My methods have been a la the Hole Thing, involving brass shim
stock (.002"?) and twirling a needle and filing successively on
back and front. Questions:
- Is my brass shimstock thinner than your silver
sheet? I can't remember the thickness of the brass
stuff, but it is foil-like, from the auto parts store.
Also, I know that aluminum makes for bad holes because
of the tendancy for the foil to tear and burr and crumb
up. Is silver superior to brass? I would think it
behaves similarly to aluminum...
- Also my experience has shown that there is an optimal
hole size, (no measurements; i don't have access to a
microscope) and if I try to make a hole smaller, the image
i get is suddenly fuzzy. Is this diffraction, or just
imperfect hole results?
I currently have been experimenting with a paint can, with the hole
in the side and the paper neg. wrapped along the inside the can. I
have been using 4x10 inch format (half an 8x10 sheet) and will be trying
5.5x14 soon. The characteristic stretch one gets with rectangular
boxes is removed (reduced?_) and the only distortion is this pincushion
or barrel divergence of lines. Very cool. Anecdotally, other pinhole
cameras used by others around here: U-haul van, and a hotel room (the
pinhole really is the door peephole, not a view into the next room).
chico Seay cseay@TUred.pa.utulsa.edu