Admire your bravery in the pursuit of getting the shot Steve, the British countryside can be a hostile, unforgiving place. Glad you survived this trip. Nice shots👍🦆
5:20 Another pinhole option: Drill a hole in a lens cap, tape some aluminum foil across it, and make a tiny hole in it with a needle! Works for both film and digital cameras. Quite good fun on digital for experimenting with pinhole photography, as even 'failed' experiments dont cost any money.
If they aren’t laughing then they are skimming through the foreground of my images in the full knowledge that at 1/4 sec they will be an annoying blur!
I built a 35mm pinhole camera from plastic sheet back in 2008. It exposes the whole film, sprocket holes included, and makes around 3 x 1 panoramic images. Must get it out and play again. You are very inspirational in your photography, thank you.
Thirty years ago when the kids we young we made a pinhole camera from a childs shoe box, using high contrast B&W paper as a negative, then contact printing to make a positive. Subjects needed to be bold. It took lots of experiments to understand the field of view and required exposure, but made the kids think analyticaly about how to get better results. Each time I would take a shot on my SLR, noting down the settings, to give a reference point so we could calibrate the pinhole camera. Lots of fun to be had.
I recently considered buying another pricey, vintage, medium format camera (realized I have two already) Then concluded that a Zero Image would be both affordable, simple, and fun to use. Great vlog Steve.
I've got the same light meter app! I use it for all my m42 mount soviet cameras that have broken or not working properly light meters. Great vid by the way
Actually think this is my favorite SO’N video of all time. Love the pheasant laughing, and B-roll errors (or intentional?). Brilliant! AND, the photos ain’t half bad! Great start to ‘22!
LOL, " I thought I was being stalked by something, a velociraptor ? Oh no its was Pheasant ". And yes, waiting for a pinhole long exposure, reminds me of that Scotch Tape ad of the 80s with the Skeleton, Re record Not Fade Away. Brilliant shots and video. Like the new style very much.
Ha. Its funny that I find your pinhole video here, just as I came back from the virgin voyage with my new Zero 6x12 the last two days. And you know what? Both days in the field, I forget my reading glasses and was cursing squinting thru the red window to make out the Ilford FP4+ faint symbols and slowly turning the knob as to not over advance... Your videos are always humorous given I can relate. BTW, i started cheating more with my pinhole photography by using an iPhone composition app, as well as using a bubble leveler to keep horizon straight. You must have amazing eye or luck, with your great results by just winging the aiming and filling the frame so well balanced, ha. Anyways, always love your videos and adventures,... and side trips and humour. Keep it up. Five thumbs up!!!!!
6x12 is a nice pinhole format Tony, just wide enough and especially suitable for landscapes. I have started using the GoPro as a preview device as the field of view is very similar.
@@SteveONions Yes, I have the Zero 6x6 also. Although that one is nice and small and simple, I have a much harder time coming up with the square super wide 25mm compositions. This new Zerio with wide format 6x12 and less wide 40mm view is much easier for me to come up with strong compositions. My eye for square compositions works better with tighter normal to telephoto views, hence the Bronica SQ with 105mm and 150mm are most used there.
Pinhole photography is a skill set all by itself and admire you for going through with it in order to show us the results. You've got a lot of atmosphere there and, I suppose, in the days of cameras having every conceivable gadget on them, it's Good to see what the art of photography is really all about. Looking forward to seeing more.
Always better to meet angry pheasants than angry peasants... ;) I'm glad you cut down on umm... cuts this time. This video is so much more enjoyable - for me at least - than some of the previous ones. And the first image was lovely.
Great video as always. Never knew the reciprocity failure values were so good with TMAX 400. Not that it matters seeing the price will soon be about £15 a roll.
@@SteveONions I’ve only been using film for about 4 years so it’s always been expensive (for me at least). I’ve chatted with your mate Robin on Instagram a couple of times about “the good ol’ days”. Oh, what I’d buy if I could travel back in time!
Lovely to see the images, in a big fan of pinhole. I can see you like your Zero Image camera. Have you ever tried a Vermeer Pinhole camera. They capture lovely and surprisingly sharp images.
I used to have a Vermeer 6x17 Michael, the curved film plane eliminated any vignetting but I always struggled with compositions, kept chopping the top off things!
Great post, I love pinhole photography but haven't done any in an age. I use the same phone app all the time and find it's really accurate. At the risk of sounding like a nerd, the nests you refer to are a deformation found in many older trees and are believed to be caused by a fungus. They are commonly known a 'witches broom', and often to be found on a birch tree like that which you photographed.
Enjoyed the humour Steve. A timely video for me as I got myself the same pinhole camera for Christmas!! Was given some Foma film and the numbers are clear. Rollei is bold too, as you probably know. Ilford need to pull their socks up don’t they!
