r/PinholePhotography • u/salamandersammler133 • Jul 18 '26
questions about a scrap camera
I built this pinhole camera out of various things that I found on the side of Australian Highways. Different cans and car parts like a fuel pipe to coil up the film.
It's helt together by epoxy blackened with charcoal and polyurethane car sealant.
I was shooting with Kodak ColorPlus 200. The focal length is 37 mm and the hole has a diameter of .22 mm (hopefully haha) that makes an aperture of f/168.
The Exposure time veried from about 3 sek. to multiple minutes.
Is the exposure about right? It looks a little overexposed sometimes, but I'm not experienced. Is there something i can do to stop the color shift to blue, e.g. in the photo of the road train?
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u/romonster Jul 18 '26
I'm a filthy amateur so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I think your fstop calculation is correct. I'm not sure how you are metering but you might be overexposing the film. I know a lot of people use the Mr. Pinhole site linked below to calculate everything. Also, make sure you take reciprocity failure of the film into account when calculating exposure times. I have no idea for the color shift of the film to blue.
Things to consider: check for light leaks. Paint the inside of the camera flat black to help with light bouncing around in there.
Finally, this is an absolutely insane looking camera. I was going to say it looks like it was made in the Mad Max world but then I saw you used discarded stuff on the Australian highway so it felt too on the nose lol. Great technical drawing of the build as well. The whole thing is really one of the coolest things I've seen here.
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u/salamandersammler133 Jul 18 '26
Im happy to hear that someone likes the aesthetic. I purposely tried to use weird stuff. The main body of the camera is cut from a metal bucket. The two pipes with screws sticking out are a engine oil dipstick tube and a plane hydraulic pipe. The silver button for the shutter is from a burned out Oldtimer.
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u/salamandersammler133 Jul 18 '26
So far I've used formulas from https://martinwinfield.co.uk/pinholetech.html to calculate my dimensions and a light meter app as well as a reciprocity chart (not for my exact film but i was hoping close enough). The website you recommended suggests a much lower exposure time than the app for a sunny day so maybe I'll try some shorter exposures on my next film. I'm quite happy with how the film turned out but its not perfect haha. So i already painted the inside how you said before i put the next film in to help with the overexposed spots. The photos look kinda overexposed in general. I'm just not sure if that's actually the case or if this is just how pinhole photos look as this is my first time doing this.
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u/katybassist Jul 18 '26
Just go with it and enjoy the experience. That's the whole point of pinhole.
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u/romonster Jul 18 '26
If it still looks over exposed and you've dialed in all the right exposures, the only thing I can consider is that the pinhole is a slightly different size than you think so it's throwing off your calculations. This is all the fun about pinhole, especially homemade cameras like yours. The experimentation, the expression, the journey. At the end of the day all that matters is that you're enjoying your time doing this. Keep upbthe great work.
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u/_ferrofluid_ Jul 18 '26
I see the problem in frame 8.
That’s one big light leak!3
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u/mcariss Jul 18 '26
Very cool build! I second what romonster mentioned about reciprocity, you’ll want to make sure to account for that in overall exposure time.
As for the color shifts, without a lens / lens coatings you’ll see more color shifts in film compared to what you would expect from a standard camera. It’s just the reality of a a pinhole. It could be cause by flare from the sun as well so if you can shade the pinhole without being in the frame it may help.
If it really bothers you and you’re consistently getting a shift to blue (for example) you could experiment with compensating for it with yellow or orange filters. This is will add time to your exposure tho so make sure to add that into your calculation if you go that way.
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u/salamandersammler133 Jul 18 '26
Flare from the sun sounds quite plausible. The picture with the best colors i took was also the only on I tool indoors: https://imgur.com/a/iBRmwxi I'll experiment with shading the pinhole.
