BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

Hi, i made a pinhole camera and the pictures come out well, but they
are SUPER blurry. i'm using paper, and even when i turn the negative to
a normall pic, its still very blurry. how can i make a sharper image?
thanx

Max

Re: BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

Several sites will calculate the optimum size
for the pinhole:
http://www.mrpinhole.com/wiz.php
The focal length is the distance from the pinhole to
the paper.
Example:
For 5x7 paper and a 5" focal length the proper pinhole
size is 1/2mm or 1/50th of an inch. The hole made by
just the point of a sharp needle is about right.
Put the foil on a cutting board and press the needle into
the foil. Examine the hole with a magnifying glass, if
it isn't round then try again.
The f-stop will be f267: If I calculate right, with
a paper ASA of 5, the right exposure for a sunny day
with the sun behind your back is around 4 minutes.
[4 minutes: Sunny-11, 2x for reciprocity.
1 minute : Sunny-16]
What is the focal length of your camera?
When you make a positive put the paper emulsion side
to emulsion side.
--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation
http://www.nolindan.com/da/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com
...

Nicholas O. Lindan

Re: BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

As AAvK mentioned, the size of the hole is one factor.
The paper-to-paper contact printing is another. Paper-to-paper will not
be as sharp as film-to-paper.

Chris Loffredo

Re: BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

...
Here's a website that might help....
http://www.mrpinhole.com/calcpinh.php

William Graham

Re: BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

Actually sorry but I don't know how to calculate the expoure! Just, the smaller
the hole (aperture), the longer the exposure will take, so experiment, or find
a website that shows how. That shot I wrote about earlier, that image was done
inside and rather dark, but all could be seen.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pinhole+exposure+times&btnG=Google+Search
It's all over the 'net. I suggest using slow 25 - 50 ISO 4x5 sheet film. Total black
required to load the camera unless it is orthochromatic, which can take dim 'very
red' light without danger of ruination by exposure.
--
}<)))*> Giant_Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com
not my site: http://www.e-sword.net/

AAvK

Re: BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

cool, so do i have to expose the picture for that long though, i was
doing it for seven minutes and it cam out pretty well. or is it the
longer its out the sharper it gets?
ps. i'm brand new to this stuff so sorry for some obvious sounding
questions.
thanx

Max

Re: BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

Sorry I forgot the word "pull" in that sentence. And she was probably using 4x5 film.
AAvK

AAvK

Re: BLURRY PICTURES!! WHY???

The idea of the pinhole, for the image being genuinly sharp, the smaller the
hole is - the finer the rays of light that carry the image will be, and hence sharper.
Use heavy duty aluminum foil, not "folded for more strength", single layer.
Try to find an acupuncture needle in town, very very thin and small, much
thinner than a sewing pin or even a small sewing needle. Paint the dull side of
the foil matt black before you do a puncture, and do that very carefully and
straight through at 90º to the plane of the foil. Then carefully affix the piece
to the inside of your camera box, after the paint has dried, then let the glue dry.
You can make the box's hole small enough to use your finger tip as the
shutter, with the foil behind it on the inside.
I once saw an image a woman did, entirely sharp, done in a quaker tubular box
with an exposure of around 7 hours from the top of her refrigerator (looking
out into the interior of her domicile) in black and white, beautiful shot and
wish I'd saved it. It was really distorted in an even fashion that follows the
curvature of the box, like a full frame fish-eye lens,yet the distortion was off
center.
If you can that off, you'll be the CHAMP, with something worth framing.
--
}<)))*> Giant_Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com
not my site: http://www.e-sword.net/