Re: Making a portable 4x8 feet pinhole camera

Guy, is there a reason the front panel needs to be the full 4x8? You
could cut the weight down fairly significantly if you used a 2x2 piece
of wood attached maybe attached on a slide pipe rail like an over-sized
Kodak 2D. Depending on how you structure the bellows you could have the
whole thing collapse onto it self and it could be strapped flat and
carried with two people. You might be able to use the pop-up tent type
construction with poles created for different focal lengths. In fact the
front of the camera really only needs to be big enough to be stiff. So a
1x1 sheet of wood mounted on a pipe that pivots could allow for some
perspective control.....

In fact you actually could make it so that you could be inside the
camera creating a simpler method of advancing the "film". Maybe like a
darkroom tent. In fact you could modify an existing popup tent to
accomplish the same thing. That way you could enter and exit your
exposure and the 4x8 sheet of ply wood could be moved to the various
focal lengths. Mounting of paper would be easy, etc.

Just a thought. Good luck Guy. -t

Guy Glorieux wrote:
> Hi friends,
>
> I am working on designing and building a 4 x 8 feet pinhole camera
> which I will be using in about a month time for a project here in Montreal.
> I'd be happy to hear if anybody has experience in this area.
>
> The camera needs to be easy to move around
> and its focal length should be adjustable with a bellows system.
> It would be nice if it could have uptake and downtake spools
> so as to accommodate a 100-feet roll of photographic paper
> thereby allowing me to make something like 12 exposures
> without having to go back to a base darkroom after each exposure.
>
> As I see it, the design would work something like an old 120 Kodak Bantam or
> Kodak Vest Pocket camera.
> The basic camera will have 3 main parts: front panel, bellows, back panel.
>
> The front panel would be 4 x 8 feet 1/4inch plywood.
> It would have a large opening for a removable pinhole plate to accommodate
> different pinhole diameters and off-center positioning.
> The pinhole plate would allow for the placement of a 2-stop density
> center-fillter (to reduce vignetting) and/or a yellow filter.
>
> The front panel and bellows would be mounted together.
> The bellows would be made of two layers of black fabric
> with a maximum extension of 48in. since I want the camera to cover a wide
> angle-of-view.
>
> The back panel would be similar to the front, made of 4x8 feet 1/4 in
> plywood.
> It would initially be built for the placement of just a single sheet of
> photographic paper (44x92in.)
> I still need to design a contraption to accommodate a roll of photographic
> paper.
>
> The photographic paper will be loaded under safelight conditions
> and the back panel fitted to the rear end of the bellows with a light-tight
> fitting.
> The camera would then be ready to be moved to location in broad daylight.
>
> On location, the camera bellows would be extended to the appropriate focal
> length
> The back and front panels will be held together into a box with a series of
> rods,
> these rods acting also as a support to prevent bellows sagging.
>
> The extended camera will be moved around to its exact final position with a
> dolly
> and will be held firmly into position on the ground with appropriate
> fastening devices.
>
> These are the rough specifications and the individual details need to be
> worked out.
> I expect to encounter the usual set of problems with the building of the
> camera
> and any suggestions, advice will be most welcome.
> In particular, I would be happy to hear suggestions on the best materials to
> use.
>
> Also, I will need to get a bag for storage/transport of the camera.
> Suggestions here are welcome.
>
> Regards to all
> and congratulations for WPPD 2008 to the organizers and the participants.
> A fantastic success,
>
> Guy Glorieux
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Que la douceur de l'amitié soit faite de rires et de plaisirs partagés.
> Khalil Gibran
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Received on Sat May 3 12:27:59 2008