November - Pinhole and Zone Plate Side Challenge

10/19/2008 09:11:25 PM · #1

You are all invited to participate in a pinhole and zone plate photography Side Challenge for the month of November.

1. The only requirement is that the posted photos for the month be achieved using either a pinhole or zone plate "lens". More info on pinhole and zone plate follows at the end of this post.

2. I like to think of Side Challenges as simply an excuse to focus on a particular aspect of photography for a concentrated period of time. So I don't see any reason to set limits on how often you should post or how much. If you can only do one a week, fine. If you want to post every day, knock yourself out. Post images pre-November that you haven't got around to processing yet? Go for it. It's up to you.

3. While I'll maintain a list of participants prior to the challenge's start, everyone of course is welcome at any time during the month to join in.

I'll begin an image posting thread for this side challenge on November 1st.

Who would care to join me?

---------------------------
some links in case anyone wants to read up:

some zone plate explanation
s'more zone plate explanation
calculate your own zone plate!
even more zone plate explanation
zone plate Flickr group
Chris Ellinger's lovely zone plate photos
Pinhole Resource - a place to learn about and purchase both pinhole and zone plate
pinhole goodness
more pinhole goodness
even more pinhole goodness
pinhole Flickr group

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Participants:

jaysonmc

pointandshoot

freakin_hilarious

ShutterPug

skewsme

MelonMusketeer

Wildcard

Mephisto

Germaine

Ecce Signum

BlueZamia

RKT

Message edited by author 2008-11-03 13:58:39.

10/19/2008 09:22:16 PM · #2

I am in. Not sure what I will shoot, but I will give it a shot.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

10/19/2008 09:29:56 PM · #3

Great! I've put you on the list.

jaysonmc

Nikon D200

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

10/19/2008 09:46:40 PM · #4

I need something interesting to do. Put me down.

pointandshoot

Canon EOS-10D

10/19/2008 09:56:07 PM · #5

Sounds like fun, Karen. I'll probably do about one a week...

freakin_hilarious

Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

10/19/2008 10:09:40 PM · #6

Pffft. Who needs glass? I'm in!

ShutterPug

Canon EOS-6D

10/19/2008 11:17:12 PM · #7

I'm game too

Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L II USM Lens

10/19/2008 11:19:16 PM · #8

Shaping up to have some nice participation for this challenge, I'm very pleased!

skewsme

Canon EOS-6D

10/19/2008 11:27:28 PM · #9

i'm in, i'm in! but i don't know what the farq i'm doing!

10/19/2008 11:29:00 PM · #10

Originally posted by skewsme:

i'm in, i'm in! but i don't know what the farq i'm doing!

The cool thing about pinhole shooting is that you should forget what you know about regular shooting and just try something new.

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

10/19/2008 11:49:49 PM · #11

I think that it would be fun to make my own zone plate. Is there a link about making a zone plate somewhere? It looks techy, but I think that I may be able to do it by copying a larger negative version (target sized) to 35mm film, and using the negative for the zone plate.
Another option would be for me to make one using my lathe and an old UV filter, by etching the concentric rings, then paint it with black lacquer, then remove the paint from the untouched glass when it is almost dry.
I have read some about the pinholes, but this is the first I have heard about zone plates.
ETA, After reading through the 3rd link posted above, I see that there is more to making a zone plate than would be easily done mechanically.
I don't think that I will have time to do the S C anyway.
I will enjoy seeing everyone's results and will comment some though.

Message edited by author 2008-10-20 00:02:46.

Tamron AF 55-200mm F4-5.6 LD Di-II for Canon

10/19/2008 11:54:33 PM · #12

Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:

that "calculate zone plate" link at the bottom of the first post should get you to where you can make your own zone plate.

freakin_hilarious might give you some tips, if you ask him. :)

oh, and I put you down as a participant, hope that wasn't presumptuous...

Message edited by author 2008-10-19 23:55:58.

Wildcard

Canon EOS-20D

10/20/2008 04:50:00 AM · #13

Yes please! I'm still having joygasms over my zone plate.