Happy New Year Steve! The video was most inspiring! No fancy optic, no optics. Amazed how "sharp" images are.. Many years ago, I helped my kid with a homemade camera, using photo paper, developing in darkroom, making a print from paper negative! Your camera so much better. I. have prepared to shoot my Rolleiflex Automat in coming weeks.. again thank You! all the best.
Steve, thanks heaps - watching your vlog has got me inspired to try pinhole - in doing so I have already found a couple of real enthusiasts within 1-2 kms of my home, so great stuff. However, we are lucky here, in that we only have to put up with sharks, venomous spiders, poisonous snakes and deadly box jellyfish (and thats just in the back yard). We are very fortunate that we don't have the rabid killer pheasants and mocking ducks that you have there (yet) as that would make a walk in the bush really a bit too dangerous. Thanks for your consistently excellent vlogs - I always feel good after watching these.
Great video as ever Steve, I have never tried pinhole photography, which must be the only sort I haven't tried! I will see how you get on before investing in another camera. I was pretty impressed by your first attempt. Some lovely images to start with! Keep them coming.
If I could find them, I've got a stash around here somewhere of more than a dozen little one-shot pinhole cameras made from Altoids and Altoids Gum tins (the mint tins hold about a 6x4.5 piece of 120, the gum ones get about a two-frame strip of 35 mm), pinhole shutter for a 1927 Zeiss Ikon plate camera, an old electron microscope camera body (just a box with a Graflok mount on the back) with a cheap 3-speed shutter and pinhole (obviously, only B gets any use), a pinhole body cap for my M42 SLR bodies -- even a peel-apart Polaroid converted to an auto-exposure pinhole camera for the 3000 speed film I can't buy any more. The ones I enjoy most, though, are my Custom Camera Builders 6x6 wooden camera (25 mm projection distance) and my Ondu 135 (double frame 35 mm, also about 25 mm, with optional format mask to single frame) -- much easier to use than the one-shot tins, and more "pinhole" character with their very wide view than the various converted "normal" cameras. For those who like to DIY, it works really well to take a very tatty, badly used folding camera, remove the struts and bed and bellows, and replace the door with a board (light sealed around the edges) and mount the pinhole on that with a shutter like the one on the Zero Image or similar. Gives a nice wide view, an easy to use film advance for 120, easy to light seal and easy to load and unload -- and the cameras can still be had for next to nothing. Very important skill if you're going to make your own pinhole cameras, though: drilling a round, clean pinhole in the 0.2 to 0.7 mm size range. There's a technique to it, easy enough to learn, but most people go about it very wrong at first.
That sounds like a cool collection of cameras. I’m also very fond of the format/focal length you favour as it seems to produce very clear images, not overly soft like many pinholes. I’ve also considered a folding camera as a replacement, especially as I have a few that are not viable to repair.
Mine just arrived in the mail today, excited but can’t help wondering if I should have gone with the cable release. Debating putting sight lines on. But seeing as you have neither I feel ready to take the stripped down model out for a drive!
I like the idea of the cable release too but I’m reality I’ve never had a problem with the manual version. I sometimes cover the pinhole with my finger then move it when starting and ending the exposure.
Couldn't agree more, pinhole is so much fun. I've made the same promise to myself to shoot more pinhole this year (6x6 & 4x5). How about a book at the end of the year as a goal. Looking forward to seeing what you get.
I really like your willingness to experiment and produce different images. The nests picture really works well. I have played with a home-made version using a body cap & tinfoil on a digital camera, works quite well when you get the exposure sussed. Thanks for the video.
Very pleased to see this video and to hear of your plans to shoot more pinhole this year. I think the resulting Pictorialist quality suits your work well. I was wondering if you use Artists Viewfinder with this camera to assist in composition.
Thanks Bob. I don’t use Artists viewfinder with pinhole, the GoPro makes a much better framing tool (I did record a few sections about this for the video but edited them out).
Nice pictures Steve I would like to see more pinhole content. Do be careful though, that rustling you hear in the bushes could very well be the killer rabbit!
Thanks so much for the true timely vid; just got back from taking some pinhole photos in a ghost town. I took the Vermeer 6x9 and the Zero Image 6x9 set for 6x6 using Delta 100... I appreciate the Tmax 400 info regarding the reciprocity characteristics.. Had a photo indoors required 52 minutes on D100... I will plan to try the Tmax next time.. Thanks! Regarding pinholes I believe Zero Image provides the clearest image of all I have ever used; also a couple of Lenless 4x5's are very nice and cost effective but if given the choice now..I would go with the zero image 3 section 4x5 a 75mm set up for larger format. Thanks again Steve.
I’ve also found the Zero image the best (sharpest) out there and had that 6x9 model some years back. Tmax 400 would be my choice for indoors work every time but Ilford films are fine for normal outdoor work in decent light.
