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Digital pinhole is a technique that utilizes a DSLR or a digital camera with a removable lens. In order to take a picture, you need to replace the lens with a pinhole of some kind. Basically, a digital camera is a light tight box. If you place a pinhole on the front you now have one of the most ancient and simplest devices for creating a photograph, a pinhole camera. Instead of using film, we can use most of the functions provided by a digital camera to play with the light that travels through the pinhole.

Anyone can simply purchase a readymade pinhole body cap or a weird attachment from that soft focus company. It is very easy and extremely more satisfying to make your own.

All you need is a piece of very thin aluminum cut from the side of a soda pop can, a piece of thin stiff cardboard (cut from a cereal box), a needle (the pin), some black electrical tape and some scissors. All of this can be found in most kitchen drawers or cupboards.

In the time it takes to order a $35.00 pinhole thingy from a mega pinhole store or off of eBay, you could be enjoying the thrill of capturing amazing images with your I-made-it-by-myself-pinhole-mount.

The hardest part is making the hole or rather the aperture. While there is a formula for making the ultimate pinhole, there is a great sense of ownership and pride in discovering that pinhole photography can be done within very loose tolerances.

To produce a pinhole:

Step 1 - Carefully press the pin into the center of a 1" x "1 piece of the aluminum. The pinhole should not be much larger than a tiny point, a small dot or a period. I usually twist the pin back and forth to make the hole as round as possible. If you want to do it properly, there are a few things that will make the pinhole produce better results such as sanding or rubbing the opposite side to remove the burrs created by the pin. I usually perform this with the edge of the scissors or the rounded end of a spoon handle while being careful to not increase the diameter of the pinhole. You might want to use a black marker on the side facing the camera to blacken the area around the pinhole. i usually blacken both sides making sure that the ink does not fill the pinhole.

In this image, I am using a brass shim rather than a piece of aluminum.

Step 2 - Cut a piece of stiff cardboard a bit larger than the lens opening on the camera. You might want to draw a circle using a small glass or a small yogurt container as a guide.

Step 3 - Cut a small ½ or 3/4 inch opening in the center of the cardboard.  This will be the opening for mounting the pinhole to the cardboard.

Step 4 - Once the pinhole is created, carefully tape the piece of aluminum with the pinhole to the backside of the cardboard cutout, centering it over the opening you cut in the middle. Make sure that there is enough aluminum to overlap the opening.

 Step 5 – SEE TOP IMAGE - Carefully center your pinhole over the lens mount of the camera. Note: Make sure that you do not use tape directly on the connection points along the lens flange, touch the inside of the opening or touch the mirror. These are very sensitive parts that can easily be ruined by oily fingers, tape residue or scratching.

Step 6 - Carefully tape the unit to the front of the camera making sure there are no light leaks. The pinhole should be taped to the back side of the cardboard. The backside should face the camera. Do not cover the pinhole with tape..

You now have a workable pinhole camera that costs nothing and should produce some interesting images once you have found a worthy subject and calculated the correct exposure.

When using your pinhole, set either aperture priority or manual settings. This is because your aperture is the pinhole, which is a fixed size. Therefore, the shutter is the only control you will use to alter the exposure.

For now, don't worry about using a pinhole calculator and simply use the Aperture priority setting on your camera which will set the shutter to an appropriate exposure time. You will get sharper images when the camera is steadied by a tripod. 

Due to their small size, pinhole apertures are considered slow because they let very little light into the camera. Therefore the exposures are much longer than when using a glass lens, thus making the view through the viewfinder very dark even in bright light.

The beauty of using a digital camera is that you don’t need to cover the pinhole. Nothing happens until you press the shutter. 

When you are done using the pinhole, carefully remove the tape so as to not damage the contacts or the lens mounting flange.

I have deliberately made this as simple as possible so that you can see that a simple hole can be used to create an image. I will write another post in a few days that will  give you some pointers on how to make a more permanent pinhole system for your DSLR.

Experimentation will allow you to play with the shutter speeds for exposure. However, there are great pinhole exposure calculators available on line. One of the easiest to use is PinholeCalc from Concept House. Most calculators were designed for film but all you need to do is set the ISO speed to match the ASA numbers indicated on the calculator.

Tomorrow, I will post another article about how to use the pinhole calculator and discuss how to make and measure more precise apertures.

Find out more about pinhole photography here.

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