. Great accutance, no messing with temperature control, easy times to remember, and automatic highlight control -- which is very nice for something like pinhole where long exposure times can lead to blown out highlights so easily. It's dead simple and gives great results, especially for scanning ime.

for what it's worth, I usually have at least one mucked up frame every roll on my Zero Image pinhole too! The excitement of working at such breakneck speed must overwhelm my ability to count as well! ;-)

I only have ten shots thus far, but here's a link to my flickr pinhole set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shudaizi/sets/72157607288418070/
I have discovered, though, that using Ilford Delta 3200 you can in fact do "street pinhole"! :-D

 

[charjohncarter]

Steve, it is a beautiful spot. And you did it justice with those pinholes. Maybe you are just good at drilling a pinhole.

 

[Windscale]

dazedgonebye,

Can you show us your pinhole comera? Your pics are great.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Papercut,
Nice images there. I came close to buying one of those zero image cameras, but decided to make my own. I'll have to try some fast film. With the light I have here in AZ, maybe it'll be hand held.

Pixtu,
Yea, I'm often at a loss as to how to explain FL across the different formats.

John,
Actually, I bought the wholes from Lennox Laser. That explains the quality.

Windscale,
I'm embarrassed at how many times I've shown this camera off here...one more wont hurt.
It's made from parts taken from a Graflex XL rangefinder system. It has a standard graflok back so I can shoot roll film and Polaroids. The lens board was made for me by a guy I know with skills and tools. Since this picture was taken, it sprouted a cold shoe. I use a voigtlander angle finder with 15mm and 21mm optics for framing.
With the graflex spacers I have, I can do focal lengths of 38mm, 48mm and 73mm.
It needs a new shutter. This one won't work with a cable release (even long ones) so I have to hold the shutter lever down for the exposures.

 

[Windscale]

Beautiful. And you must be a strong man!!!

 

[dazedgonebye]

Beautiful. And you must be a strong man!!!

Beautiful in a form follows function sort of way.
I just had some of the parts laying around and got the idea. From there, I collected the rest of the parts and put it together over the course of a few lazy months.
They'll have to bury me with it, 'cause I'm not ever giving it up.

 

[JoeV]

Nice work, Steve. I can appreciate the 'pinhole is my large format' ethic; I, too, lug pinhole cameras and my heavy, Bogen tripod around the desert SW. Did a shoot up in Arches NP in Moab earlier this summer.

Haven't tried Barry's 2-bath formula, as most of my pinhole work uses paper negatives. I'll have to mix it up and try it.

~Joe

 

[dazedgonebye]

Thanks Joe,
I've always wanted to make it to Arches, but the boss lady isn't interested. I bet there were some good opportunities there.

 

[JohnTF]

Pinhole can be terrific, I once carried some tubes with me on vacation, took some sheets of film cut from some surplus aerographic ortho rolls, plus took a mil. surplus flashlight with several red lenses to use as a safelight in the evenings when I would load my "cameras".

Made some exposures by sticking my tubes in the sand.

I curled the film to within 1 or 2 mm of the pinhole, and the image began very close to the hole, growing to full height in the middle of the opposing side of course.

OK, point is, you can learn a lot and get some terrific results on pinhole, I prefer to use film about 10 inches in height, and contact print.

I have also used a pinhole on a cheap 8x10 wood field camera, results are very sharp, and the extension functions like a zoom.

Exposure was Seat of Pants, generally 30 seconds, and development by inspection. I have a few boxes of ortho 8x10 if I am using the field camera.

Make your own pinholes, and if you can find a discarded microscope (sounds stupid, put schools toss the really old ones which often work fine) or sell them for $5 trade in, you can see very clearly when you get a good, well polished hole in the .002" brass shim.

I was just playing with my M8 and am totally surprised at the first results.

I have had students make pinhole cameras out of most anything, great science fair project.

Kodak put out a booklet for making a camera out of a 126 cartridge if you can find one, and there are a number of cardboard cameras out there, lots of variables. If you can find a ratty graflex, you can start there as well. Film is almost anything you can get in the camera.

I must say your camera looks first rate, would prefer to use larger film though. You lose a lot in enlargement. Does it also take 4x5?

I wonder how the "sharpen" works on the M8 files. ;-)

John

 

[dazedgonebye]

Sorry it took so long for me to see this question John.

Unfortunately, I'm limited to 6x9. I long for a 4x5...for pinhole and lens work...but I'm not sure when I'll make that happen.

Pinhole can be terrific, I once carried some tubes with me on vacation, took some sheets of film cut from some surplus aerographic ortho rolls, plus took a mil. surplus flashlight with several red lenses to use as a safelight in the evenings when I would load my "cameras".

Made some exposures by sticking my tubes in the sand.

I curled the film to within 1 or 2 mm of the pinhole, and the image began very close to the hole, growing to full height in the middle of the opposing side of course.

OK, point is, you can learn a lot and get some terrific results on pinhole, I prefer to use film about 10 inches in height, and contact print.

I have also used a pinhole on a cheap 8x10 wood field camera, results are very sharp, and the extension functions like a zoom.

Exposure was Seat of Pants, generally 30 seconds, and development by inspection. I have a few boxes of ortho 8x10 if I am using the field camera.

Make your own pinholes, and if you can find a discarded microscope (sounds stupid, put schools toss the really old ones which often work fine) or sell them for $5 trade in, you can see very clearly when you get a good, well polished hole in the .002" brass shim.

I was just playing with my M8 and am totally surprised at the first results.

I have had students make pinhole cameras out of most anything, great science fair project.

Kodak put out a booklet for making a camera out of a 126 cartridge if you can find one, and there are a number of cardboard cameras out there, lots of variables. If you can find a ratty graflex, you can start there as well. Film is almost anything you can get in the camera.

I must say your camera looks first rate, would prefer to use larger film though. You lose a lot in enlargement. Does it also take 4x5?

I wonder how the "sharpen" works on the M8 files. ;-)

John