Like you I struggle with numbering on 120 film, always have. I also have had good results from TMax 400 over the last 30 or so years. Ilford is always my default film yet TMax provides something good. I recall an article in Amateur Photographer written by Geoffrey Crawley who worked for Ilford, he said Ilford and Kodak had different approaches to B&W film.
I used to use TMY-2 as my go to film for a number of years Richard, extremely sharp and fine grained. In 35mm it was close to FP4+ for detail and I was always surprised that Dev times in Xtol were the same for EI 400 and 800.
Nice subjects, thanks. Reminded me that I just got a lensbaby Obscura (pin hole lens, well not really a lens), and I can't wait to try it out (on my S1R).
Enjoyed your video as I always do. I don't own a pinhole but I always learn something from you. As to the numbers on the film backing, I've noticed the same thing. I have a Ciroflex TLR, a 1940's American made camera that I just had refurbished. Kodak Tri-X was easy to read, Arista was OK, but the most difficult was Ilford HP5+. Had to use a flashlight (i.e., torch) to see the numbers. Keep up the great work.
Enjoyed the video as always. Never had much interest in pinhole photography. I did make one from an Oatmeal circular box that I used 4x5 in it. Was fun to learn about photography with it but it never spoke to me as a useful tool. You seem to enjoy it a bunch
Steve your videos are my favorite in the UA-cam scene, maybe next to Mat Marrash. Also I bought a Bronica SA-Q cause of you-and pronounce it just the same (as an American LOL)
Another informative and entertaining video. I just purchased a Konica AR body cap with a brass insert that has a laser cut pinhole. I supposedly has an f stop of 167 on 35mm bodies. I used an adapter for a Lumix G9 micro four thirds camera and did some test shots. While it does make recognizable images, they are far less sharp than yours or others that you showed. I wonder if this is the effect of the 2X crop factor of the MFT sensor or digital rendering. I used a self timer and put the camera on the ground or on a railing. On another note, I was planning to put a roll of HP5+ in one of my Konica cameras and shoot this "lens" but now I will switch to Tmax 400. Many thanks for that tip!
I think M43 with your lens would be tricky Maggie, I’ve tried digital pinhole once on full frame and it was OK but the bigger film formats definitely work better.
Hello Steve- it’s a great video (as yours invariably are). As an introduction, I’m an experienced advanced amateur photographer primarily in the digital realm for the last decade or so, who is getting (back) into film photography, and am fascinated by pinhole photography, and the approach taken by you and several other (it seems, primarily UK based) photographers here on YT. I have recently purchased an Ilford- Harman Titan 4 x 5 pinhole, and will start my foray into film large format pinhole photography soon. So I don’t think this question is relevant to this particular video, but I’m curious if you have any experience with using a rangefinder as a pinhole camera? Obviously the rangefinder mechanism is irrelevant when the camera is lensless, but I own a Leica M9 Monochrom which I want to put to use for digital monochromatic pinhole photography, mostly to achieve a certain indescribable “aesthetic” which I see in pinhole landscape photography (and the convenience of digital, of course). Wondering what your thoughts, if any, on this subject are, since there really isn’t anything I’ve been able to find looking around on the internet. Thanks, and cheers.
I’ve only tried using a rangefinder and SLR once for pinhole work using a body cap with high quality pinhole attached. It worked OK, the bigger formats were better like 6x6 on the Hasselblad. I think you will find 4x5 a lot more useful with all that resolution, the smoothness of the transition of the scenes in B&W is very noticeable.
@@SteveONions thanks. I used a DSLR and my rangefinder after posting my previous comment/ question and found that it doesn’t make a difference since the focusing/ image forming mechanism is irrelevant when the camera is lensless. I had some disturbing blur with the first iteration and realized after watching some other videos that my pinhole was “too large”. I think the diameter of the pinhole is much more crucial in 35 mm due to the much smaller image size of the 35 mm format. I suspect this is the advantage of LF pinhole- there is a lot more leeway possible in the pinhole sizes. I’m going to start experimenting with 4 x 5 soon but wanted to cut my teeth on digital first given the “instant gratification” that it provides, for better or worse, due to my not having worked with film for over a decade.
Gotta watch out for the neanderpheasants!!! Brutes, they are!!! :P Got an Ilford Obscura 4x5 I should try out. Have to watch out for dropbears, though. They're worse than neanderpheasants!!!
Outstanding vid Steve was on edge of my deck chair awaitin the bird attack you had a lucky escape mate 👀 never tried pinhole but seen a few episodes on the subject really starting to fancy having a go. Thanks for your time inspiration and bravery. Stay safe 😂
Fancy modern mirrorless cameras are good for pinholes - with no mirror (letting you get the hole closer to the sensor) you can get a nice wide angle, and there's no reciprocity failure to worry about on digital. It's a different medium of course, but with a pinhole you lose a lot of the digital sharpness
Thanks a lot for this entertaining video! Indeed the film backs of Ilford are no good for pinhole cameras. Foma is better and perhaps I will give T-Max a try, also considering the Schwarzschild effect, which kicks in very early on on other films... So thanks again for some practical advise I can use!
