How to...... Pinhole photography

jovedaddy · 23rd April 2002

hallo all,
got a 4x5 pinhole cam from B&H photo. going to try shooting something really soon.... but not sure how to calculate exposure.
hopefully no need to trial and error as it will be a very slow and painful process

anyone got any pointers?
thanks in advance.

ckiang · 23rd April 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by jovedaddy
hallo all,
got a 4x5 pinhole cam from B&H photo. going to try shooting something really soon.... but not sure how to calculate exposure.
hopefully no need to trial and error as it will be a very slow and painful process
anyone got any pointers?
thanks in advance.

I am not too sure but from what I read, pinhole cameras do have a rated f-stop. So, you can calculate exposure based on the film you used, the rated f-stop, and a reading you get from a handheld meter or another camera's meter.

Regards
CK

jovedaddy · 24th April 2002

the cam did not come with any instructions... hence don't know it's f-stop. how

excentrique · 24th April 2002

I think you have to conduct to see for yourself. Use a light meter to test out the lighting condition and the exposure time. This is laborious but no better choice. The exposure time is related to the diameter of the pinhole and focal length. You can find out more about pinhole in some websites. I used to have a book which teaches you how to calculate but borrowed it to a friend for long ages. Have yet to get it back.

excentrique · 24th April 2002

here is a sample of my pic taken with a homemade pinhole.

23rd April 2002	#1
jovedaddy Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sengkang Posts: 391	How to...... Pinhole photography hallo all, got a 4x5 pinhole cam from B&H photo. going to try shooting something really soon.... but not sure how to calculate exposure. hopefully no need to trial and error as it will be a very slow and painful process anyone got any pointers? thanks in advance.

24th April 2002	#3
jovedaddy Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sengkang Posts: 391	the cam did not come with any instructions... hence don't know it's f-stop. how

24th April 2002	#4
excentrique Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: east Posts: 339	I think you have to conduct to see for yourself. Use a light meter to test out the lighting condition and the exposure time. This is laborious but no better choice. The exposure time is related to the diameter of the pinhole and focal length. You can find out more about pinhole in some websites. I used to have a book which teaches you how to calculate but borrowed it to a friend for long ages. Have yet to get it back.