New pinhole 8x10 and 4x5 cameras

Cameras, lenses, tripods..
pmviewcam
Posts: 6
Joined: 22 May 2013, 13:37

New pinhole 8x10 and 4x5 cameras

Postby pmviewcam » 10 Dec 2013, 11:12

A friend of mine is building both sizes of pinhole camera, my 8x10 150mm is from claret ash (it is the one on the website) and weighs 1.8 kg without film holder. The 4x5 weighs a few hundred grams. Ian Latter's website is www.boxesinwood.com and he lives in Canberra.

He spent considerable time matching focal length to pinhole size, and with my 8x10 got it to less than a mm. He charges between $280-300 for an 8x10 and about half that for a 4x5 and they are available in a number of different coloured timbers. He believes that 185-190mm is close to the limit for a timber construction, but he is working on another design for 235mm and maybe 280mm. if a camera is built in customwood (MDF), there is less of a limitation with focal length, but the cameras are much heavier.

The shutter is backed with the same flocking used to light seal the box, which makes it very smooth in operation.

It includes the appropriate pinhlole, and a filter ring on the inside of the camera, which allows both a protection against dust (which is a real problem in Canberra), and to use colour filters for B&W. The initial design had three shock cords to secure the film holder, but after I lost two of them photographing (they were very strong), he added a matching piece of timber on one side to capture the shock cords so they can't be lost. He will also include a picture of the pinhole under considerable magnification to show how accurately the pinholes have been drilled and the actual pinhole diameter.

I did some test negatives on the weekend and the results bear out the accuracy of his construction. The negatives were very "sharp" (in the pinhole sense). I have to say, (spouse agreeing) that I intend to take it with me to NZ in February.

Looking forward to renewing acquaintances and friendship when the LF group meets in Echuca next year.

Peter McDonald (also in Canberra).

smbooth
Posts: 405
Joined: 29 Jul 2012, 00:20

Postby smbooth » 22 Apr 2015, 20:03

Just bring this post up as I saw an image the other week from a 5x7 pinhole camera made by lan which was blown up to around 11x14. Must stay it was very nice , while it certainly is a reflection on the photographer it also reflex's the quality of the camera.


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