pinhole problem

[belgiumreporter]

Though i've experimented with pinhole photography before, the results were never satisfactory. I knew what the problem was, but never came to pushing through for a better solution. These days however, some firms offer "ready to use" pinhole solutions in the form of complete film based pinhole cameras to the laser drilled "calibrated" pinhole body caps to use on any (D)SLR.

Wich brings me to the laser drilled monochrom lochblendendeckel (pinhole cap) for F mount. It came in a nice box with instructions of use, angle of view and exposure data.




With high hopes i've fitted it on the D800, but first results were dissapointing (not better than what i've got with my DIY solution). Now i am aware pinhole shots aren't "pin" sharp (no pun intended) but from what i know a "soft" sharpness should be within reach. So what's the problem? This became clear when examening the laser drilled (blasted is a more correct term) hole at about a 200x magnification under microscope :




The hole has way to much burr wich disperses the light going through it making it impossible to get a clear image. I don't know if there are any firms wich are able to deliver decent clean pinholes, despite their claim monocrom sure isn't one of them and their pinhole bodycap at about 30€ is a waste of money if you're looking for decent results.

Here's a shot i've made with the pinhole cap. because no lens is involved there's no spherical abberation.



For those of you interested in pinhole photography, april 24, 2022 is the worldwide pinhole photography day, where you're supposed to go out and take a shot with your pinhole camera and submit it on the WPPD website (this is not a competition)

[belgiumreporter]

Another pinhole "lens" came my way in the form of the "Thingyfy Pinhole Pro S Wideangle pinhole lens".

Now in comparison to the Monochrome pinhole cap, the Thingyfy is much better made. It is indeed more of a lens than a cap as it's got an all alluminium machined body and 58mm filter thread so a UV filter can be used as a dust protection for the sensor, after all the pinhole is still a hole through wich dust can enter the body, usefull because due to the long exposures the sensor will become static and attract dust.

The pinhole in the Thingyfy is very clean with no burr, the image is still unsharp but in a better way than the monochrome shots. The Thingyfy has it's price though (69€). Thingyfy is increasing their range and now pinhole lenses with zoom function, variable aperture and extreme (11mm) wideangle are available.

Because of the deeply recessed pinhole in the adapter it sits as close to the sensor as possible without hitting the mirror, resulting in a 37 mm angle of view on full frame as opposed to the 50mm+ angle of the monochrome.

Here's two shots of my garden elf taken from the same distance so you can see the difference in angle of view between the monochrome and theThingyfy. Allso note the difference in sharpness, maybe not as clear in these shots but it's there...





this is how the Thingyfy looks:

[belgiumreporter]

Went out with the thingyfy mounted on the Z6 at 3200 ISO i was able to use it handheld in this bright sunny weather. However another problem became apparent, the enourmous amounts of microscopic dust on the sensor, something wich isn't visible at "normal" apertures now at around f128 becomes a real problem. i don't like cleaning the sensor more than necessairy, but if hours of post processing removing dust is to be avoided a squeaky clean sensor is a must. Here's some shots i've made, the pinhole shots lend themselves well for that old time postcard look, though some colourfull landscapes also work well.

[julio1fer]

Very interesting. I am tempted to convert a junk box camera to pinhole, if I find a good way to make a clean hole.

[belgiumreporter]

Apr 22, 2022 19:20:48 GMT -5 julio1fer said:

Very interesting. I am tempted to convert a junk box camera to pinhole, if I find a good way to make a clean hole.

If you convert a box camera (or maybe a folder) i guess image quality will be better as with the larger size of the negative the "unsharpness" of the image becomes less prominent. Also after the dust problems and trying to retouch a file with maybe a thousand dust specs i am wondering if it would be better to use film (with wich the dusty sensor problem doesn't exist) and then scan the negative for further processing. Anyway, tomorrow April 24 is worldwide pinhole day! i think i'm gonna send in this shot even though it was made last week, alternatively, if the weather stays good, i could go back to the pond tomorrow and shoot the same shot. 

[raybar]

I haven't done pinhole photography for many years, but I had good results drilling very small holes in very thin metal.

The smallest drill that is readily available is #80, which has a diameter of 0.3429mm. Smaller sizes exist as well, down to #107 at 0.0483mm. You will need a drill press and a very light touch to use such tiny drills.

Here's a list: www.custompartnet.com/drill-size-chart