The reciprocity is shocking Edward, I did a video a few years ago and Fomapan 400 struggled in dull light, far worse than even a 100 speed Ilford material.
Those bird nests are actually caused by a parasitic fungus called witches broom. It causes the tree to kick out loads of extra shoots, like a birds nest, which the fungus then feeds on.
Be careful Steve - a bloke standing around in the woods muttering - could be misinterpreted... I was impressed by the amount of detail captured at 5.07. I know its a 6x6 cm negative, but even so... Is that where the quality of the pinhole has an effect?
Thanks David. I usually pick quiet locations precisely because nobody will be startled by me standing there talking to camera. The Zero image range have always been noted for their high quality pinholes, much less fuzzy than most.
I like the angel of uncertainty - as Sally Mann calls it . Her collodion images aren’t exactly sharp. when random things happen you cant control I would even use slow film with the pinhole and see what amazing randomness happens over hours.
Admire your bravery in the pursuit of getting the shot Steve, the British countryside can be a hostile, unforgiving place. Glad you survived this trip. Nice shots👍🦆
It was a close call Peter, there were dozens of the little sods creeping round in those woods 😮
5:20 Another pinhole option: Drill a hole in a lens cap, tape some aluminum foil across it, and make a tiny hole in it with a needle! Works for both film and digital cameras. Quite good fun on digital for experimenting with pinhole photography, as even 'failed' experiments dont cost any money.
Ducks will laugh at anything, don't let them get you off your game Steve :) Wonderful pictures, thank you.
If they aren’t laughing then they are skimming through the foreground of my images in the full knowledge that at 1/4 sec they will be an annoying blur!
The Holga 6x12 tree image really got my motor running.
I built a 35mm pinhole camera from plastic sheet back in 2008. It exposes the whole film, sprocket holes included, and makes around 3 x 1 panoramic images. Must get it out and play again. You are very inspirational in your photography, thank you.
Thanks Neil and have fun with the panoramic pinhole, I have a 35mm model somewhere in my huge collection of ‘stuff’.
I’m enjoying the cheekier commentary in your more recent videos. And now you have me thinking about trying pinhole.
I don't need another camera !
But I'm liking those wooden pinholes.
Great video, and the ducks were definitely laughing 😂
Thirty years ago when the kids we young we made a pinhole camera from a childs shoe box, using high contrast B&W paper as a negative, then contact printing to make a positive. Subjects needed to be bold. It took lots of experiments to understand the field of view and required exposure, but made the kids think analyticaly about how to get better results. Each time I would take a shot on my SLR, noting down the settings, to give a reference point so we could calibrate the pinhole camera. Lots of fun to be had.
That’s a great way to learn the basics, I bet the contact printing needed a lot of patience too.
Great video and loved the laughing ducks.
😀
I recently considered buying another pricey, vintage, medium format camera (realized I have two already) Then concluded that a Zero Image would be both affordable, simple, and fun to use. Great vlog Steve.
It’s a good alternative to traditional shooting and comes into its own in dull weather, I prefer that look to images made on bright days.
Excellent. The simplicity indeed. Those ducks were having a right old time.
Those ducks, the entire family I think, laughing themselves into a tizzy
The best real-life photography videos going. I think you've convinced me to get a pinhole camera. Please guard against those vicious pheasants!
Thanks Harry 🙂
Another Refreshing treat 👍
I might dust off the pinhole camera after watching this 😅
Very good Steve
that was awesome ! thank you Stay creative
Great presentation.Just bought a Zero Image 6X9 multi format camera from 2006 and looking forward to using it.Thank you👍
I bought a Zero image 6x9 back in 2006 Michael, it wasn't cheap but they do have an excellent quality to them.
Fabulous.
Thanks James.
I've got the same light meter app! I use it for all my m42 mount soviet cameras that have broken or not working properly light meters. Great vid by the way
Thank you
Very nice, thanks!🙂
You’re welcome John.
Lovely photos!! I lost it when I heard the ducks laughing!!
😊
Hi Steve ! Wonderful and interesting video !!!
Thanks Evgeny.
Actually think this is my favorite SO’N video of all time. Love the pheasant laughing, and B-roll errors (or intentional?). Brilliant! AND, the photos ain’t half bad! Great start to ‘22!
Thanks Dan, glad you liked it 😊
Truly beautiful work and thanks 🙏 for taking us on a walk in your neck of the woods
You’re welcome Rick.
Must get out with the Ondu more this year!
