Pinhole - good use of 8x10 film?

[PaulG]

Please excuse my random musings, but I'd be interested to hear peoples' views on 8x10 pinhole photography. It seems to offer a relatively cheap way into this format, but is a dedicated pinhole camera too limiting given the price of film?

My motivation is finding a way of producing big negs for contact printing (bigger than 5x4), but without having to pay a fortune for it. 5x7 was looking attractive, but choice of film and availability of holders (or lack thereof) is beginning to put me off the idea. I should say that I have a 5x4 camera and the means of making enlarged prints.

[Dave]

If you construct a simple box type pin-hole camera, then I agree that it would be a cheap entry route to 10”x8” contact printing.

Instead of film you could use r/c photo paper which would reduce the costs by a factor of 10, or more, but then why stop at 10”x8” when 16”x12” is achievable; you just need a bigger pin! :eek:

[PaulG]

Thanks Dave. Would paper negs work for processes like kallitype etc?

[Dave]

Thanks Dave. Would paper negs work for processes like kallitype etc?

I don't see why not, but I have no experience of that process, so must leave that for others here to comment on.
There are two drawbacks with paper negatives that come immediately to mind, but nether are important with respect to pin-hole work. One is that the exposures will be very long due to the low sensitivity of paper. The other is that paper negatives are much softer than film.

[Kevin Parratt]

8x10 inch? Go for it. But regardless of image format, the quality of the pinhole is paramount. If you are making it yourself, the material should be in the thinnest possible material and perfectly round. The thinnest pinhole material, ideally approaching 0.0mm, will produce an image with the least vignetting.

This camera shown here, features a 20mm shift. Because the lens (pin hole ) panel can be lifted out and replaced in 90 degree increments, the shift can be up down or sideways. To make the image shown, I had the camera in 'portrait' mode, employing the full 20mm vertical shift in order to maintain the image geometry. (upright verticals) There is no visible vignetting, which demonstrates a large image circle. The focal length was very short to obtain a wide angle view. I was in a tight corner. That front panel also zooms in and out an inch or so. I don't have it on hand, but at a later date, and if it is considered worthy, I can prepare an article on it's construction. It's just a tad more sophisticated than a shoe box, and not much less than a Bulldog kit. In the neg archive packed away are a few Hasselblad documentary images made during the camera's construction.

This photograph from Bergen, Norway and others can actually withstand 2x enlargement. I was amazed.

[Alan Clark]

Kevin,
Where can you get good pinholes from?

Alan

[Kevin Parratt]

Some sharpness has gone from the castle photograph. This is not scanned directly from the print, but is a file that's been moved around in cyber space. Can dig out a better one later.

[Dave]

Kevin,
Where can you get good pinholes from?

Alan

Pinhole Solutions. (http://www.pinholesolutions.co.uk/)

[Alan Clark]

Thanks Dave. I will look them up. I have a good one that I got from Retrophotographic, but was wondering about the ones Kevin described.
By the way Kevin, welcome to the forum!

Alan

[CarlRadford]

I have had 10x8 pinholes published in Ag - whats more it was an image that didn't really appeal to me in the end despite making a platinum/palladium print from it. I have made many 10x8 images that I have liked and it is a great entry to big negs for contact printing without going down the digital negative route! Don't think of pinhole as easy though - there are loads of crap images made with the excuse of being "just pinhole" think of the strengths and try to exploit them. See f295.org! As for paper negs - Andrew Sanderson is probably the guru and he just happens to haunt this forum now and then!

[Kevin Parratt]

I made the pinhole from scratch, in steel.

Here is another photograph made with the same. This was scanned just now, from the finished fibre-based print.

A mask for the printing easel was cut to fit the negative, minutely trimmed to clean the edge, using a hand-held picture framers mat cutter in an off-cut of black-core mat board.

The double film holders are 1922 Eastman Rochester, smaller than 5x7, so I trimmed the graphic arts film to fit. (Orange box you see in the previous post.)

The actual print size is 112mm x 145mm.

[StanW]

I've made two 8x10 pinholes from currugated cardboard, using a booklet from the Pinhole Format Co. www.pinholeformat.com
It comes with 6 sheets of .002 brass shim, three pre-drilled for the three cameras.

[Sandeha Lynch]

I also make my own (http://www.sandehalynch.com/pinhole.htm) and the sharpness of a scanned 4x5 is quite impressive.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/Sandeha/pinhole/th_ortho_still_lifesmall.jpg (http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/Sandeha/pinhole/ortho_still_lifesmall.jpg)

[Alan Clark]

Thanks Sandeha, your pinhole website is very interesting.

Alan

[PaulG]

Thank you all for your constructive (literally in many cases :D) comments and suggestions. In the longer term I may have a play with building my own, but for the time being I have sourced a hand-made oak 10x8 for a very reasonable price. I should have it early in the new year, all things being equal.

I'm looking forward to 2010 and a playing with a whole host of photographic things, this included.