A Pinhole camera can be made from almost anything that provides a dark chamber. Such a camera can be made from any box, or an existing camera can easily be be modified.
A Pinhole camera can be as simple as you want it, or as cheap or expensive as you want. You can use a paper box, or modify an existing view camera or your new Nikon F5.
A Pinhole camera can be any size you want. From a large room to a tiny film canister, you can make negtives large or small. A Pinhole camera is a really cheap way of making large negatives, suitable for several different alternative photographic processes. I make most of my cyanotypes from pinhole negatives.
The lens used in an ordinary camera is replaced with a tiny hole, the size only a fraction of a millimeter. The way it works is very simple. Light is reflected from the objects that are being photographed. Light travels in straight lines. These reflected lines of light enter the small pinhole, and continue through the hole in straight lines to expose the film in the pinhole camera.
Any normal roll or sheet film will work. And lithographic film and photographic paper. A paper negative (matt surface is recommended) from a thin color (Ilfochrome) or B&W paper is easy to start with. A lith film can be developed in a lith developer for high contrast or in a dilute paper developer for continuous tone.
Well, that's it. It really can be as simple as this. For those who want to learn more about Pinhole photography, two books can be recommended:
* Eric Renner: Pinhole Photography - Rediscovering a Historic Technique; 1995 (The serious book!)
* Jim Shull: The Hole Thing; 1974 (The fun book!)
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