Ultra Large Format for less than $10!! Making a camera out of a cardboard box!
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- čas přidán 11. 03. 2024
- Yes you heard it right... probably less than $5 actually! The only real costs here are the paper and the chemicals.
A pack of 10 16x12 sheets is £38 for 10 (not the cheapest way of buying it, for sure), which works out to £3.80 per sheet. Chemicals are about £1 per 16x12 sheet. You might need to get some of the bits for the camera, maybe brass for the pinhole board, although technically you could use anything.
And then you're getting some impressive huge pictures from it!
Of course this is using the black and white paper reversal technique which I have talked about a lot recently, so if you haven't seen those vids, go check them out on my channel page.
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Let me know your thoughts on the photos!
This video is the perfect response to all those new photographers that say “that’s an amazing image! What kind of camera do you have?!”
It’s not so much about the equipment as it is about the skill.
This guy just did better with a cardboard box than I could with a DSLR. 😂
"That's an amazing image! What kind of box are you using?" 🤣
@@cangooner maybe I should have put the make of cardboard box in the description??? 🤣🤣
This comment applies to any skill-based discipline, be it in the sciences/engineering or in the arts! There is also a discipline to the work, as he so well demonstrates in this video. Well said!
I just found you yesterday, and I’ve been binge watching. Why do you not have more viewers? Great content!
A couple of years ago, I read an article about Abelardo Morrell, the guy who turns entire rooms (usually hotel rooms) into a giant camera obscura, then photographs the resulting image. I tried it in my bedroom. Blacked out the windows with tin foil, used gaffer tape on the doorframes, and used that website to calculate the appropriate size of the pinhole (3mm, for a normal sized bedroom, if you’re interested). Then shot it on bulb with my D800. The project was a blast, and the image I got was one of the most interesting I’ve ever done.
Hey, thanks for watching! I love making camera obscuras in the most unusual places! I discovered quite by accident many years ago that if I close the blinds to my office just the right amount, and block off the sides, I can get a very clear image of the building across the street projected onto the wall behind me. So far it has been the most powerful thing in persuading my young kids that photography is interesting! They're too young for the chemistry and magic of film and paper, but when they can see people walking around on this projected image on the wall, they love it! Small steps!
I make my pinholes out of pie dish foil. Having Accurately drilled the hole to size for focal length and polished both sides of the foil to get a lovely burr free hole and the foil is as thin as possible. This helps with refraction. I mount that in a penny washer so now I have an optimum quality pinhole on a solid substrate ready for deployment. Note I paint the assembly with black paint within 1mm of the hole .
Love what you are doing ....Great work and thanks for sharing.!
That last image is gorgeous
Thank you! So glad it finally worked! If that one hadn't I may still be going with the box now!
This was really fun. I'm not sure I'll go down the cardboard box path or the pinhole path (he says...), but it sure was interesting watching you do both the paper reversal work and now this large format pinhole box camera thingy.
One of my take-aways from all of your videos is an idea or two about things I might try with my own photography.
The weather here is turning nice and I am wanting some images of daffodils. If I can find some that are not in someones front yard, I'll get the Bronica out and get down on the ground for some shots. It would be fun to run a roll or two of color film through it and see what the results look like.
It's always a pleasure sir!
I'm always a fan of getting down on the ground to shoot. Especially with a nice wide lens! Of course, I had no choice with the cardboard box, but it's definitely a favorite viewing angle anyway!
Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying the vids!
Don't buy new 8x10 Cameras, they will cost you upwards of $2000. Buy cameras from the 1800s/1900s or build your own out of wood. You can get 150 year old plate cameras, even larger than 8x10 for less than $500. You can also make bellows out of thick matting/mounting paper for less than $5 (you just can't get them wet) and ground glass for less than $8. I bought a 1914 half plate (4 1/3 x 6 1/2) Sanderson Regular Popular for 145 pounds and you can regularly find cameras in perfect condition for the same or less.
