Nikon D200 Digital SLR

I bought a Nikon D200 digital SLR and sold my old Nikon D1X. It's a very nice camera. My "old" flash Nikon SB28DX doesn't work on the D200 so I also bought the SB800 flash. A good combination.

Pinhole cows with an Agfa Click I

I rebuild an old Agfa Click I camera into a pinhole camera. I removed the plastic lens and placed the pinhole on the outside of the body but behind the original shutter. This camera and the Agfa Clack can be converted easely into pinhole cameras. The Clack has a slightly curved filmplane and a negative size of 6x9 cm. The Click I has a negative size of 6x6 cm.I loaded it with Fuji NPC 160 rollfim and went into the fields on a very hot day for a testdrive.
I found some cowes willing to pose for a few pictures. I placed my camera in the field and let the cows come close.
They are very curious animals....


Exposure time was about 30 seconds on the middle of the day in the full (and hot!!) sun. These were the results:

building a camera with f-stop 295 - part 2

Just wanted to let you know that I'm actually building it at the moment. I haven't had that much spare time lately, but it's getting there. I'll post some images tomorrow.
It has six pinholes in the front. This way I get a shift and tilt function.
I still haven't decided on the interior of the camera. Should I make a curved filmplane or not? Or make it possible to use a 8x10" filmholder (with an adapter of some kind)?
At least the first trial shots will be simple paper negatives taped on the inside onto the back of the camera.
To be continued...

Book: Camera Obscura by Hans Knuchel

I ordered this book about pinhole photograhy today:
Camera obscura by Hans Knuchel (Baden: Verlag Lars Muller 1992. 72 pages. ISBN 3-9067700-49-6).
It's a German book. I heard good things about it, but wasn't able to find it for quite some time. Finally, with the help from someone at the pinhole forum (www.f295.org), I found an antique book dealer in Liechtenstein (www.chybulski.com), who could send it to me.

This is the discription of the book:
"Verschiedene Typen von camerae obscurae, mit einem oder mit vielen Löchern, diverse Formen. Zu jedem Typ ein Foto und ein Schema."

Translated:
"Several types of camerae obscurae, with one or more pinholes, in different models. Every model comes with a picture and scematics."

I can't wait to read it....

Bird in the water

Bird in the water
Originally uploaded by The Toad Men.

I like black&white images, the water, birds, ....
Here they come together.

Pinhole camera with f-stop 1/295

I'm working on a pinhole camera made out of Afzelia wood. It's going to be a 295 camera:
* negative size = 295 x 295
* focal length = 295 mm
* f-stop = 1/295
* pinhole size = 1,0 mm
* angle of view = 70 degrees.
You can find more information on the f295 pinhole forum.

A good movie (1) "What Dreams May Come"

This blog isn't going te about photography alone, but what else to write about?
Well, I saw this movie recently: "What dreams may come". It's with Robin Willams and I think it's a very good movie. I'm used to Willams as a comedian, but here he shows (again) he can play other parts as well. It's about life and death, life after death, life in death, in heaven and hell ...
Recommended!!

Building a 4eyes Pinhole Camera (part 3)

I did get some interesting responses on the f295.org forum about my ideas for the 4eyes pincam.
Click here to read the thread on the f295.org forum.

Reading these comments, I did get an other idea: what if I make the focal length of each pinhole different? Four simultanious shots varying from wide angle to tele? A bit more trouble to build, but it could give a nice image??
The same camera but with different focal lengths could look like this drawing (below). I need to calculate how tall it can be before I get the "lens" with the bigger focal length on the image from the smaller focal length. Maybe if I made the bigger "lens" like a piramide with the top only 30 x 30 mm instead of the square 100 x 100 mm.
I should also not forget to give it extra exposure. With a longer focal length the f-number gets bigger and so will the required shutter speed. But this can easily be calculated.
To be continued.....

Building a 4eyes pinhole camera (part 2)

I think I'll make an internal divider, that I can remove. I'll make the front panel (with the pinhole(s) in it) removable also. This way I can use it as a 4eyes or even a 9eyes camera. This is a drawing of what the devider would look like for the 4eyes pincam (probably).

Building a 4eyes pinhole camera (part 1)

I'm thinking about building a wooden large format pinhole camera with 4 pinholes. Before I start, I would like to ask you all for help/tips/plans/experiences with these kinds of designs. I can make things out of wood, but metal works I don't know nothing about.
This is the first design drawing. The dimensions of the camera will be: 410 x 410 x 70 mm, pinhole size = 0.35 and the angle of view will be about 90 degrees (per image). This will give a f-number of 200. I need to work out the details of the interior of the camera next.

These are issues I'm thinking about:
* Can I make a simple shutter meganism to operate 4 shutters at the same time?
* Should I make a division inside (like a cross) to avoid the 4 images to overlap?
* I want to use a sheet of photographic paper so it will be a oneshot camera.
* Has anyone some spare parts I could use (I'm not a metal worker)? I'll pay for the costs.
* What am I thinking off???

Any thoughts are welcome!! Here is the first drawing:

Pinhole photography in B&W photography magazine

"Black & White Photography" is a very good magazine for non-digital, monochrome photographers. No endless overviews of digital cameras but real stories of photographers, help on traditional an digital printing of monochrome images, special techniques, darkroom stuff, old cameras, etc., etc. This issue is a special on pinhole photography (issue 61, July 2006). I can recommend this magazine.
For more details, click here.

My wedding day

Today is the 14th anniversary of our wedding day. And I still love her!!
We met for the first time in Maastricht on the 5th of January, 1988.
Now we have two lovely daughters (6 1/2 and 9 years old).

Mamiya 6x7 back on a Mamiya 23 body

Bill Keeler from New Mexico, USA is sending me a Mamiya 6x7 filmback and the frame of a Mamiya 23 body. It should arrive end of August.
I'm gonna make a pinhole camera out of it. I'll post a photo documentary of my tinkering on this blog and on the www.f295.org pinhole forum.
Below you'll find a picture of what this camera must have looked like in better days.
To be continued in about two months.....

to be ...

"It's better to be who you are, before you become who you want to be"

(from: The Magic Flute)

My first pinhole image ever

This is the first pinhole image I made in 2001:I had build a wooden pinhole camera and loaded it with photographic paper. Exposure 30 seconds. The camera is made of Afzelia wood (from Africa), size 11 x 11 x 11 cm. The negative size is 10 x 10 cm. The pinhole was made out a soda can (size 0,3 mm). I had a lot of fun building it. And I was very pleased that my first test shot (picture above) was a success. The beginning of a pinhole building carreer??