Cardboard camera obscura.
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Obscura camera means dark room! In this instructable, we'll create a small dark room using cardboard, a cereal box, masking tape, and a cheap plastic hand lens. You can use this little gizmo to look at the world upside down, turn it into a camera obscura, or use it as a cell phone projector! This is a great tool for teaching children about how the eye works, how we perceive light, and transparent and opaque materials.
History of the pinhole camera
Our distant ancestors also wondered how to make a camera obscura with their own hands - this phenomenon was first noticed by Aristotle back in the 4th century. BC.
The legendary Leonardo da Vinci was the first to describe the algorithm and mechanism of its operation. His invention was used by artists in the Middle Ages - a camera obscura helped them make paintings-copies of certain objects.
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Scientists also thought about how to make a camera obscura with their own hands in a more “advanced” version later.
In 1568, the principle of operation of the pinhole camera was improved - the Venetian inventor De Barbaro replaced the screen with a plano-convex lens. This innovation significantly improved the clarity and saturation of the image. The device was called a steno-camera. It became a stepping stone to the modern camera.
Recommendations
The device in question is based on the laws of geometric optics. Displaying a picture on the screen does not require the use of optical elements, which by their nature distort light rays. This is due to the relative simplicity and low costs.
When building a pinhole photographing camera, shutter speed is measured in seconds and even hours, depending on the illumination of the objects. Therefore, it is very important to eliminate at home any possibility of exposure of photographic material in the camera: carefully isolate it from the penetration of the weakest ray with electrical tape or another method.
For the same reason, all internal surfaces of the camera must be coated with black paint to prevent glare. Another mandatory condition when photographing is to keep the camera still during exposure. Use a reliable, solid support or tripod.
How to make a camera obscura with your own hands, see below.
What is a camera obscura
Camera obscura (lat. camera - “
room", obscura - "
darkened, dark") - the simplest optical device, the prototype of a camera. It can be either a box or chest, on one of the walls of which a small peephole is cut out, and instead of the other there is a screen made of translucent material, or a dark room with the same small peephole and screen.
Another name for this device is a pinhole camera .
"chamber having an opening").
Manufacturing Features
Let's consider several features of such devices.
- Such a camera consists of two main parts: a wall with a hole and a screen. Others serve to render or photograph an image.
- In a pinhole camera, the hole is analogous to the diaphragm of a camera. The distance from the aperture to the screen plays the role of focus.
- In large-sized devices, the dimensions of which range from tens of centimeters to meters, the quality of hole processing does not play a special role. But on a centimeter scale this is no longer the case.
- The most suitable material is aluminum sheet.
- It is best to pierce the diaphragm with a steel needle on a hard cardboard backing, then sand both surfaces with sandpaper.
- The optimal diameter depends on the focal length of the camera. The relationship between these two parameters is approximately as follows: the aperture diameter is several hundred times smaller than the focus. You can take 100-500 times depending on the desired quality and technological capabilities.
: Finish assembly
Arrange all the pieces so that your box looks like a box. Tape all the outer edges, trying to cover any light gaps. The darker the inside of your box, the sharper your image will be. You can also cover the outside with dark paper if you like.
How were paintings painted during the Renaissance?
Renaissance masters made paints on their own; apprentices served for these purposes, grinding minerals and pigments into powder, and then the master diluted them with a special mixture. The mixtures were most often made from eggs or oils. This is how tempera and oil paints were invented.
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Return of the player
Turntable Amplifier Do you have an old turntable and a dusty record collection that you haven't digitized but don't want to throw away? If so, put it back into service even if your stereo doesn't have a dedicated Phono input.
All you need is a Phono amplifier that converts the Phono signal into an acceptable line level signal and connects it to any input on your Hi-Fi system using a cinch cable. A good choice, for example, would be the Hama PA 506 model (about 5,000 rubles on eBay) in a solid metal case.
Labor intensity: average; costs: 5000 rub.
Easy in battle
I decided to shoot on photo paper, because... It is much more convenient to work with it than with sheet film - charging cassettes and developing pictures under a red light is much more convenient than suffering in complete darkness with sheet film.
Photo paper involved in the experiment
Based on the calculated above value of the relative pinhole aperture and my experience of shooting on photographic paper, I speculatively estimated the shutter speed for the first sighting shot: 5 minutes - the shutter speed, of course, is hellish. Well, these were all purely theoretical estimates, now it’s time to move on to practice.
The next weekend, I unscrewed the lens of my camera (both the front and the back of it) and in its place, using rubber bands, I attached a plug made of food foil, in which I made a hole with a needle with a diameter clearly less than one millimeter, but more than half a millimeter.
Pinhole lens
After that, I diluted chemicals for developing photographic paper and prepared a darkroom for myself in the bathhouse.
There is no better place for a darkroom than a steam room in a bathhouse.