Another cracking video got to admire your patience determination and no lack of skill. That final image was well worth the effort congrats mate well impressed
tahts cool, looking forward to seeing the portait box!
Thanks! Portrait box is in the planning, I have sketches and some weight calculations made up. Won't be long now!
Patience yielding a fantastic final image. Great job!!!
Thank you! Patience is definitely the right word. I actually found it very cathartic, sitting in a quiet church yard during those 35 minute exposures!
What a great project; really looking forward to portrait-box!
Coming soon! I'm just doing some sums on paper at the moment, and trying to work out how I can keep the weight down...
Nick you never seem able to disappoint. This was a marvelous eye opening experience. Lovely.
Thank you Clay! I'm glad you enjoyed it. It does open the eyes, and the mind, to possibilities... portrait box next, but where from there I wonder?!
Great video. Great fun. “Pure photographing”, just like “pure copping 😜
Can you vary contrast using multi contrast filters for paper?
As an aside,“Camera” is literally “room” in Italian. A camera obscura is literally “hidden room”. So, a large format camera is the most accurate “hidden room” you can get
Thanks! I really enjoyed the process, and that final result. I'm currently embarking on a few different projects with the reversal technique, lots more to come, and a bigger and much more complex camera build!
Yes, you can change the contrast with darkroom filters, I've done a bit of it on a previous video. But the big problem is that a yellow filter not only reduces the contrast, it also robs you of about 4 stops of exposure. All fine for landscapes, but if I want to shoot portraits, as I do, then I need to find other ways of keeping that contrast under control. Experimenting has begun!
28:02 I find it amusing that you're basically making an ultra large format polariod big shot, haha.
Just found your channel. This is great, thanks for sharing these projects. Those images are great.
In your wooden box you could rig up a rudimentary focusing system - not by moving the lens, but by moving the "film" plane backwards and forwards inside the box. If you affix the paper to a piece of relatively sturdy cardboard you could place such "holder" anywhere along the length of the box to have different focus distances. Maybe add some slots at some predetermined distances.
That's definitely an option. I like the moving plate idea, that definitely sounds workable. There are a few thoughts in the comments here about how on might rig up some means of focusing. I don't think I'll go that way, yet... not sure!!
These last couple weeks I've been getting my my first darkroom up and running - last time I did chemical prints was in high school almost 20 years ago. Funny, I just dug up my own stash of 1mil, 3mil, and 5mil brass sheet stock a couple days ago to make a separating tool to help release cast urethane from its 3D-printed mold (had to make replacement fine elevation control drive wheels on the new-to-me Omega D5500). Love your approach and mindset here!
I guess in addition to my estate sale-rescued/repaired Bronica S2A, Omega enlarger(s) (they were killer deals, just need some love!), and today's upcoming pickup of a Yashica-12 that will likely need work, I'm going to be building a pinhole camera too 😆 All my other hobbies are quickly getting swamped!
Ha haaa, you should see my ideas list! It grows way faster than I can ever realise anything on there! Good luck in the new darkroom. I dusted everything off and got myself set up last year, it's like riding a bike, all comes flooding back so fast, and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!
Very very very interesting!!! I am waiting for the next series with portraits))))
I'm already making sketches and plans... give me a couple of weeks and I'll have something to show!
A bit of good old fashioned bloke in a shed\garage engineering. Thoroughly enjoying these videos following your B&W reversal adventures.
Thank you! For the ultimate in shed engineering, I suspect the upcoming portrait box may top this! I will strive not to put it together with rusty nails, but that's all I'm promising!
What a great video!! Thanks for sharing the failures because if we try we can expect the same.
The last success was a great photograph regardless of the method. It’s so cool to see a result like that from a cardboard box!!
I know right??? I was pretty happy with how that last one came out. I can be guilty of dismissing pinhole as lacking detail, but as all the pinhole afficionados out there will tell you, a good pinhole can really deliver some solid results. But I want to do it with a lens.......