I love my ZI 2000 as well. So portable, so simple, never fails me.
"Are those ducks laughing at me?" I think they might be 😂. Yes, please pull out the 6x12 pinhole.
I definitely need more practice Rene, I was nowhere near enough to the subject matter.
LOL, " I thought I was being stalked by something, a velociraptor ? Oh no its was Pheasant ". And yes, waiting for a pinhole long exposure, reminds me of that Scotch Tape ad of the 80s with the Skeleton, Re record Not Fade Away. Brilliant shots and video. Like the new style very much.
Hehe, I remember those ads, Derek Guyler provided the voiceover if I recall correctly 🙂
Ha. Its funny that I find your pinhole video here, just as I came back from the virgin voyage with my new Zero 6x12 the last two days. And you know what? Both days in the field, I forget my reading glasses and was cursing squinting thru the red window to make out the Ilford FP4+ faint symbols and slowly turning the knob as to not over advance... Your videos are always humorous given I can relate. BTW, i started cheating more with my pinhole photography by using an iPhone composition app, as well as using a bubble leveler to keep horizon straight. You must have amazing eye or luck, with your great results by just winging the aiming and filling the frame so well balanced, ha. Anyways, always love your videos and adventures,... and side trips and humour. Keep it up. Five thumbs up!!!!!
6x12 is a nice pinhole format Tony, just wide enough and especially suitable for landscapes. I have started using the GoPro as a preview device as the field of view is very similar.
@@SteveONions Yes, I have the Zero 6x6 also. Although that one is nice and small and simple, I have a much harder time coming up with the square super wide 25mm compositions. This new Zerio with wide format 6x12 and less wide 40mm view is much easier for me to come up with strong compositions. My eye for square compositions works better with tighter normal to telephoto views, hence the Bronica SQ with 105mm and 150mm are most used there.
Pinhole photography is a skill set all by itself and admire you for going through with it in order to show us the results. You've got a lot of atmosphere there and, I suppose, in the days of cameras having every conceivable gadget on them, it's Good to see what the art of photography is really all about. Looking forward to seeing more.
Thanks Neil. There’s nothing to compare with pinhole for simplicity, even a Holga seems advanced in comparison 😊
Always better to meet angry pheasants than angry peasants... ;) I'm glad you cut down on umm... cuts this time. This video is so much more enjoyable - for me at least - than some of the previous ones. And the first image was lovely.
Thank you 😊
Morning Steve, YOU have inspired me to go shoot my pinhole camera today, your work is so inspiring to young and old photographers..peace from NYC
Thanks Carmine, hope the pinhole shoot goes well.
Great video as always. Never knew the reciprocity failure values were so good with TMAX 400. Not that it matters seeing the price will soon be about £15 a roll.
Good point Matt, I have a few rolls from some years back, I also remember selling 50 rolls of it for £100 back in 2012 😮
@@SteveONions I’ve only been using film for about 4 years so it’s always been expensive (for me at least). I’ve chatted with your mate Robin on Instagram a couple of times about “the good ol’ days”. Oh, what I’d buy if I could travel back in time!
Lovely to see the images, in a big fan of pinhole. I can see you like your Zero Image camera. Have you ever tried a Vermeer Pinhole camera. They capture lovely and surprisingly sharp images.
I used to have a Vermeer 6x17 Michael, the curved film plane eliminated any vignetting but I always struggled with compositions, kept chopping the top off things!
@@SteveONions Ihave one of those and a 6x6. I have been lucky with the composition, not too much decapitation! ROFL
Watched this on my 50" tv for a change and the images looked great
The whiskey I'm drinking isn't bad either 🤣📷👌
That sounds like more fun than the trip out Eltin!
Pinholes are the future. 😁
And the past 😀
Thank you sir brillant
Yet again...fantastic images..great video..
Thanks Barrie.
Great video and photos Steve, I pretty much only shoot Pinhole nowadays, always good to see people shooting pinhole and inspiring others.
I must commit to shoot pinhole for an extended period of time Will.
@@SteveONions I feel it is a good practice, forces you to look at things differently to a lens camera.
Look forward to seeing more 😁
Fantastic idea Steve - I may have to try that, looks fun. HNY Phil.
Great post, I love pinhole photography but haven't done any in an age. I use the same phone app all the time and find it's really accurate. At the risk of sounding like a nerd, the nests you refer to are a deformation found in many older trees and are believed to be caused by a fungus. They are commonly known a 'witches broom', and often to be found on a birch tree like that which you photographed.
Thanks for the information, I learn something new on here every day 👍
I love that app and I love the fact you behave like me when I am overcaffeinated :) Great vid Steve.
I’ll be struggling from now on Morris, given up the coffee!
