3d Printed Pinhole Camera

I'm a big photography aficionado and always wanted to make my own analog camera. Thanks to 3D printing, it is now possible to make a fully funcional pinhole camera. Just print the camera and start shooting. No assembly required.

First, I got inspired by old retro cameras which I wanted to base my design. I used 3D studio MAX to design my camera but you can use whatever you feel most comfortable with. Here are some 3D renderings of my design.

I won't go into detail on what a pinhole camera is but in essence, it is a simple camera with no lens but a small aperture (made with a pin) that projects an inverted image into the film. There are many factors to consider for the pinhole specially the diameter of the hole, the distance to the film and the type of film you are going to use. I found a website called MrPinhole that summarizes the most important features.

I printed the parts on OBJET Printers which are amazing. The resolution is really accurate and it made sense as we want good precision for the pinhole. Unfortunately I only had white color to print my camera so I had to paint them black afterwards.

I uploaded the STL files for you to print and customize! Let me know how things turned out.
:)

As I didn't have a black material to print my camera I had to paint them black. I used Rust Oleum universal paint primer in one black gloss for the outside and the same one but BLACK FLAT for the inside so I had no light reflection. You need to paint both sided because only one side will not make it lightproof. Any light that gets into the black box will expose your film.

Here are the instructions of use:

1. Put the lid on first. As there is no shutter in pinhole camera, the lid will be our shutter. If you remove the shutter light will pass through the pinhole and therefore projecting the image on the film. Check MrPinhole website to see how long your exposure has to be. In general they are about 1-2 seconds depending on how shiny the day is.
2. Load the film on the small pole and pull it towards the longer pole.
3. Place the film inside the slot of the long pole.
4. Close the camera putting the back body.
5. Lock the viewfinder (this will prevent the camera from opening accidentally).
6. Spin the long pole one turn.
7. Remove the lid to take your first photo. Spin the long pole one turn for the next picture.
8. Once you ran out of film. Turn the short pole to rewind the film.

Pinhole cameras are really exciting and 3d printing brings endless possibilities to play around with the diameter as well as the focal length. Please use the files and make your own cameras. Customize the lid, design a logo and make your own cameras! Please send your photos!

I will be editing this post and adding new pictures and new camera features. My plan is to have different "lenses" with diameters and focal lengths.