I find pinhole cameras pretty fascinating and for some reason friday night, I got it in my head to Google it and found myself with a ton of information. Some guy has even built a pinhole camera from Lego.

This got me thinking that I didn't want to build a pinhole camera from a Quaker Oat package or a cardboard box. I wanted to make something that I could load 35 mm film into and have it advance like in a normal camera.

We went to the local thrift store and I bought a point and shoot for $2.82. When I got home, out came the Dremel. First I drilled four small holes in the corner of where the lens and shutter release were from the inside to the outside. This let me know on the outside of the camera where to cut. Next I took a cutoff wheel and cut out the lens and the shutter release from the outside.

Next I cut a beer can into a long sheet of aluminum and cut a piece large enough to cover the front of the camera. I took a pin and made a hole--nothing scientific, just a small hole.

I used black duct tape to tape it to the front of the camera. I loaded the camera and then proceeded to take exposures--much much much too long. They ranged from 5 minutes:

to 30 seconds:

The 30 second shot was much better, but it still was over exposed. You can also see that around the edges, more plastic from the camera housing needs to be removed.

I took the camera apart and Dremelled out more plastic and created a new pinhole with a smaller aperture.

I also lined the inside of the aluminum with black tape. Another roll of film has been shot--at 5 second, 10 second, and 15 second exposures. In the next day or two I will get it developed and we'll see what comes out.

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