Photo paper for pinhole photography.

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Jevin Sweval - 20 Feb 2004 06:57 GMT

I am going to do some pinhole photography and I was wondering what the
equivalent film ISO is for Ilford Multigrade IV RC paper.

Also, what (of the many) equations do you use for the optimal pinhole
diameter?

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Mike King - 20 Feb 2004 16:20 GMT

I'm not so much a purist when it comes to pinhole diameters but used to make
my holes in aluminum foil with a #10 sewing machine needle pushed in about
half way then "burnished" both sides of the hole with the back of a spoon.

For ISO with this sort of pinhole at 4" on 4x5 film (slightly wide angle)
start at ISO 1. Note that you can also use a 4x5 film holder for the back
of your camera, I've even used a Polaroid sheet film back and I tell you it
don't get any easier than that. Type 55 is nice since it yields both a
positive and a negative. Note that the positive must look quite light to
have optimum negative exposure. When black and white 126 film was available
I made little pinhole cameras from the cartridges and used a coin to wind
the film after applying my high tech capping shutter to my lens (I covered
the pinhole with a piece of black tape).

--
darkroommike

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> I am going to do some pinhole photography and I was wondering what the
> equivalent film ISO is for Ilford Multigrade IV RC paper.
>
> Also, what (of the many) equations do you use for the optimal pinhole
> diameter?

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David Nebenzahl - 20 Feb 2004 17:50 GMT

On 2/20/2004 8:20 AM Mike King spake thus:

> I'm not so much a purist when it comes to pinhole diameters but used to make
> my holes in aluminum foil with a #10 sewing machine needle pushed in about
> half way then "burnished" both sides of the hole with the back of a spoon.

I've gotten really good results using someone's method whose web page I can no
longer find; he instructed to use thin brass shim material (around
.001"-.003"), not foil, and to make the hole with a very sharp needle using a
backing of hard wood to avoid dimpling the metal too much. Then you use fine
sandpaper to carefully sand away the small tube left by the needle. I've
gotten nearly perfect pinholes smaller than .010" this way (checked by using a
microscope, they're practically perfectly round and yield very good images).

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