Dollar $tore $t£r€0gRā₽h¥ #13- Stereo Pinhole Camera (updated 5/24/23)

Posted on by Mad Shifty

Will be livestreaming late Sunday May 14th, in the afternoon/early evening! Happy mother’s day to all the moms & kids out there, which most certainly includes YOU 🙂

When I first started on this project I was unsure if the stereo camera that I would be making, would be a dedicated standalone dual aperture stereo-pinhole camera, or a stereo pinhole twin rig. I decided to go with a twin rig because the design of a dedicated pre-twinned stereo-pinhole, camera would be a lot more challenging, it would require the construction of a septum and just more exacting engineering in general overall. A twin rig is just creating a pinhole camera twice, by the second one you would be at least be a partially seasoned pinhole maker! A stereo rig also opens up a lot more options of stereo-photographing capabilities, such as adjusting baselines to capture hyper stereos, or to do some more uncombored and interesting experimentation with the cameras themselves. I’m personally very much looking forward to reserving some darkroom time I have reserved, not only so I can demonstrate the actual taking and developing of photographs from this twin pinhole camera rig, but to shoot an experimental stereo shooting arrangement I thought up. I’ll post more on that at the end of the tutorial.

Either way, here are all the preparations needed and step by step construction processes involved in creating YOUR own stereo pinhole twin rig for your own stereo photo explorations! My camera is already constructed and finished. I was going to test them with some sun paper but I might need exposures lasting into months with the paper I have, so I will be using sheets of black and white Haraman direct positive paper which I will Livestream shooting & developing on the day I have my upcoming darkroom time allotted to me. You can of course use sheet film as well for this project, just be sure you have the chemistry readily available and ready for your processing, no matter what sort of medium you will be photographically capturing your stereo imagery onto.

$$$#13 DIY STEREO PINHOLE CAMERA
– TWIN RIG

BASIC SUPPLIES:
2 identical coffee cans
Disposable tin or aluminum tray or pan lid
Black acid free paper tape (for photography or arts&crafts usage)
Black electrical tape
Black construction paper
Medium-Fine grit sandpaper (a small corner or a scrap will suffice)
Beading needles- I bought my pack of 6 DMC 12 gauge beading needles at  Michaels craft store for $3.99 Normal needles WILL work for this project, but the thinner the better
Ruler
Marker
Scissors

TOOLS NEEDED:
Drill & 1/4″ drill bit
Metal rasp or file, round keyhole files work best

OPTIONAL: Black spray paint, or black paint with a MATTE or FLAT finish, black gaffer tape

The two items most household will probably not have on hand and may have to purchase would be the Black acid free paper tape and the thin gauge beading needles. The acid free paper tape can be found at most photographic supply or arts & crafts retailers and a normal price for a roll is roughly about $12. Very thin beading needles can be purchased at most arts & crafts retail chains or at sewing/embroidery supply shops or perhaps fabric stores, I bought mine at the national retailer Michaels crafts. Obviously everything on the list can be found online if you don’t have a local shop for those specific items, otherwise this project uses materials and tools most households have on hand or can easily acquire.

Supplies needed for $$$#13. We are making a Twin Rig Stereo-Pinhole camera, which essentially is simply the making of two identical coffee can pinhole cameras.

This project is slightly more labor intensive then many of the other projects demonstrated on past $$$ episodes, so I created a series of supplimentary video posts to illustrate the process of creating these two pinhole cameras step-by-step.