Canon EOS-80D

10/20/2008 05:35:55 AM · #14

If I cheat and order a zone plate and it gets here in time, I shall be in. If I can't get one in time, can I make a pinhole with one of my lens base cap thingies?

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

10/20/2008 08:51:18 AM · #15

Originally posted by Melethia:

If I cheat and order a zone plate and it gets here in time, I shall be in. If I can't get one in time, can I make a pinhole with one of my lens base cap thingies?

Sure you can!

Here's some instructions for making your own pinhole lenscap:

flickr how to (see comment for more info)
digitalphotographyblogs.com

Also, remember you can jump in at any time during the month, so if you don't have your equipment ready by November 1, no worries.

Message edited by author 2008-10-20 08:52:23.

Mephisto

Nikon Coolpix A

10/20/2008 09:17:50 AM · #16

i don't really know how to properly make one of these thingies but in case i suceed till the end of this month i'd like to give it a shot! ;)

eta: hahaha i'm so fucked up i justed poked a hole in some piece of paper and taped it infront of my camera just to see how this is gonna work.
of course i didn't see shit on the pic...:-D
guess i need to read some of the tut's before i do take2 on this...

Message edited by author 2008-10-20 09:36:29.

Canon EF 24-70mm f / 4L IS USM Lens

10/20/2008 10:27:11 AM · #17

Originally posted by Mephisto:

I think you would be a natural for this challenge. Once upon a time I thought this was a pinhole shot -

Germaine

Canon EOS-7D Mark II

10/20/2008 10:59:00 AM · #18

Yeah. I'll play even if I use tinfoil, Scotch Tape, and a beading needle to make my "lens".

Mephisto

Nikon Coolpix A

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

10/20/2008 11:49:37 AM · #19

haha thx. i found a jar cab that could work , it has almost the same diameter than my camera mount. what i'm trying to figure out is what's the distance between the sensor and the lens mount to calculate the size of the pinhole...

Ecce_Signum

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

10/20/2008 12:36:32 PM · #20

Pity I dropped my Zero 6x9 (no longer light tight) but sign me up please and I'll dig out my modified lens cap :)

Canon EOS-80D

10/20/2008 01:14:59 PM · #21

OK, now to find someone with a drill.... I think my neighbor has one. I used to do math... but I'm guessing the best way to find the center of the body cap is lines that cross in the middle? And now to figure where to get a little piece of flat metal. Surely I have something I can disassemble.... :-)

10/20/2008 01:50:53 PM · #22

just heat up a needle. A hot needle will push through a lens cap/body cover with ease. + you can get a very tiny hole.

Canon EOS-80D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

10/20/2008 02:12:32 PM · #23

Hmmm.... I can try that first, I guess, and if it doesn't work, try the other method. Good plan! Thanks!

freakin_hilarious

Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i

10/20/2008 02:27:40 PM · #24

Here's how I made my zone plate:

First, I measured the distance from the sensor plane to the outside of my body cap (50mm). Second, I went to this site, plugged in 50mm for the focal length and saved the file it created for me. Third, I started a thread in which

GeneralE volunteered to print the zone plate for me at super high res (I think it was about 1200dpi). You the man, Paul! When I got the zone plate in the mail, I drilled a hole in the body cap (about 1/4" in diameter) somewhere vaguely close to the center. I then taped the zone plate film over the hole and started shooting!

As a side note, I'm not super impressed with the zone plate so far. Rather than getting a nice soft image, it is giving me some multiple image/ghosting kind of thing. The film itself looks just like the image that web site created for me, so it doesn't appear to be a printing issue (you still the man, Paul!). I'm guessing the image generated for the web site is lacking a bit. I did choose the non anti-aliased version, so I may try again with the anti-aliasing turned on to see what I get. Overall, it's fun and free to do it myself (with help, obviously), but I imagine a purchased zone plate would give superior results.

My one zone plate image that's online at the moment:

Karen: have you tried the one I mailed you, and if so, what are your thoughts?

How I made my pinhole:

Since I already had a body cap with a big ol' hole in it, I taped a piece of black cardstock over the hole and poked a tiny hole in the center with a sewing needle. I didn't do any calculations on this one and it works great!

I'll post some pics of the setup sometime soon for those interested.