Instructions for making a box pinhole camera.

Find a box with a lid, say a shoe box or any cardboard box that will be light tight, meaning, that no light will be able to penetrate into the box other than through the tiny pinhole that you make on one side of the box. Don't make the box too big for your first camera, a fair size would be 5"x 5"x 6".

You will probably find that black duct tape will come in very handy. You can use it to fasten all the sides together as well as hinge the lid to one side of your box.

Spray paint, or brush paint the inside of your box and lid with a flat black paint. This is to make the inside of your 'camera' as dark as you possibly can.

So now you need to make the opening for the light to enter your camera. On the front side of your box camera, make either a square cut or a circular cut, it doesn't matter, in the very center using a utility knife. It can be up to an 1" square cut, but try not to make it any bigger than that. The most important thing right now is to have the hole centered on the front panel of the camera.

Next, cut a piece of tin (pop or beer can), or very thick aluminum foil bigger than your opening that you just cut in the front panel of your camera. If you decide you would like to make more cameras, invest in some copper shim which you can buy at a hardware store. Copper shim is very easy to work with, but fairly pricey

Now take a sharp needle and 'drill' a hole through the center of this and then tape to the inside of your opening that you cut out of the front panel of your camera.

Now you just need to make some kind of holder for your light sensitive paper or your film negative on the inside back panel of your camera. Design a holder out of foam core strips or any heavy cardboard and glue it down. Make the holder just a bit bigger than the size of paper or film that you will be using, leaving the top open so you can load and unload your paper or film by just sliding it in from the top

You can just use a piece of tape or a piece of thin cardboard hinged with tape for your 'lens cap' over the front of your pinhole opening on your camera. Keep in mind that the pinhole must remain tightly covered until you are ready to expose your film or light sensitive paper. Your camera is finished and now ready for use. Good luck!

For a Circular or Oblong Camera

The instructions are the very same as for a box shaped camera, the only difference being, for the 'holder' at the back of the oblong or circular shaped boxes, instead of cardboard or foam core, I like to use foam weather stripping, which you can buy in rolls at the hardware stores. It has paper on the back of the strips that you just peel off and then the strips themselves are self-adhesive. Just mark lines on the either side along the inside back of the box of the exact size of paper you will be using in this camera and then stick the weather strips to these lines. Because of the rounded shape of the box, the film or sensitive paper will hold snugly in place.

I realize that some of you will be in areas where weatherstripping materials will not be available for you to buy. Try using small strips of cut foam, or anything that is spongy and soft that will hold its shape but will be firm enough to hold your paper or film. Most of all, be creative!