Loved this, well done, looking forward to the wooden wonder 👍
The wooden wonder... now there's something to live up to! Glad you enjoyed this one!
Fantastic! Worth all the effort and time 👍
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Definitely getting that final print made it all worthwhile. If that one hadn't come out, I may still be going at it now! Once you're that far in, you can't stop until you get something back from it, right?
Love this. Absolutely love it!
Thank you! Really glad you enjoyed it! I'm also really glad I eventually got it to work!
Very very cool!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! Who knew you could get results like that from a cardboard box! I certainly didn't!
this what i like about your videos there real your there getting stuck in to it.
Amazing video. I can't believe your ability to solder on working towards a rewarding result. I still struggle with 4x5 to get conventional results.
Never give up! In the wonderful words of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson... "Be humble, be hungry, and always be the hardest worker in the room."
rofl! love it! thank you, not only entertaining, but also educational.
glad you enjoyed it! I really enjoyed getting those huge prints. Just imagine what portraits could look like using a good lens!
Kudos. Love this.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Thank god it eventually worked!
These direct positive videos are fabulous!! And I love that you are taking it to its natural conclusion: building a wooden box and attaching a lens to it. Laborious yes, but talk about making your own fun.
Oh, and I'm half expecting the next step after the next step to be... "Well I've gone this far, I might as well make my bellows and my own ULF camera.
Thank you! really glad you're enjoying them! I did look into making my own bellows during the thought process that took me to the cardboard box, and it is FIDDLY! Plus you do need to invest in some materials... one day maybe!
@@the120istFunny that I had a /feeling/ that you started down that rabbit hole. ;) I was wondering whether one could built a nested box bellows that would permit at least a small adjustment to focus without the "fiddliness" of manufacturing a bellows.
@@nvrumi That's a good idea. I think at first I'm going to go down the fixed focus route. Not least because there is a range at which I like taking portraits, the sort of head and shoulders frame. So I'll definitely be content with that to start with. I'm thinking a fixed focal length, a posing stand of some sort, and a measuring stick to allow me to accurately repeat the measurement. That's the plan for now. Maybe some sort of simplified focusing method after that!
So much fun, and a good result in the end as well! I did something very like this that you might consider: I made a simple wooden frame to hold the lens, and a simple wooden frame to hold a film/plate holder (double dark slide style) and the in between part was cardboard. Essentially did a pair of boxes, one slightly smaller than the other, so it slip fit inside the larger one. Essentially a telescoping box camera. Attached the frames to the ends, and it worked just fine, including giving me the ability to focus by sliding the boxes shorter or longer. I made a ground glass for the rear frame, but of course if you didn't feel like going that far, you could do a simple one with some wax paper or sanded acrylic or the like. Enjoying this experimentation, hope to see more!
Interesting! That's definitely an option. I feel like I could make the fixed-focus concept work though, as a first step. Plus using a DDS film holder would involve having a film holder... and I dread to think the cost of a 12x16 film holder! Maybe I'll move on to this after the fixed-focus, single sheet portrait box. Let's see where this takes me!!
@@the120ist yeah, 12x16 would be a rare beast. But there are plenty of 11x14 ones out there. I’ve found a few, some of them ex-dentist’s office surplus. But as you say, plenty of room left on your current path…
@@RobertBrazile oooh, ex medical surplus is a good route to look at actually. I might do some digging there. I was researching some other stuff yesterday and happened to take a look at the Chamonix website, no 12x16 but they have a 12x20 for a cool $800!!! Jeeeeeeez
@@the120ist Oh, yeah, it's nuts. Film/Plate holders are definitely the gating factor in all of this -- there are still lenses out there (and there's always pinholes), and cameras can be found or bodged as we've done. Film can be an issue, but as I make my own gelatin emulsions, I can make any size plate I want, and there's always paper! But holders are fiddly to make yourself. 3D printing may be the solution in the end, but I can't help but think there's a simpler solution possible for DIY. Frame with a rebate for the plate with an extra groove for the slide, and a slide made out of alumin[i]um or FR4/Garolite with a pull tab or something to monkey it in and out. Should be doable. So why haven't I done it yet? Hmm.
