surfing pinhole?

[jano]

I want to take a pinhole surfing with me :D Tape it to the end of my board or hand hold it or something!

Put together a matchbox pinhole last year for 35mm film, and it's cool and all, but the second it hits the water, the thing will soak through and probably fall apart. Scratch that idea.

So.. hmm. Ideas? Maybe I could try it with a holga? But.. I don't have one :( Where can I get one? :D

[mbisc]

I want to take a pinhole surfing with me

WHY???:confused:
All you'd get would be random streaks on your negative -- just pour random chemicals over your (unexposed) negative and you'd get the same effect...

[lZr]

Fantastic ideas - better to use coffee as developer

[traveller]

Why not use a black film container like the ones used for high sensitivity or infrared film? You can build a nice wideangle with that. To get it watertight you can cover the hole with a crystal clear tape and seal the lid with duct tape.

Some info you can find at this site (http://users.rcn.com/stewoody/pocketca.htm)

Have fun

[Jamie123]

WHY???:confused:
All you'd get would be random streaks on your negative -- just pour random chemicals over your (unexposed) negative and you'd get the same effect...

I agree! There's no point in doing this.

[rbiemer]

I agree! There's no point in doing this.
Except that it's fun.
How about pointing the camera at yourself, Jano? How long is a typical surf? I've built some 35mm pinhole cameras and would suggest using the slowest speed film you can find or your "shutter speed" might end up being too short--with 400 speed film I've been finding speeds at about 1/4 second in daylight with the size pinhole I've been using.
Love to see some results when you've got some!
Rob

[jano]

Rob: typical surf in my area varies from split second (wipeout!) to up to 15-20 seconds, depends on the swell. And you're right, this is something fun, and I was planning on trying to point it at me from the nose of the board, as well as in other directions, and handholding it, and even capturing some other surfers. Will likely use something like foma/arista 200 (cheap cheap cheap) with diafine (plenty of exposure latitude from ei 100-800).

John, thanks for the link, I'll have a go with it. Those look like one-shot pinholes, right? Winding the film might prove to be tricky, in something that tight.

Now I'm thinking of maybe using a tin of sorts -- I really like the square format made with the matchbox pinhole, so I'll keep trying different things :D The holga might be interesting, too. Or, I could put my matchbox inside a ziplock? *shrug* Remote release would be tricky! Lots to think about here, hrrm.

[reagan]

Let us know how it goes. I'd personally like to see the results. I know nothing of surfing except it's very wet and a surfboard is a bad thing for old coots like me to have stuck in their ear. I also know nothing of pinholes except they have a HOLE in them. Combined, [to my untrained mind] it sounds like action photography's worst case scenario but jano sounds like he has experience in both realms, so again, I'd be interested to see the results... as long as I can observe from a comfy beach chair and umbrella. ;) Good luck!

[jano]

Thanks :) I wanted to out in the water this afternoon, but I got caught up in reading a book :eek: Devoured this 450 page sci fi today (and I hate sci fi, but this one was very good.. "Pushing Ice" by alastair reynolds).

[dagabel]

You'll have to try one of those Warren Bolster-style shots; mounted on the tail. I'd think it would be somewhat difficult paddling out, though! You might have to limit your duck dives. Good luck and have fun!

[jano]

Mounted on the tail? I'm going to have to look that up.. the back's usually inside the wave (at least, the way I longboard, which is oft goofy footed and not perfect). Methoughts nose would be more interesting, but I'll try it all out :)

edit: first picture here, wow! :)
http://starbulletin.com/2002/12/23/features/story1.html

And more here:
http://images.google.com/images?q=warren+bolster&hl=en

[dagabel]

Yeah - that first shot from the Star Bulletin was what I was thinking about. There was an article about him in the Surfer's Journal a couple of years ago, and it described and showed pictures of his tail setup.

[steamer]

Pinhole cameras are fun, you won't get much in terms of surfing photos because the tiny aperture needs a long steady exposure, if you move the camera around you won't get anything except a blur.

[mtbbrian]

So.. hmm. Ideas? Maybe I could try it with a holga? But.. I don't have one :( Where can I get one? :D

You can get a PinHolga at http://www.holgamods.com/pinholga/pinholga.html
Which looks to cost the same price as brand new unmodified one.
Good Luck!
Brian

[cruz]

Maybe zoneplate or photon sieve would suite you better, you can design them to have f22 or a stop or two slower, and it's water resistant, the lens is printed on film

check

www.whizkidtech.redprince.net/zoneplate/ (http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/www.whizkidtech.redprince.net/zoneplate/)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_plate