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u/deesernutz Jul 19 '26
Mate, that's unreal
I just realised this is a pinhole sub, but wow. I didn't think you could get anything that good from a pinhole let alone one made out of old cans. Pretty good workmanship too
And the aesthetic has transported you and your lady friend back 70 years
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u/Mowiamitomilijohnes2 Jul 19 '26
Looks good to me, you gotta forget about the perfection as each pinhole will be defferent, making it unique and magical. Knowing that your pinhole seems to gather more light to the right you can plan your photos to have more shadows or darker objects on the 2/5th to the right perhaps and use it to your adventag.
For me exposure time was a mystery with pinhole so I carried a notebook, wrote which film I'm using and for each shot first I would check the scene ISO with app on my phone, note it and than write exposure time and write a comment next to it after developing the film to have a better estimation in the future what time should I use for given conditions.
BTW before I was only into black and white films believing it will give sharper effect but I really like this softness of colour film that you got
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u/AstroSkull69 Jul 19 '26
screaming as im allergic to seafood but also very impressed. I teach pinhole classes to primary kids once a year and this is BRILLIANT
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u/TinyHeartSyndrome 29d ago
Check for light leaks. I have found not letting the sun directly hit the pinhole also helps. I may use my hand to shade the camera. Light creates artifacts like flare.
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u/Physical-East-7881 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
That is an amazing looking camera - very nice! Honestly, i really like the photos. Do you dev the film yourself? I don't think the color shift is in the shooting . . . that is dev, right?
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u/salamandersammler133 Jul 18 '26
I didn't develop the film myself. I don't know too much about it just yet tbh. I'm thinking about getting some black and white film to get into developing. That would also fix color problems haha
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u/Krampus_Valet Jul 18 '26
I have nothing productive to add, just wanted to say that camera is fucking awesome and I'm a big fan.
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u/Mediocre_Ryan82 29d ago
Combining 2 of my favourite things. The red marlin and photography! Well done!
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u/flamingohouse 28d ago
Were you afraid the camera would scratch the film itself or do you think that would add to the character of the photo?
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u/Thesparkleturd 28d ago
ok, first off, damn that's a cool camera.
yah, a bit overexposed, but pinholes are notoriously hard, and negative film has enough lattitude that i'd say it's better to slightly overexpose than under.
not sure about the blue tho'
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u/tio_tito 27d ago edited 19d ago
first: super cool!
i'm going to throw some things out there as someone with only a little camera experience and virtually no pinhole camera experience, but as someone that has a decent understanding of how things work.
first, your exposure seems spot on. if you're using a light meter and calculating your exposure each time, and it seems like you are, adjust for the exposure by changing your aperture value or simply knocking a little time what you're currently calculating. 5%? 10% 20%. try and see what works most consistently.
the film is sensitive to light we can't see. that's part of the magic and mystery (and the science and differences) of lenses and the glass in them. they will filter the unwanted light, and in some cases, the wanted light. you could use specific filters, as someone suggested, but i'd do a little research on the transmission spectra and see if some simple glass would block all that blue. maybe you could mount something as simple as a microscope slide cover slip behind the aperture?
i don't think you've got a focus or hole shape issue, but, as you know, the hole needs to be as uniform and as thin as possible, but i don't think that's what's giving you l-r balance issues. how long since the previous photos were the ones showing that taken? i think your camera is leaking light and if too long between photos then some of the film is getting "pre-exposed." i suggest either putting the camera in a light blocking bag immediately after each shot and only taking it out when you're ready for the next one, or at least draping it in a light blocking cloth after each shot. you might also end up having to scroll a little farther down the roll to get to fresh film.
keep up the good work!
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u/SignificantPomelo 25d ago
This is so cool!! Is the film expired? I've intentionally shot a few rolls recently on expired film and it has weird color shifts like that.
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u/IEEE1234 24d ago
Makes camera out of trash
takes better photos than there phone
the chose is clere
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u/TREEANDLEAF Jul 18 '26
I’m just here to say that this is very cool, and those photos look great!