I’ve wanted to have a go at pinhole photography for years now, but for one reason or another never got around to it. This year I’ve decided to take the bull by the horns and just damn well do it. But for my first adventure, rather than build my own camera from scratch, I decided to try out a self-assembly kit.
The one I plumped for is made by a company called Flights of Fancy, and I picked it up from RetroPhotographic for under £20. It contains everything (well, almost everything…) you need to both build the camera, and to take and develop photos with it – including clear and concise instructions! (the most important part)…
The Component Parts...
Step one, building the camera was a piece of cake. The grooved squares of wood all slot together to form a light tight box (which you can either glue or just hold together with the elastic bands provided).
The Finished Article...
The only tool required is a flat head screwdriver, which is used to attach the shutter cover to the front. Next an interior box is assembled from pre-folded black card, which slides snugly inside the wooden case. Finally, the precision part: creating the pinhole (using the pin provided!) This is the really critical part, of course – if the pin hole is too big or not round then the results will be anything but impressive… And truth is you can’t really tell if the operation has been a success until the camera is put to the test.
Anyway, a few minutes later I had the finished article in my hand! My first pinhole camera 
All I had to do now was wait for nightfall before moving onto the next stage – it was either that or clear out the clutter from the understair coal shed… and I didn’t fancy that.
Step two is loading the light sensitive photographic paper. And this is the point where you need to improvise a little from the kit. You have to load the film into the camera in complete darkness (that’s total darkness, not just a bit of gloom) – with just a red or orange safety light for guidance. A piece of red cellophane is included in the kit, which can be fastened over the end of a torch (US: flashlight!) to provide an adequate workaround. Of course, most of us don’t have the room to completely blackout a room to use as a darkroom – so it’s easier to wait until after dark and pull the curtains to cut out any ambient street light (either that or crawl under a nice thick duvet!).
Step three: take the photo! With a mixture of trepidation and excitement, I made myself comfortable at the foot of the stairs – opened the shutter and sat stock still for the four minutes that the manual recommended as the probable amount of time for taking a shot indoors.
Step four: prepare the chemical trays in the designated darkroom (don’t try doing this under the duvet!!). Developer, fixer and water – left to right. Turn the light off, remove the photographic paper and plop it into the developer… then wait.
First attempt – an entirely black frame. Hmm… must’ve made a mistake, I pondered. Maybe I left the photo exposing in the camera for too long?
Second attempt with much reduced exposure time …an entirely black frame. Hmm… at this point I decided to reconvene the following day and try taking a shot outside in daylight.
Attempts Number 1 and 2...
Sometime in the night the thought struck me that maybe the overexposure was occuring during the processing, maybe my safety light (aka: torch) was still too bright. So the next day I tried doing the processing without the aid of the safety light (waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark)… This meant I couldn’t see whether or not the print was developing, and just had to count the two minutes in both the developer and fixer, then wash the print and turn on the light to discover if it had worked…
Attempt Number 3
Ta-dah!! My first pinhole photograph – well, negative… Underexposed and a bit cockeyed, but never-the-less an identifiable shot of my lawn and garden shed.
The next step of the process is to create a positive print. You’re supposed to do this using another sheet of photographic paper, the negative and a bright light. But rather than waste another sheet of paper (there’s only 14 in the kit), I decided to scan the negative and create the positive image in Photoshop by flipping and inverting the image. Leaving me with…
Final Image
Okay, so I’ve still got some way to go before I’m creating pinhole images I’m happy with – but… the process (and the kit) works! My biggest tip to you is to be patient with the processing stage… and take a bit more time to prepare your darkroom space than I did… Oh, and don’t shine a torch on the paper as it develops
I can now see how people really get addicted to pinhole photography – it is the photographic process reduced to its bare basics. You kind of feel a kinship with the originators of photography – there’s something alchemical about it. You really are capturing an image using nothing but light (and a bit of chemically treated paper…).
Next adventure: creating a pinhole camera from scratch… Oooohhh!
