Paper Camera! - DPChallenge Forums

03/04/2005 10:02:36 AM · #1

I wasn't sure at first, but yes, they've made a working camera out of paper! Think I'll get my hands on one of these, see if they're usable or not...

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/04/2005 10:09:05 AM · #2

If you have one of the newer all-in-one office machines, it is a product which could actually be faxed to the customer ...

03/04/2005 10:28:50 AM · #3

Or scanned and emailed even. Can you imagine that - you buy a camera online, and it's emailed to you? The future is here!!! :o)

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/04/2005 10:34:03 AM · #4

Originally posted by Manic:

Or scanned and emailed even. Can you imagine that - you buy a camera online, and it's emailed to you? The future is here!!! :o)

Save it as a PDF file -- print anywhere : )

We have to figure out how to replace the film with a CCD.

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/04/2005 10:34:40 AM · #5

That's nothing. Back in the old days we used to use rocks.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/04/2005 10:36:40 AM · #6

I think you can get magnetic toner for use in check-printing -- can you use that to print some circuitry onto photo paper?

bbower1956

Canon EOS Rebel T6s

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/04/2005 10:42:24 AM · #7

Originally posted by micknewton:

That's nothing. Back in the old days we used to use rocks.

Too funny!

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

03/04/2005 11:12:55 AM · #8

I made something similar once, started with an oatmeal box.....

Come to think of it, I also built one out of a 32gal trashcan....

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

03/04/2005 11:15:36 AM · #9

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

...Come to think of it, I also built one out of a 32gal trashcan....

Ahhh, large format!

rich

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

03/04/2005 11:17:03 AM · #10

Originally posted by micknewton:

That's nothing. Back in the old days we used to use rocks.

You had rocks?? Man what we would have given for a rock. We had mud and we were thankful for it, even when walking in it to school (uphill both ways)!

03/04/2005 11:31:20 AM · #11

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Come to think of it, I also built one out of a 32gal trashcan....

Is that anything like this camera? :o)

Message edited by author 2005-03-04 11:32:04.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/04/2005 12:51:53 PM · #12

Originally posted by Manic:

Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Come to think of it, I also built one out of a 32gal trashcan....

Is that anything like this camera? :o)

Here's a pic of it

. The camera is on the left and the film holder is on the right.

scalvert

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/04/2005 12:53:45 PM · #13

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Save it as a PDF file -- print anywhere : )

Does it have to be printed on photo paper?

wes1972uk

Fujifilm FinePix S602Z

03/04/2005 01:28:27 PM · #14

Why not just use your 20D as a pinhole camera. Get a body cap put a large hole in the front (2-3cm in diameter), cover the large hole with paper, preferably black so that it does not let light through. Then poke a small a hole as possible in the front with a fine pin and hey presto, one of the worlds most expensive pin hole cameras.

Certainly works with a film SLR so should be fine with digital too.

holdingtime

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/04/2005 01:48:09 PM · #15

now would this be real black paper or colored black paper :)

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

03/04/2005 02:07:20 PM · #16

Originally posted by wes1972uk:

It does work. I tried this with my 10D. Don't expect great images though. The "image circle" projected by the pinhole is big, and the sensor only captures a portion of it. What gets captured is kinda blurry. I found that I got the best pinhole quality with a piece of aluminum foil. My hole was still a bit larger than optimal, however, and that added even further to the blurriness. Here is a link to some software for calculating design parameters for pinhole cameras.

Message edited by author 2005-03-04 14:07:49.

03/04/2005 02:15:34 PM · #17

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by wes1972uk:
Why not just use your 20D as a pinhole camera. Get a body cap put a large hole in the front (2-3cm in diameter), cover the large hole with paper, preferably black so that it does not let light through. Then poke a small a hole as possible in the front with a fine pin and hey presto, one of the worlds most expensive pin hole cameras.

Certainly works with a film SLR so should be fine with digital too.

It does work. I tried this with my 10D. Don't expect great images though. The "image circle" projected by the pinhole is big, and the sensor only captures a portion of it. What gets captured is kinda blurry. I found that I got the best pinhole quality with a piece of aluminum foil. My hole was still a bit larger than optimal, however, and that added even further to the blurriness. Here is a link to some software for calculating design parameters for pinhole cameras.

I made a pinhole cap for my 10D using a body cap and brass shim stock. It works pretty well, gives me about f160. I bought a Finney pinhole cap (f180) and that is a bit sharper, but not much. I've used foil and it works, but it's hard to get a round, smooth edged hole the right size without a lot of cursing and wadding up little bits of foil and tossing them in the trash because the foil tore or you jabbed the needle all the way through.

It's important to have a round hole with clean edges to limit diffractions and other things that will degrade image quality. The image with a good pinhole is not great to begin with, why make it worse.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/04/2005 03:00:19 PM · #18

How big (about) should the hole be? I routinely work with a 2400 dpi imagesetter with which I can make a black piece of film with a tiny clear hole in the center -- that might work if the film doesn't diffract the image too much..

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

03/04/2005 03:10:06 PM · #19

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Depends on the film/sensor to pinhole distance and the desired
f-ratio. The holes I have made are in the 0.2 - 0.5mm range. If it's too small, the image will be soft due to diffraction.

You would want to make sure that the black area is not just black, but truly opaque.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

03/04/2005 03:11:44 PM · #20

Originally posted by GeneralE:

The optimal diameter depends on the "focal length". The FL is jsut the distance from the pinhole to the sensor (or film). For a DSLR, the optimal size turns out to be something like 0.3mm, which is about 0.012 inches.
Never thought about a clear spot in a film emulsion... would have to be a very accurate, round "hole" and the density of the film stock would have to be very high. I'd guess that light leakage thru the film would be a problem. I think the refraction through the film stock would be a real issue that could result in really bad CA at the outer edges of the image.

wes1972uk

Fujifilm FinePix S602Z

03/04/2005 03:21:42 PM · #21

opaque....thats the word I was looking for LOL

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

fotodude

Nikon D70

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

03/04/2005 03:23:14 PM · #22

wow som1 had way too much time on their hands......(the inverntor that is)........

why not just build a pin hole camera flat out ppl. have been doing that for years....its not as fancy but hey a picture is a picture if u really want to go big time i've got a site that tells how to build an 8x10 light tigh paper camera........

(sorry was going to post it but i cleaned my cashes....woops....)

anyway, intrusting link

_brando_

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/04/2005 03:31:18 PM · #23

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
How big (about) should the hole be? I routinely work with a 2400 dpi imagesetter with which I can make a black piece of film with a tiny clear hole in the center -- that might work if the film doesn't diffract the image too much..

The optimal diameter depends on the "focal length". The FL is jsut the distance from the pinhole to the sensor (or film). For a DSLR, the optimal size turns out to be something like 0.3mm, which is about 0.012 inches.
Never thought about a clear spot in a film emulsion... would have to be a very accurate, round "hole" and the density of the film stock would have to be very high. I'd guess that light leakage thru the film would be a problem. I think the refraction through the film stock would be a real issue that could result in really bad CA at the outer edges of the image.

The film is quite opaque -- typical Dmax is about 4.2-5.2 (log scale) -- I have verified that the density is enough to make it safe to use it as a sun filter for solar observations (e.g. eclipses). I'm pretty sure I can make a circle 0.012 with +/- 0.002 accuracy -- maybe I'll crank up the dot resolution to 3600 dpi.

If anyone wants to try this, just email me the size you want the black cirle and the diameter of the "hole" best matched to your camera and a mailing address and I'll send you one or two.