Enjoyed the humour Steve. A timely video for me as I got myself the same pinhole camera for Christmas!! Was given some Foma film and the numbers are clear. Rollei is bold too, as you probably know. Ilford need to pull their socks up don’t they!
One thing to watch with the Foma is the awful reciprocity failure, after a second it goes off a cliff and you’ll need many minutes in dull weather.
Excellent, look forward to more pin-hole shoots from you. Enjoyed the humour :)
Thanks Joe 🙂
Happy New Year Steve! The video was most inspiring! No fancy optic, no optics. Amazed how "sharp" images are.. Many years ago, I helped my kid with a homemade camera, using photo paper, developing in darkroom, making a print from paper negative! Your camera so much better. I. have prepared to shoot my Rolleiflex Automat in coming weeks.. again thank You! all the best.
Thanks Jason and I hope the Rolleiflex delivers the goods (I’m sure it will!).
Steve, thanks heaps - watching your vlog has got me inspired to try pinhole - in doing so I have already found a couple of real enthusiasts within 1-2 kms of my home, so great stuff.
However, we are lucky here, in that we only have to put up with sharks, venomous spiders, poisonous snakes and deadly box jellyfish (and thats just in the back yard). We are very fortunate that we don't have the rabid killer pheasants and mocking ducks that you have there (yet) as that would make a walk in the bush really a bit too dangerous.
Thanks for your consistently excellent vlogs - I always feel good after watching these.
Absolutely Derek, your country may be famed for its venomous creatures but they are nothing compared to angry game birds 😀
Great video as ever Steve, I have never tried pinhole photography, which must be the only sort I haven't tried! I will see how you get on before investing in another camera. I was pretty impressed by your first attempt. Some lovely images to start with! Keep them coming.
Thanks David. Pinhole is quite different to other forms of photography and really needs a different approach - the closer the better.
If I could find them, I've got a stash around here somewhere of more than a dozen little one-shot pinhole cameras made from Altoids and Altoids Gum tins (the mint tins hold about a 6x4.5 piece of 120, the gum ones get about a two-frame strip of 35 mm), pinhole shutter for a 1927 Zeiss Ikon plate camera, an old electron microscope camera body (just a box with a Graflok mount on the back) with a cheap 3-speed shutter and pinhole (obviously, only B gets any use), a pinhole body cap for my M42 SLR bodies -- even a peel-apart Polaroid converted to an auto-exposure pinhole camera for the 3000 speed film I can't buy any more.
The ones I enjoy most, though, are my Custom Camera Builders 6x6 wooden camera (25 mm projection distance) and my Ondu 135 (double frame 35 mm, also about 25 mm, with optional format mask to single frame) -- much easier to use than the one-shot tins, and more "pinhole" character with their very wide view than the various converted "normal" cameras.
For those who like to DIY, it works really well to take a very tatty, badly used folding camera, remove the struts and bed and bellows, and replace the door with a board (light sealed around the edges) and mount the pinhole on that with a shutter like the one on the Zero Image or similar. Gives a nice wide view, an easy to use film advance for 120, easy to light seal and easy to load and unload -- and the cameras can still be had for next to nothing. Very important skill if you're going to make your own pinhole cameras, though: drilling a round, clean pinhole in the 0.2 to 0.7 mm size range. There's a technique to it, easy enough to learn, but most people go about it very wrong at first.
That sounds like a cool collection of cameras. I’m also very fond of the format/focal length you favour as it seems to produce very clear images, not overly soft like many pinholes. I’ve also considered a folding camera as a replacement, especially as I have a few that are not viable to repair.
Mine just arrived in the mail today, excited but can’t help wondering if I should have gone with the cable release. Debating putting sight lines on. But seeing as you have neither I feel ready to take the stripped down model out for a drive!
I like the idea of the cable release too but I’m reality I’ve never had a problem with the manual version. I sometimes cover the pinhole with my finger then move it when starting and ending the exposure.
Great shots! Happy New Year to you, Steve!
Thanks Lars, all the best for 2022 to you too.
Couldn't agree more, pinhole is so much fun. I've made the same promise to myself to shoot more pinhole this year (6x6 & 4x5). How about a book at the end of the year as a goal. Looking forward to seeing what you get.
Thanks Bill. I should set aside a part of the year to shoot pinhole exclusively, it’s the only way to get my eye in.
I really like your willingness to experiment and produce different images. The nests picture really works well. I have played with a home-made version using a body cap & tinfoil on a digital camera, works quite well when you get the exposure sussed. Thanks for the video.
Thanks Keith and have fun with the lenscap 🙂
Pinhole rocks!
😀
Very pleased to see this video and to hear of your plans to shoot more pinhole this year. I think the resulting Pictorialist quality suits your work well. I was wondering if you use Artists Viewfinder with this camera to assist in composition.
Thanks Bob. I don’t use Artists viewfinder with pinhole, the GoPro makes a much better framing tool (I did record a few sections about this for the video but edited them out).
