Make Your Own Pinhole Camera

A pinhole camera is a small, light-tight can or box with a black interior and a tiny hole in the centre of one end. It is essentially camera without a lens. You can design it to accept roll or sheet film. The two ends of the camera are parallel. The end opposite the pinhole is flat so that the film is held in a flat plane. The pinhole has a cover to prevent light from entering the camera when you aren't taking a picture. Pinhole cameras are used by many photography enthusiasts around the world.



In order to produce a reasonably clear image, the aperture has to be a small pinhole on the order of 0.5 mm (0.02 inches) or less. The shutter of a pinhole camera usually consists of a hand operated flap of some light-proof material to cover and uncover the pinhole. Pinhole cameras require much longer exposure times than conventional cameras because of the small aperture; typical exposure times can range from 5 seconds to hours or days.

Linatree.com has a pdf file which contains the design of a pinhole camera. All you need to do is download the pdf file and print the image on a card paper or stronger paper if you like. Follow the instructions on the site to create your very own pinhole camera. And if you are an aspiring shutterbug, you might just want to show off your talent by heading to the Pinhole Gallery.