Awesome. Maybe reciprocity law failure was an issue and why it was underexposed the first couple of times?
According to Ilford you don't really need to adjust for reciprocity failure until your exposures are 1 hour plus.... ? But who knows really, it's not well documented. The evening shot from the church suffered from a lack of light, plain and simple. I started it too late, and the sun was going down towards the end. I could have stood there for another hour and it still wouldn't have been enough!
Great idea. I know that church!
Ahh do you? It's such a beautiful church. Are you from round here then?
@@the120ist yes I am, it's nice to see local stuff.
Pleased for you with your last shot.
You shouldn't calculate based on "normal" light meters as the paper is mostly blue sensitive. Ideally I would double the metered time as a starting point. You will have hard time focusing with fix focus box. I would rather do a slightly smaller half open front box for the lens, that you can slide into the main box. You can use then some black textile or leather that is stapled to the inner and outer box to close the gap.
The ISO I was going on (about 1.6) was a number that I reached on past experience with shooting BW paper reversal. Manufacturers recommend about ISO 2-4 for paper, and generally people go with ISO 4-6 if shooting paper negatives. So I have already factored in a doubling of exposure time there. It's not 100% accurate of course, because it will vary due to the colour temp on the day, the amount of UV etc.
Another thing which I didn't talk about, but which I looked into during the design phase of this, is that the "ideal" pinhole size created by the MrPinhole website, is based on an average wavelength of 550nm, which is the general median wavelength of daylight. I did some calculations that suggested that a slightly smaller pinhole should give a better refraction / contrast / exposure trade off in the 300-400nm range. I reduced the pinhole size from 0.7mm to 0.6mm based on that, but how accurate my calculations, or indeed my drilling of the pinhole was, is very hard to say!
It is tempting to try to include some sort of focusing method into the portrait box... I think I'm going to try a fixed focus first, I think I can make that work. Stay tuned to see if I'm wrong! (I may well be...)
awesome
Thanks!
Pinhole portraits are possible, but with very bright flash
Anything is possible, right? All I'm saying is that the combination of f400 and ISO 1.5 isn't the best for portraits! but like you say, anything is possible with enough light!
Hi Nick. What a great experiment and well done for persevering after the failures. Would cutting the shorter flaps off the box help to lose their intrusion in the photos? I'm looking forward to the portrait box video. Keep up the good work!
That is exactly what I did for the last shot! I cut that from the video because it was getting super long, but yes, I removed the short flaps from the top. I had to make sure I added some more light protection after that, but it was a much better idea!
I also realised that a big reason the flaps were intruding was the weight I was putting on the top. I had to weigh it down, otherwise it would have blown all over the place, but even small amounts of pressure on the wide flaps, due to the angles on the levers, would have a multiplied effect on the shorter flaps.
Solution was, as you say, to cut them off!
Well done! Perseverance! Looking forward to the next build, I've been wanting to build an 8x10 sliding box camera w/ a barrel lens but have zero woodworking skills. Curious as to why not use Harman direct positive?
Main reason is cost. Going on 8x10 prices, Harman Direct Positive comes in at about £4.20 per sheet, whereas the standard MGRC is £0.80, same roughly in dollars. Big saving, long term, doing it this way around!
Sheesh awesome! I haven't even tried paper negatives yet let alone reversal. In your opinion is the extra hassle worth it over contact printing a paper negative (obviously that takes at least 1 extra sheet)?
I know they are usually very expensive, but maybe keep your eye out for ulf film holders or look into making one? (wish i were diy enough to know how..). That way instead of opening your box every time, you can make a groove and slide in a holder.
