After kvetching about the pictures of other camera HOWTOs, I figured I better do a good job on my own.
[UPDATE] ignore my notes on the cable release. Use this instead. Works a lot better.Â
Read on for some pictures and text on how to convert an old 120 roll film camera to a pinhole camera, as well as adding a cable release.
This is what the camera looks like closed up: 50-60 years of wear on that leatherette or whatever it is. US$10 at a local camera shop (Jim’s Cameras in the U District: eBay or any camera shop with a junk box would be a good place to look).
Open and unfolded, it looks like this.
This is the vertical mode: since it takes 6cm by 9cm images, you get the option of horizontal or verticals. Usually these take square images.
That supporting leg can be seen in the closed image: it’s that red bit with “Foldex-20” on it.
Originally, there was a lens in it but I knocked that out with a screwdriver to replace it with a pinhole (ordered from Lenox Laser: I wanted it to be reasonably precise and I haven’t had a lot of luck with home-drilled ones).
Most recently, I added a socket for a cable release:
Ingredients: an eye screw (like what you use to hang a picture), a small nut, and a bit of JB-Weld. I cut the threads off the screw, affixed the nut to the loop/eys, then attached the whole thing to the shutter assembly.
I also had to rotate the lens/shutter assembly 180 degrees to fit the cable release: there was no way to thread it through on the other side.
The idea is simple: the cable release has a tapered thread that holds it in the nut. The internal cable is then free to go through that assembly to move the shutter lever (that curved bit with the circular bit on the end).
This is a closeup of the pinhole, as it replaced the lens. That silver plate has a tiny (4 micron) hole in the center that may not be visible in this image.
From the back:
This is how the whole thing works:
One other problem I found was that the counter window was letting in so much light as to fog my images. So I added some felt around the counter window.
Some of these old models come with cable releases, making some of this unnecessary. But when you’re talking about exposures that start at 6 seconds in bright sunlight, you need some way to keep the shutter open without disturbing the camera.
Next, I need to attach a tripod quick release plate: a nut, a washer, and a pinch more JB-Weld is all I need.