STEP 0: MESURE AND MARK WHERE YOUR HOLE WILL BE DRILLED INTO BOTH CANS BEFORE DRILLING!      STEP 1: DRILL A HOLE IN THE EXACT PLACE IN BOTH CANS WITH A 1/4″ BIT
STEP 2: FILE DOWN THE BURRED EDGES INSIDE AND OUT WITH A METAL FILE OR RASP
STEP 2.5: USE A ROUND “KEYHOLE” FILE IF YOU HAVE ONE
STEP 3: ONCE THE EDGES ARE FILED AND FINISHED ON BOTH CANS, YOU ARE READY TO PROCEED TO THE NEXT STEPS
STEP 4: BLACKENING THE COFFEE CAN LIDS. FLAT BLACK SPRAY PAINT WOULD BE IDEAL HERE, BUT BRUSHED PAINT OR EVEN DOUBLE OR TRIPLE LAYERS OF BLACK CONSTRUCTION PAPER AND TAPE IS SUITABLE, IT IS THE ONLY PART OF THE CAMERA THAT IS NOT INHERENTLY OPAQUE SO SPECIAL ATTENTION IS NEEDED TO ENSURE IT IS LIGHT-PROOF
STEP 4.5: ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN BLACKEN YOUR CAMERA LID AND INTERIOR WITH BLACK CONSTRUCTION PAPER & TAPE. MAKE SURE A SINGLE LAYER COVERS 100% OF THE INTERIOR (WE WILL CUT A HOLE FOR THE PINHOLE IN THE NEXT STEP) AND AT LEAST TWO LAYERS ON THE LID. MY LID HAS TWO LAYERS OF PAINT AND TWO LAYERS OF BLACK PAPER/TAPE TO ENSURE IT IS LIGHT PROOF.
STEP 5: BLACKENING THE CAMERA 100% INTERNALLY!
If you see a spot of silver can glinting anywhere when you shine a light on the inside of what is now essentially a coffee can camera, hit it with some paint or black paper tape to cover it up. Any silver spots will potentially be areas that will reflect any light internally inside the camera when using, creating light leaks or even worse, exposing your film or direct positive paper and will most certainly have dastardly effects when viewers try to fuse the photographic stereo pairs that your twin rig stereo is specifically designed to produce ☝️
STEP 6: TRIPLE CHECK THE CAMERA IS LIGHT TIGHT. Shine a high powered flashlight through your covered lid, make sure you see no light shining through. Shine a light through your camera hole, there should be no I ternal reflection to bounce around. If you see a light are or light leaks, tape it up or hit it with some paint. Triple check to make sure both cameras are essentially “LIGHT TIGHT”
STEP 7: MAKING THE ACTUAL PINHOLES!! The needles are super thin, so I taped up one end to make a handle so I wouldn’t stick myself with it while poking the pinhole though the aluminum.
TECHNIQUE: MAKING 2 NEARLY IDENTICAL PINHOLES.
USE A MAGNIFYING LENS TO MAKE SURE YOUR TWO PINHOLES ARE CIRCULAR AND LOOK TO BE THE SAME SIZE AFTER SANDING THE BACKS. IT MAY TAKE YOU A FEW TIMES BEFORE YOU GET A VERY GOOD MATCHING PAIR OF PINHOLES THAT ARE  NEARLY IDENTICAL IN SIZE AND ROUNDNESS.
Put your “good’ tries to the side and mount your two best tries into your cameras, at an identical height from the bottom of the can to the actual pinhole.
It took me quite a few tries before I ended up with two pinholes that matched exactly in shape and size. Remember you must sand the backs of each pinhole aluminum before comparing to select the pinholes.
STEP 8: MOUNTING THE PINHOLES!
TECHNIQUE! FOR MOUNTING THE PINHOLES
STEP 9: TAPING AND MOUNTING THE PINHOLES IN CAMERA!
STEP 10: MEASURE THE PINHOLES ARE BOTH MOUNTED AT THE SAME HEIGHT WITH THE 2 CAMERA CANS FLAT ON A TABLE, THAT WAY IT WILL TAKE. STRAIGHT ACROSS,  STEREO IMAGE.
Measure this after mounting the first pinhole and before mounting the second one onto the second camera. They should both be the same height.

After your pinholes are mounted in both can-meras, you are essentially DONE! ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS ADD A SNIP OF ELECTRICAL TAPE TO COVER THE FRONT OF EACH PINHOLE, THIS WILL ACT AS YOUR SHUTTER. TAKE OFF THE TAPE TO EXPOSE AND COVER BACK UP ONCE YOUR SHOT IS TAKEN

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU JUST MADE 2 IDENTICAL PINHOLE CAMERAS TO BE USED AS A STEREO TWIN RIG! The next Livestream will demonstrate loading & shooting the stereo pinhole twin rig with direct positive paper and developing it! We are just as excited to see what the results will be, and do any troubleshooting on the camera construction if needed. Essentially, the project is finished!

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusions to $$$#13 DIY STEREO PINHOLE CAMERA
– TWIN RIG

Thanks SO MUCH for watching! –ilicia