When's the next episode of Wind in the Willows, or is it Watership Down??? Brrrr scary.... Seriously, great and concise video with cracking images.
Thank you 🙂
Nice pictures Steve I would like to see more pinhole content.
Do be careful though, that rustling you hear in the bushes could very well be the killer rabbit!
There’s all sorts of critters lurking in those woods, I never feel alone 🙄
Thanks so much for the true timely vid; just got back from taking some pinhole photos in a ghost town. I took the Vermeer 6x9 and the Zero Image 6x9 set for 6x6 using Delta 100... I appreciate the Tmax 400 info regarding the reciprocity characteristics.. Had a photo indoors required 52 minutes on D100... I will plan to try the Tmax next time.. Thanks! Regarding pinholes I believe Zero Image provides the clearest image of all I have ever used; also a couple of Lenless 4x5's are very nice and cost effective but if given the choice now..I would go with the zero image 3 section 4x5 a 75mm set up for larger format. Thanks again Steve.
I’ve also found the Zero image the best (sharpest) out there and had that 6x9 model some years back. Tmax 400 would be my choice for indoors work every time but Ilford films are fine for normal outdoor work in decent light.
Like you I struggle with numbering on 120 film, always have. I also have had good results from TMax 400 over the last 30 or so years. Ilford is always my default film yet TMax provides something good. I recall an article in Amateur Photographer written by Geoffrey Crawley who worked for Ilford, he said Ilford and Kodak had different approaches to B&W film.
I used to use TMY-2 as my go to film for a number of years Richard, extremely sharp and fine grained. In 35mm it was close to FP4+ for detail and I was always surprised that Dev times in Xtol were the same for EI 400 and 800.
Nice subjects, thanks. Reminded me that I just got a lensbaby Obscura (pin hole lens, well not really a lens), and I can't wait to try it out (on my S1R).
Have fun Steve, Lensbaby make some excellent products.
Enjoyed your video as I always do. I don't own a pinhole but I always learn something from you. As to the numbers on the film backing, I've noticed the same thing. I have a Ciroflex TLR, a 1940's American made camera that I just had refurbished. Kodak Tri-X was easy to read, Arista was OK, but the most difficult was Ilford HP5+. Had to use a flashlight (i.e., torch) to see the numbers. Keep up the great work.
Ilford are the worst in this respect Edward and I sometimes use my camera phone to magnify it sufficiently.
@@SteveONions Great idea. I didn't think about that.
Enjoyed the video as always. Never had much interest in pinhole photography. I did make one from an Oatmeal circular box that I used 4x5 in it. Was fun to learn about photography with it but it never spoke to me as a useful tool. You seem to enjoy it a bunch
It’s definitely an acquired taste Erich and I’m way out of practice, to be honest I’d need to shoot it exclusively for a few weeks to get my eye in.
I agree with the crummy Ilford numbering on the backing paper, just not good. Lots of room for improvement Ilford!
If only the markings were a bit bolder, it’s like a light grey and the numbers are too small.
I think I might go for a cold, unfeeling, digital pinhole lens. It's winter. It's complimentary.
😊
Love my zero pinhole and holga you definitely need to keep your eye the results are so random I thinks that’s the fun of it
Happy accidents Adam 😊
Skink Pinhole offers real pinhole lenses with differernt mounts. Great start for pinhole photography.
Thanks for the info 👍
Steve your videos are my favorite in the UA-cam scene, maybe next to Mat Marrash. Also I bought a Bronica SA-Q cause of you-and pronounce it just the same (as an American LOL)
Excellent, I hope you enjoy using the Bronica 👍
Almost stepped on a heron at 5am in the morning. The ultimate wake up call, for both of us.
Ouch 😮
Another informative and entertaining video. I just purchased a Konica AR body cap with a brass insert that has a laser cut pinhole. I supposedly has an f stop of 167 on 35mm bodies. I used an adapter for a Lumix G9 micro four thirds camera and did some test shots. While it does make recognizable images, they are far less sharp than yours or others that you showed. I wonder if this is the effect of the 2X crop factor of the MFT sensor or digital rendering. I used a self timer and put the camera on the ground or on a railing.
On another note, I was planning to put a roll of HP5+ in one of my Konica cameras and shoot this "lens" but now I will switch to Tmax 400. Many thanks for that tip!
I think M43 with your lens would be tricky Maggie, I’ve tried digital pinhole once on full frame and it was OK but the bigger film formats definitely work better.
