Pixiq

One of my to-do projects for WPPD - 2012 is to build a working 120-pinhole camera from a large kitchen matchbox.

Although I have built smaller 35mm pinhole cameras from regular matchboxes, I have never built one with this size matchbox before. So, it will be a work in progress. The only thing I know at this point is that that a large size matchbox has the same height dimension as a roll of 120 film. 120 film which does not have a cassette, will require a more robust system to make it function in this setup. Now all I need to do is make a chamber that will be light tight, add the pinhole, a shutter and create a way to advance the film to a new frame!

Here are some of the basic materials I intend to use. I'm sure it will require some improvisation, a bit of luck and plenty of ingenuity to make it work so I may end up using other things that I find around the house. I may also discard the use of some of this stuff. We'll have to see where it goes.

Materials:

Glue stick and/or glue

Thin cardboard

Utility knife

Empty aluminum beverage can

Empty 120 film spool

Black plastic or photographic tape

Needle from a sewing kit or sewing needle

Black construction paper

Roll of 120 film

Scissors

Ruler

Paper clip

Book Board or Foamcore

Piece of black felt

Pencil

Self adhesive Velcro Strips

Fine point craft knife

At the end of the construction, I will post the results with detailed instructions on how to make one yourself.

This should be fun!

In preparation, I have created a Flickr Group called 120 Matchbox Pinhole Camera where any Flickr user can contribute their results of building this or a similar 120-matchbox camera and images any images created with it. At the moment, it is empty. But very soon I hope it will be full of all our images and camera results. I would encourage some innovative customization and tweaking to make your design a bit more personal. The whole idea is to have fun and take photographs with a camera that you build yourself.

Watch my posts for the results!

Have FUN!