Do you know that a pinhole camera is the simple most cameras possible? Usually, a pinhole camera is made up of a light-proof box, some kind of film and a pinhole, which refers to an extremely small hole that can be made with the tip of a pin.
There is a simple principle, or mechanism involved in the functioning of a pinhole camera. Can you imagine yourself inside a big, dark box of the size of a room with a pinhole and a friend of yours is shining the flashlight at different angles through the pinhole from outsid? On the wall opposite the pinhole, you would find a small dot being made by the beam of flashlight all the way through the pinhole. As the flashlight shifts, the small dot will also move. If the pinhole is smaller, the flashlight creates smaller and sharper point of light.
A pinhole camera functions in the similar manner; it is the smaller version of the room. The only difference is that pinhole camera makes use of a film to record the image coming through the pinhole. You point the camera at the scene and it will record a nice, in-focus image of that. In a pinhole camera, the pinhole works as the lens. It makes every point producing light on the scene to shape a small point that makes the image crisper.
A pinhole camera can be made quite easily with the materials lying around your house. So, make a pinhole camera yourself by following below mentioned simple steps.
There is a simple principle, or mechanism involved in the functioning of a pinhole camera. Can you imagine yourself inside a big, dark box of the size of a room with a pinhole and a friend of yours is shining the flashlight at different angles through the pinhole from outsid? On the wall opposite the pinhole, you would find a small dot being made by the beam of flashlight all the way through the pinhole. As the flashlight shifts, the small dot will also move. If the pinhole is smaller, the flashlight creates smaller and sharper point of light.
A pinhole camera functions in the similar manner; it is the smaller version of the room. The only difference is that pinhole camera makes use of a film to record the image coming through the pinhole. You point the camera at the scene and it will record a nice, in-focus image of that. In a pinhole camera, the pinhole works as the lens. It makes every point producing light on the scene to shape a small point that makes the image crisper.
A pinhole camera can be made quite easily with the materials lying around your house. So, make a pinhole camera yourself by following below mentioned simple steps.
- Collect materials – For a pinhole camera, you require a box, photo paper, thin metal piece like brass shim or can, xacto knife, sand paper, needle, tape.
- Make pinhole – The pinhole functions as the lens of the camera. Make a small hole in the metal piece with a needle and use sand paper to smoothen it. For creating a little space around the hole, you can trim the metal piece.
- Make camera box – You have the choice to use an oat meal box, a shoe box or whatever you found but the box should be light-proof. Make sure that the only hole to pass the light through is pinhole. Seal the box and paint it entirely black. Now, make a small square opening for the pinhole to go in.
- Fit pinhole and create shutter – Fix in the pinhole with the use of electrical tape at the back of the square opening. Keep the pinhole at the centre in the square. Now, create the flap shutter to cover the pinhole from outside. Use some more tape, if needed.
- Load the photo paper – Make sure that the process is done in complete darkness. You can develop and change paper in the darkroom in a closet or a bathroom. Fix in the photo paper inside the box diagonally from the hole. Close the shutter completely after putting the lid on.
- Take a picture – While shooting a picture, you have to point the camera at the subject under bright and sunny conditions. You should hold the shutter open for 30 seconds to 4 minutes then shut. The open and shut process depends a lot on the lighting and clouds. At the time of shooting, keep everything perfectly still. Now, get back to the dark room for developing the photo.