Before I got to the end of the video, I was just about to suggest a fixed focus box, glad you are already on that. That lens /might/ be too big but it might be worth looking at a focusing helicoid on ebay etc because they are relatively dirt cheap so if you can make the box set to infinity focus then have a focusing helicoid for closer focus, that'd be useful. For some lenses it might even be possible to use a helicoid from your Bronica S2
Oooh, now a ready made focusing helicoid is an interesting idea. Although without a ground glass, I'd be going on fixed distance points marked on the lens no? Hmmmmm... something to think about anyway for sure.
There are some 3D print designs available for film holders, I've made some plate holders in 4x5. Not sure what's out there for much larger sizes, but could be an option.
I was researching something else yesterday and happened to take a look at the Chamonix website. They're premium price, for sure, but still, no 12x16, but they do have a 12x20 holder for a cool $800 !!!!!!
@@the120ist ah yeah if you used a helicoid, you'd put in a temporary ground glass, measure out some distances and mark them on your helicoid. That's how the Chroma Cameras for example are supposed to work (if they are local to ya, you could ask if they have parts/suggestions)
Greetings from India. Have been following your work and quite impressed with this pinhole box experiment with reversal processing. I have something similar in mind and hope i will be successful 😃 What was the spot meter you were using holding up to your eye?
Hello! I'm sorry for taking so long to respond. I hope you have continued with your pinhole camera project!
The light meter I was using was a Reveni Labs spot meter, you can find them here: www.reveni-labs.com/shop/p/reveni-labs-spot-meter-mk2
Fantastic and inspiring video. Been planning to give this sort of thing a go for a while. Where did you get the brass out of interest?
Just off Amazon! Lots of stuff available on there, or ebay, for hobby makers etc.
Great video! Could you please let me know what model that spot meter is?
It's a Revenue Labs Spot Meter. I absolutely love it. www.reveni-labs.com/shop/p/reveni-labs-spot-meter-mk2
What is the small black spot meter you are using?
This is mental. Beautiful final shot! Did you need to factor in reciprocity? Also, what’s that spot meter you’ve got?
So I did a lot of reading about reciprocity failure of photographic paper, and the general consensus is that it's not really anything you need to worry about until you get to exposure times of 1 hour +. So no, I didn't factor it in. However, metering was so hit and miss that most of my calculations were essentially guess work, based on the meter readings plus the results of the previous sheets.
The spot meter is the amazing Revenue Labs spot meter, I absolutely love it - www.reveni-labs.com/shop/p/reveni-labs-spot-meter-mk2
@@the120ist great looking device!
Cool video, creative! I maybe missed it but I see you dev normal and then bleach and back into dev?
That's right, check out my other videos on black and white paper reversal for the process. I didn't go into it much in this one because I did it in detail previously. But yes, dev, stop, wash, bleach, re-expose, dev, stop, fix. And you end up with a positive image!
Thanks, I'll check them out @@the120ist
I think you have a light leak in your garage!
Ha ha! I saw that. One of the most important things I learned in the last 12 months was when I went to see wet plate photographer Guy Bellingham... his "darkroom" is not really light tight, and I asked him about it. And he made the very valid point that when working with such low reactivity, or low ISO, a little light sneaking in here and there really isn't going to make much difference! I can assure you, my garage darkroom is 100% light tight... at night 🤣🤣
Now to make your “world’s cheapest ULF” more efficient, you just need to spend £4K on a blacked out transporter van as a mobile darkroom…
Ha ha! But it would still be the cheapest 'camera' though right? I mean, buying a £4k van is just ensuring you have suitable conditions in which to use the cheap camera???
“Cheap box ULF camera” becomes the “gateway drug” to wet plate collodion landscape lifestyle…
@@bernardkealey6449 Does that make me a pusher?? Enabler??
@@the120ist neither of those are as depraved as “influencer” 😂
Can you try making one out of wood?