Pinhole Camera

You don’t actually need a camera to make a photograph.

 
 

Pinhole camera made from a mooncake tin

(Color photos on this page were made with a Nikon F, 55mm f/3/5 Micro-Nikkor-P.C, and Portra 400.)

 
 

The pinhole camera

I made a pinhole camera from a mooncake tin. Other containers could also work. But mooncake tins and cookie tins are extra good because their lids attach with a smooth, light-tight, metal-to-metal fit.

My pinhole camera consists of:

  • Camera body: Mooncake tin, inside painted flat black, with a 1.5 cm hole.

  • ‘Lens’: Aluminum foil with a hole made with a sewing needle. Taped over the hole in the body.

  • Shutter: Cardboard flap attached with tape.

  • Camera back: Mooncake tin lid, inside painted flat black.

 
 

Pinhole camera interior and back

 
 

Making the picture

In a film changing bag, I taped a 4x5 sheet of Arista 400 Edu film onto the inside of the lid, and attached the lid. I set up the shot by propping up the camera on a chair, made the exposure (several minutes), developed the film, made a print, and the result is here:

 
 

Dieffenbachia houseplant. Negative: Mooncake tim pinhole camera, 4x5 Arista Edu 400 film, 2024. Print: Platinum-palladium on Hahnemühle Platinum Rag paper, 2025.

 
 

Discussion

I’m a beginner at pinhole photography. To get more predictable or refined pinhole images, the next step would be to calculate an accurate pinhole diameter for the focal length (that is, the depth of the box, 6cm). More precise fabrication of the hole, to make it more round and with smoother edges, would also help.

I also have another cookie tin that is deeper, for a longer focal length. I plan to try that as a next step.

Further reading

For this project, I searched the topic on the web and skimmed through several YouTube videos. I was also inspired by this book:

Morell, A. 2004. Camera Obscura. New York: Bullfinch Press.