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02/20/2009 10:44:04 PM · #1 |
Any resources or tips for creating a digital pinhole cap or similar attachments? I'm looking to use it on my Olympus E-520. tph1 pointed me to an online merchant that sells caps, but I suspect some folks here are "drilling their own" and I'd be interested to hear about that. Thanks.
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02/20/2009 10:56:54 PM · #2 |
Pinhole resource would send you "...a .259mm pinhole, approx. focal length of 50mm (unless otherwise specified), approx. f/185" drilled in the center of an Olympus body cap.
I tried myself and drilled too large a hole. Then I put a piece of electrical tape over the hole and made a hole with a pin... Works pretty well. Worth a try if you have a body cap lying around.
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02/20/2009 11:38:53 PM · #3 |
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02/22/2009 10:20:24 PM · #4 |
That did help. Thanks! I tried it today.
I drilled a hole in my body cap, took a square inch piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (Reynolds Wrap, I think), and pricked the foil over a clean buthcer block surface. I spun the foil around a few times, keeping the needle in place and eyeballed the hole to confirm it was round and clear. Then I used electrical tape to tape it over the body cap and hole.
It was nighttime by the I got it all put together, but a few 10 second exposures of our (relatively) bright dining room chandelier confirmed that I did something right. The images are actually fairly sharp.
I'll post some shots soon. I want to take it out in the bright daylight this week... |
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02/22/2009 10:39:10 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by bvy: That did help. Thanks! I tried it today.
I drilled a hole in my body cap, took a square inch piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (Reynolds Wrap, I think), and pricked the foil over a clean buthcer block surface. I spun the foil around a few times, keeping the needle in place and eyeballed the hole to confirm it was round and clear. Then I used electrical tape to tape it over the body cap and hole.
It was nighttime by the I got it all put together, but a few 10 second exposures of our (relatively) bright dining room chandelier confirmed that I did something right. The images are actually fairly sharp.
I'll post some shots soon. I want to take it out in the bright daylight this week... |
Why didn't you just get a very small sewing needle, heat it up and run it through the cap?
Sanding away the side you can through with sand paper.
Saving a ton of steps.
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02/22/2009 10:49:53 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse: Originally posted by bvy: That did help. Thanks! I tried it today.
I drilled a hole in my body cap, took a square inch piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (Reynolds Wrap, I think), and pricked the foil over a clean buthcer block surface. I spun the foil around a few times, keeping the needle in place and eyeballed the hole to confirm it was round and clear. Then I used electrical tape to tape it over the body cap and hole.
It was nighttime by the I got it all put together, but a few 10 second exposures of our (relatively) bright dining room chandelier confirmed that I did something right. The images are actually fairly sharp.
I'll post some shots soon. I want to take it out in the bright daylight this week... |
Why didn't you just get a very small sewing needle, heat it up and run it through the cap?
Sanding away the side you can through with sand paper.
Saving a ton of steps. |
That would work, but the sharpness of the images produced by the pinhole is dependent, in part, on the sharpness of the edge of the hole. |
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02/23/2009 07:28:23 AM · #7 |
Thank you both. I was under the impression, also, that the pinhole surface had to be pretty thin. The body cap looks like it could withstand a bullet. Well, maybe not, but it is pretty thick. And if it what Spazmo says is true, then it seems like you'd get a sharper edged hole from a thinner surface.
Also, this gives me the opportunity to try different surfaces and different sized holes. |
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02/23/2009 09:34:37 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by bvy: Thank you both. I was under the impression, also, that the pinhole surface had to be pretty thin. The body cap looks like it could withstand a bullet. Well, maybe not, but it is pretty thick. And if it what Spazmo says is true, then it seems like you'd get a sharper edged hole from a thinner surface.
Also, this gives me the opportunity to try different surfaces and different sized holes. |
You are correct, the surface should be as thin as possible. The holes we're talking about here are about 0.3mm (0.012") in diameter, and in order to have a "sharp" edge that light from various angles can traverse without interference, the material needs to be much thinner than the hole diameter. Material thicker than a couple thousandths of an inch will degrade performance. Aluminum foil is perfect; it's thin and relatively soft so a smooth round hole is pretty easy to make. It's also cheap and abundant! |
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02/23/2009 10:18:11 AM · #9 |
I tried making my own pinhole for the Pinhole side challenge. I followed somebody's instructions on the web and used a piece of aluminium from a soft drink can. (You can cut it with kitchen scissors.) I used a beading needle to make the hole. (Beading needles are the finest needles you can easily get.) I drilled a hole in the center of a body cap and taped the piece of aluminium to the back of the body cap. It worked, but was a little too big to give really good results. I wound up buying a "pinhole".
I saw some "pinhole sets" on e-bay. They give you pinholes of varying diameters. They might be worth experimenting with.
Keep us posted on your experiences in pinhole making. 8) |
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02/23/2009 10:38:41 AM · #10 |
The pin hole cap that I made, I first find the center of the body cap and then drilled a 3/16 hole in the body cap took some aluminum tape (used for taping up heater duct joints) placed the tape on the inside of the cap. Took the smallest sawing needle I could find and poke the hole in the middle of the duct tape, from the inside out. Hope this helps! |
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02/25/2009 06:50:15 PM · #11 |
Okay, I did it! Not sure what I did or how well I did it, but here it is anyway.
My pinhole is heavy duty tin foil taped over the body cap.
Some questions. No one does pinhole for sharp images, but I think these could still be sharper. How do I get sharpness? Cleaner hole? Smaller hole?
What are the best needles to use for making a pinhole? Will I get better results using pop can aluminum? A pie tin? Brass shim?
How do I calculate the f-stop? What about the effective focal length? Seems to be about 100mm.
How can I adjust the effective focal length?
Thanks! |
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02/25/2009 07:10:53 PM · #12 |
The Feb 09 issue of Digital Camera World (a UK mag, but can be found here in the US) has an article on pinholes with DSLRs. They basically took a body cap, drilled a hole,and taped in a piece of foil with a "pinhole" in it.
Might be a fun adventure for a while... |
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02/25/2009 08:01:44 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by bvy: Okay, I did it! Not sure what I did or how well I did it, but here it is anyway.
My pinhole is heavy duty tin foil taped over the body cap.
Some questions. No one does pinhole for sharp images, but I think these could still be sharper. How do I get sharpness? Cleaner hole? Smaller hole?
What are the best needles to use for making a pinhole? Will I get better results using pop can aluminum? A pie tin? Brass shim?
How do I calculate the f-stop? What about the effective focal length? Seems to be about 100mm.
How can I adjust the effective focal length?
Thanks! |
Check this link. I used this years and years ago for building a 120 pinhole |
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