Matchbox – John Neel

One of my to-do projects for the WPPD 2012 was to build a working 120 pinhole camera from a large kitchen matchbox.

Although I had built smaller 35mm pinhole cameras from regular matchboxes, I had never built one with this size matchbox before. So at the time, it was to be a work in progress.

Find out more about WPPD here –  Are You Ready? The next pinhole day is April 27, 2014 

The only thing I knew at that point was that that a large size matchbox has the same height dimension as a roll of 120 film. I also realized that 120 film which does not have a cassette, would require a much more robust system to make it function in this setup.

Materials used in the original 120 Matchbox Pinhole Camera.

Now all I needed to do was make a chamber that would be light tight, add the pinhole, a shutter and create a way to advance the film to a new frame! I was pretty sure it would require some improvisation, a bit of luck and plenty of ingenuity to make it work.

This time around, I may alter a few things as I build another one for the next WPPD, which will be on April 27, 2014. I am sure that the results will be fun and with any luck, it will work as planned

Here is my original list of materials:

• Glue stick and/or glue
• Thin cardboard
• Utility knife
• Empty aluminum beverage can
• Empty 120 film spool
• Black plastic or photographic tape
• Needle from a sewing kit or sewing needle
• Black construction paper
• Roll of 120 film
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Paper clip
• Book Board or Foamcore
• Piece of black felt
• Pencil
• Self adhesive Velcro Strips
• Fine point craft knife

At the end of the construction, I will post the results with detailed instructions on how to make one yourself.

This should be fun!

If you decide to tag along, I would encourage some innovative customization and tweaking to make your design a bit more personal. The whole idea is to have fun and take photographs with a camera that you build yourself and end up with a camera that will hopefully make some nice pinhole photographs.

Watch my posts for the results!

Have FUN!

This is the WPPD PosterI I created for this years event – 2017.

Links:

Are You Ready? The next pinhole day is April 30, 2017

Get a 2017 WPPD poster here: 2014 Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day – Promo Posters

Rethinking Digital Photography

My book – Rethinking Digital Photography

Read more about Pinhole Photography and other great photographic techniques in my book Rethinking Digital Photography.

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