Moving Forward

Previously I described a recently completed project to build a 4x5 pinhole camera that seems to have worked out quite nicely. I stated then that the point had been to try out the concept with a smaller camera before moving on to my real goal which is to build an 8x10 pinhole camera. Now with this morning's arrival of a pair of 8x10 film holders that project is now able to move forward.

One of the reasons it was so easy to get the 4x5 project started is that I already had the film holders.As is typical of large format pinhole cameras my project is based around a simple box whos dimensions are determined by the film holder. While film holder sizes are standard and I could have started the build based on these dimensions I'd figured my chances of failure were pretty high without an actual film holder on to check my measurements against and so things were on hold until these arrived.

Through good fortune they were delivered on a day off from work so it didn't take long for the saw dust to start flying. As with the 4x5 project the box is being built with mitred corners. The photo above shows one of the film holders sitting on top of the box sides which have been laid down in place but here they were unjoined. The pieces were cut from a strip of 1"x3" maple. As I write they are clamped with carpenter's glue along the edges. With the 4x5 project this was backed up with wood screws, but as I may leave the wood finish rather than covering it with vinyl as was done with the smaller camera I'll probably put L-brackets inside.I may also change the way I make the "cone". The fibre-glass I used with the 4x5 came out fine but what nasty stuff to work with.

Well, that's it so far. Keep an eye out though as there will be much more to see as the project progresses and as always I'll keep you posted.