Pinhole Camera Gallery
As you can see, I make pinhole cameras out of just about anything I can find around the house and one of my all time favorite materials is duct tape! I enjoy coming up with new ideas for each camera, constucting them, and then being in complete amazement when they actually work. When I go out on a shoot, I only take a couple of these cameras with me at a time. I would need a bigger vehicle and more hours in a day, if I chose to take them all. I have a soft spot for all of these cameras, as each one captures an image in a unique way.
 | First Pinhole Camera This was my very first pinhole camera that I made. I used a cardboard cylinder, spray painted black inside. As you can see, for the face I cut a piece of beer can, (couldn't find a pop can around the house at that moment) poked a pinhole in the center of it and taped it to the cyclinder tube. The 'back door' of the tube is just a cardboard flap. I taped a piece of light sensitive paper to the inside of the 'back door', ran outside and propped it up against side of the house. I can still remember how excited I was, when an actual image imerged from that paper.... wow! From then on I was hooked on pinhole photography. |
 | Second Pinhole Camera This camera was the second camera that I constructed, wanting something that would produce a larger image than my first pinhole camera. This one will hold an 5 x 7 inch paper. The white plastic lid let too much light into the can, even when I painted it black, so I just drape a piece of black plastic (garbage bag stuff) under the lid. I played around with this camera, taking lots of pictures, but I found I would have to anchor it down with a rock sitting on the top to hold it absolutely still. I got tired of packing the rock around........so.... |
 | Enlarger Pinhole Camera One day, a friend told me that he had seen some darkroom equipment at a secondhand store in town. By the time I got there he had picked through it and had bought the best stuff, leaving me this bottom part of an enlarger head. Of course I brought it home and made a pinhole camera out of it. It works great, is easy to carry around, and I love the way I can zoom in and out with it. Love it! |
 | Favorite Pinhole Camera This is my all time favorite pinhole camera. I use it when I want to take super sharp pictures. This camera has done a lot of travelling with me over the past year. I made it out of an old shoe box, and yes, that is still a piece of beer tin over the opening, turned around this time. This camera holds a 4 x 5 inch piece of light sensitive paper, focal length 5 ". |
 | Film Canister Pinhole Camera What else can we do with all these film canisters? Make another pinhole camera! This one comes along with me most of the time, as its a 'fit into my shirt pocket' camera. It uses a cut piece of 35mm film and because the film fits along the back in a curve, the pictures have great contours. |
 | Matchbox Pinhole Camera This one is like a little 'spy' camera, made out of a small matchbox. It uses a cut stip of film in the box. I made a flip top lid that is like a small picture frame that the film sits flat under. This one gets to come along with me most of the time, as it can just sit in my shirt pocket. |
 | Cartridge Pinhole Camera I came across a store that still had a few of the older film cartridges, and so bought them up. I made a lightfast box over the film area, added a pinhole and made a little stand so the camera could sit on its own. After exposing one shot I just wind the film forwards a bit, and its ready for another shot. |
 | 3 Pinhole Camera By now, I'm looking at every container in every shop, eyeing them up for possible pinhole camera material. I found this one, full of candles and wonderful bath bubble stuff. (A bonus!) This box will hold a 2 1/2 x 7 " sheet of light sensitive paper, so one full sheet, gives me quite a few pictures. I made this one into a 3 pinhole camera, so instead of only one hole in the front, there are three. Therefore, the camera will capture an image three times simultaneously. |
 | Minolta Pinhole Camera Old cameras never die, they just get put to use in a different way. Here my old Minolta gets to live on as a pinhole camera. I removed the lens and as you can see, I just covered the area with a thick piece of black card stock, used a copper shim for the pinhole, and a fair amount of duct tape to hold it all together. I can just pop a roll of 35mm film in and its ready to go. Works fine! |
 | Cart Pinhole Camera This was just an odd shaped box that caught my eye and will take a 5 x 8" sheet of light sensitive paper. I have mounted velcro strips along the bottom of the box, and my husband made an mount for my tripod that these cameras will adhere to. This camera is also a favorite as the images have a bit of contour to them, great for architectural structures. |
 | Pinhole Camera Kit This pinhole camera is a kit that I ordered from Wrebbit, a Canadian Company and is a replica of an early 1800 bellows camera. The bellows are cloth and the rest of the camera is folded paper. It uses a roll of 35mm film which you load into the back and it even has a winding mechanism in it. This was a good winter project and it took me a while to make. |
 | Box Type Pinhole Camera I decided I needed another really sturdy box type pinhole camera for when I'm bouncing around in the bush, so I made this one. It will hold a 4 x 5" piece of light sensitive paper also, the difference being that the pinhole on this one was 'poked' instead of drilled, so the images come out looking soft, with that old time look to them. |