kenneth Posted August 29, 2009 Share #1 Posted August 29, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I quite like the effects produced by pin hole cameras. I wondered if I got hold of a spare body cap for my M6 and drilled a hole in the cap would I then have the equivalent i.e., a high end pin hole camera for the price of a body cap. If affirmative what diameter hole should be drilled in the body cap? thank you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 29, 2009 Posted August 29, 2009 Hi kenneth, Take a look here Making a Leica M into a pinhole camera. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Mark Pope Posted August 30, 2009 Share #2 Posted August 30, 2009 Kenneth, I haven't done this with a Leica, but have had some success with a Canon EOS. To make a pinhole, all I did was take a small square of aluminium drinks can, flatten it then make an indent in the aluminium with a pin or nail, then using a piece of fine wet & dry, rub the indent down until a hole os made. You can then carefully clean the hole with the end of a pin. I came across this technique in an issue of Black+White photography. As far as the diameter of the hole in the body cap, I think mine was about 1/4" / 6mm ish. There is a firm that will make laser-cut pinholes for you, but for the life of me I can't remember who they are. HTH Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted August 30, 2009 Share #3 Posted August 30, 2009 Pinholes for the M mount are on offer at eBay, if you don't insist on making one yourself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted August 30, 2009 Share #4 Posted August 30, 2009 Can't find any M pinholes on e bay but did find this Pinhole Bodycap with Skink Laser Pinhole for Leica R on eBay (end time 06-Sep-09 14:29:23 BST) The chart of focal lengths is useful. I dare say they'd make one up for an M if you asked. Alternatively buy a dedicated pinhole camera from these people, they're great fun. Pinhole Blender Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenneth Posted August 30, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted August 30, 2009 Can't find any M pinholes on e bay but did find this Pinhole Bodycap with Skink Laser Pinhole for Leica R on eBay (end time 06-Sep-09 14:29:23 BST) The chart of focal lengths is useful. I dare say they'd make one up for an M if you asked. Alternatively buy a dedicated pinhole camera from these people, they're great fun. Pinhole Blender Thank you James and everyone for commenting. I might pursue the ebay option and it looks as though 3mm is the recommended hole size for a 50mm. I wont put up my lenses for sale just yet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted August 30, 2009 Share #6 Posted August 30, 2009 I just dug out the booklet that came with my pinhole. Yes, they even send it with a booklet. They also send a transparent foil in case you want to use the hole with an M8. Google for Helmut Weber Raytex. The booklet says that for a Leica M body you need a diameter of 0.25mm and expose for f=1/128. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksparrow Posted August 30, 2009 Share #7 Posted August 30, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) There's a website dedicated to pinhole photography, you can get a Leica M body cap fitted with a pinhole. Here's the link Welcome to the Pinhole Resource Go to the SHOP section and there you'll find the cap. Kind of expensive though, but at least you know it's calibrated to a specific f. f182 specifically for the M cap. There are also tutorials and stuff about pinhole photography there. There were other guys that would sell a whole kit, www.leicagoodies.com Go to SPINS there, and you'll see them. I even came across a small Macintosh application to calculate the exposure time: Concept House : PinholeCalc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatter Posted September 1, 2009 Share #8 Posted September 1, 2009 I quite like the effects produced by pin hole cameras. I wondered if I got hold of a spare body cap for my M6 and drilled a hole in the cap would I then have the equivalent i.e., a high end pin hole camera for the price of a body cap. If affirmative what diameter hole should be drilled in the body cap? thank you You're on the right track. You'll have better results if you cut a larger.. like 1/2" hole in the body cap. Then go to a machine shop and have the machinist drill a tiny, like hair size hole in a piece of brass shim stock. The brass shim should be larger than the hole in the body cap (obviously). With a little ingenuity, you could devise a way to securely mount different brass shims so they can be removed, and re-attached. This way you could experiment with different size holes. The smaller the hole... the sharper the image, and the wider the view, and longer the exposure... etc. Then you could patent the whole rig... sell the patent to Leitz.. save Leica from bankruptcy.. and retire a rich man Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
msweeney Posted September 1, 2009 Share #9 Posted September 1, 2009 I also recommend the set from Leicagoodies.com. They have 21mm, 28mm, and 35mm pinhole lenses... which will be very interesting with the last two because with a Leica M rangefinder you'll actually be able to frame what you're photographing in pinhole! Try that with an SLR pinhole body cap! I just ordered the whole set of 3 from Leicagoodies myself, only because I don't have the time or unction to make my own. I'll post some pictures on my Flickr album when I get some developed! For now though, you can also see some previous ones I made with Nikon and Canon pinhole body caps. Cheers, Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted September 1, 2009 Share #10 Posted September 1, 2009 The ultimate in zone focusing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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