Hello Steve- it’s a great video (as yours invariably are). As an introduction, I’m an experienced advanced amateur photographer primarily in the digital realm for the last decade or so, who is getting (back) into film photography, and am fascinated by pinhole photography, and the approach taken by you and several other (it seems, primarily UK based) photographers here on YT. I have recently purchased an Ilford- Harman Titan 4 x 5 pinhole, and will start my foray into film large format pinhole photography soon. So I don’t think this question is relevant to this particular video, but I’m curious if you have any experience with using a rangefinder as a pinhole camera? Obviously the rangefinder mechanism is irrelevant when the camera is lensless, but I own a Leica M9 Monochrom which I want to put to use for digital monochromatic pinhole photography, mostly to achieve a certain indescribable “aesthetic” which I see in pinhole landscape photography (and the convenience of digital, of course). Wondering what your thoughts, if any, on this subject are, since there really isn’t anything I’ve been able to find looking around on the internet. Thanks, and cheers.
I’ve only tried using a rangefinder and SLR once for pinhole work using a body cap with high quality pinhole attached. It worked OK, the bigger formats were better like 6x6 on the Hasselblad.
I think you will find 4x5 a lot more useful with all that resolution, the smoothness of the transition of the scenes in B&W is very noticeable.
@@SteveONions thanks. I used a DSLR and my rangefinder after posting my previous comment/ question and found that it doesn’t make a difference since the focusing/ image forming mechanism is irrelevant when the camera is lensless. I had some disturbing blur with the first iteration and realized after watching some other videos that my pinhole was “too large”. I think the diameter of the pinhole is much more crucial in 35 mm due to the much smaller image size of the 35 mm format. I suspect this is the advantage of LF pinhole- there is a lot more leeway possible in the pinhole sizes. I’m going to start experimenting with 4 x 5 soon but wanted to cut my teeth on digital first given the “instant gratification” that it provides, for better or worse, due to my not having worked with film for over a decade.
Gotta watch out for the neanderpheasants!!! Brutes, they are!!! :P Got an Ilford Obscura 4x5 I should try out. Have to watch out for dropbears, though. They're worse than neanderpheasants!!!
Vicious wildlife everywhere!
Outstanding vid Steve was on edge of my deck chair awaitin the bird attack you had a lucky escape mate 👀 never tried pinhole but seen a few episodes on the subject really starting to fancy having a go. Thanks for your time inspiration and bravery. Stay safe 😂
Thanks Paul. Pinhole is well worth a go, just make sure you have plenty of time!
@@SteveONions always time for a camera mate
Fancy modern mirrorless cameras are good for pinholes - with no mirror (letting you get the hole closer to the sensor) you can get a nice wide angle, and there's no reciprocity failure to worry about on digital. It's a different medium of course, but with a pinhole you lose a lot of the digital sharpness
Fair point Max 👍
Thanks a lot for this entertaining video! Indeed the film backs of Ilford are no good for pinhole cameras. Foma is better and perhaps I will give T-Max a try, also considering the Schwarzschild effect, which kicks in very early on on other films... So thanks again for some practical advise I can use!
Glad it helped. Tmax and Acros are the best when exposure times lean towards the minutes but for shorter times I do like Ilford.
Reminds me of the great Gary Larsen cartoon .Quackophobia the fear that somehow somewhere your being watched by a duck 😂
It’s usually sheep with me Dean, I often find one lurking nearby.
Fomapan has very clear numbers on the backing paper, but the 200, and 400 films have serious reciprocal law failure.
The reciprocity is shocking Edward, I did a video a few years ago and Fomapan 400 struggled in dull light, far worse than even a 100 speed Ilford material.
Dang it Steve now I want a pinhole camera.
Good!
Those bird nests are actually caused by a parasitic fungus called witches broom. It causes the tree to kick out loads of extra shoots, like a birds nest, which the fungus then feeds on.
Thanks for the information, I learn something new with every outing 👍
The first shot I believe is mistletoe not nests.
I believe you are right 🙂
Be careful Steve - a bloke standing around in the woods muttering - could be misinterpreted...
I was impressed by the amount of detail captured at 5.07. I know its a 6x6 cm negative, but even so... Is that where the quality of the pinhole has an effect?
Thanks David. I usually pick quiet locations precisely because nobody will be startled by me standing there talking to camera. The Zero image range have always been noted for their high quality pinholes, much less fuzzy than most.
How dangerous are the pheasants in England?🙄
Lethal! 😀
@@SteveONions 🥺
(probably shouldn't mention I currently live in Australia....)
Roving gangs of pheasants ensure I'm home by sundown.
😊
I like the angel of uncertainty - as Sally Mann calls it . Her collodion images aren’t exactly sharp.
when random things happen you cant control
I would even use slow film with the pinhole and see what amazing randomness happens over hours.
Very true, nothing better than a nice surprise as it comes out of the developer.
I think those are not 'nests' but mistletoe, a parasite
They are indeed 😊
😂😊
😊
Aren't those pinholes fabulous
Indeed they are Christine 😊
I hate those unpleasant pheasants.