Custom pinhole needed; advice on aperture size

I am in the process of converting an Ilford Dacori 6x6 camera into a
pinhole camera. Everything is ready to go -- except the pinhole
aperture.

The focal length is 40mm. According to the table I have, the optimal
pinhole would be .0092". I have a .0087" pinhole from a set I bought
from Pinhole Resource, but it is in use on a favorite 6x9 camera. I
do not want to buy another complete set of pre-drilled pinholes. Nor
do I want to make my own single pinhole. I think by the time I get
the process and measurement down, I will be as well off finding one.

Does anyone know of a source for single custom-drilled pinholes?

I also note that my Zero Image Multi-format camera has a pinhole that
is "optimal" for 21mm on a camera with a 40mm focal length. Should I
be putting a smaller pinhole on the Dacori camera? What is the
effect of "too small" a pinhole? (I could switch the .0087" pinhole
from the 6x9 body to the Dacori, then place a .0059" pinhole that I
have on the 30mm focal length 6x9.)

The Dacori is a great camera to convert. Nice boxy camera with a
flat bottom for placing on a flat surface, tripod mount, easily
converted to 40mm by sawing part of the lens mount off. (probably
75-80mm focal length otherwise) That leaves a nice rectangular area
to mount a plastic front plate. I have found some acrylic with a
surface much like the camera leatherette.

Dacoris are not easy to find. They appear on eBay, but all seem to
be in England or Germany and the postage is steep for the camera.
But if anyone does have one -- or gets one -- I'd be happy to send
enough plastic for conversion.

Thanks for the help,

Tom
Received on Sat Jul 21 23:57:41 2001