Ahh pinhole, I love it! Haven’t had time for it much recently though. Pinhole with film is much much easier. There exposure times are shorter (and more easily calculated) and a far greater margin of error. I would recommend checking out http://www.matchboxpinhole.com/ for your next adventure. Easy to make and much more chance of success
Saying that I’ve had some great results on paper too http://flickr.com/photos/starpoi/2938252264/ (if you want to see the really simple camera that was taken with let me know, took a few minutes to make)
Ohh and as for safelights, I use a light intended as the rear light on a bicycle! It’s small, not too bright and the right shade of red to not spoil the paper. Cost about a fiver from Tescos.
After all my experimentation, I found that medium format film is by far the best medium to use for pinhole. The large negative means you loose less sharpness in enlarging and you can get incredible pictures.
You’ve made me want to go and do more!
Thanks heaps for that Beth! Definitely going to try the Matchbox pinhole for adventure number 2!!
Back in the day (about 10 years ago) I was really in to pinhole. A couple of quick comments about it:
1. Big pinholes are really fun. (the one bellow was a 11×14 inch negative of sheet film, contact printed).
2. Sheet film is awesome, but fairly impractical (you have to load the camera in total darkness so you only get one shot unless you have a large enough light-tight bag AND you have to process in total darkness, which isn’t so fun).
3. You can calculate the diameter of the pinhole based on the focal length, and the relationship of focal length to film size determines how wide angle it is. Then you can calculate the aperture and have really quite accurate exposure times if you base it on your camera’s light meter.
You guys are making me want to bust out my old pinholes!
Good luck!
Oops, my picture didn’t work:
Thanks for the tips Luke! And that’s a great shot – I’m constantly surprised by the quality people seem to be able to get from a box with a hole in it!
Hello Paul,
I have exactly the same Flights of Fancy pinhole kit as you (an excellent Christmas present from my brother!) and have had a few failed attempts and some very good attempts too.
I was just reading your pinhole adventure and thought I would add a comment
My first negative was a complete failure as I followed the guidelines in the instructions – 4-5 minutes for indoor exposure – and was left with a blank negative once I had developed it. After much trial and error I finally got some results after 3 and a half hours of exposure (I used the pin provided in the kit). I was very pleased with the results as the image was sharp and focused, even though the exposure time was borderline ridiculous.
I have tried opening the aperture using a hole punch which dramatically reduced the exposure time to about 5 minutes but the image was very blurry. I have since researched internet sites and it seems that the focal length (distance from pinhole to photo paper) is in proportion to the pinhole size. As our camera is 3x3x3 inches the pinhole should be 0.014 inches in diameter i.e. the pin size provided. If the hole is made bigger then the image result will become more blurry unless the focal lenght is extended to compensate (I think this is right anyway).
I just thought I would write this out to you so you don’t waste your paper and get results which are a little disappointing. Saying that though, some of the more blurry images are kind of cool and I would definately recommend experimenting.
I haven’t yet tried outdoor photography as it keeps raining and my camera will probably disintegrate!
Anyway, have fun with your kit as pinhole photography is becoming a bit of an addiction with me.
All the best – Scott
…Oops sorry – I just read what Luke said about focal lengths and I think I pretty much said the same!
Just a quick word about the redlight… your torch might be too bright as the red gel is ued to reduce the intensity of the light. I have made a container for my torch out of a Pringle tube – gel over one end and cut a hole so the torch fits in the other – and hold it well over 5 feet away from the developing trays. This should enable you to be able to develop your negatives in at least marginal light.
Thanks again – Scott
I’ve just gotten the same kit, can’t wait to try it out
I have just made my first pinhole camera (I already have a holga 120 wpc) and plan to load it with paper as I have two boxes of agfa multicontrast paper left over from when I had a dark room. I looks like exposures are running into hours not seconds. Can you give me any guidance as to what times I should be aiming for?
Hey, does anyone know where to buy extra sheets of the kind of photographic paper that works with this set? Thanks.