Now, it came time for me to take photos with my pinhole camera. It is very important to load the film in a completely dark room. Also, the film needs to be pulled out of the cassette before loading it into the camera.

To take the photos I strapped my camera onto my tripod using elastic bands. All of the exposures I made were outside so I opened my shutter for about 2 seconds. If I were in a darker lighting situation I would have left it open for longer. My photos did not turn out amazing however, I was not expecting great results from a pinhole camera. I hope to continue on with this in the future and keep working at taking photos with my pinhole camera. It was a challenging process and it took a long time to complete, however, I am proud that I got to build my very own camera.

The first step I took in making the camera was building the interior using foam core to create the slats.Next, I painted the interior and exterior of the box black.


The next step I took was building the film advance. To do this I used two wooden spools and a wooden dowl. I used a saw to slaught the end of the down so it would fit into the film cannister for rotation.

Next, I created the pinhole by measuring from corner to corner and made a mark in the center of the box. I used a drill to create the hold. Also, in the top of the camera I created another hole the same size as the wooden dowl for the film advance.


To create the pinhole I cut a piece of aluminum from a soda can and poked a whole in the center using a sharp needle. I than taped the aluminum over the whole I created with the drill. I then coloured the tape black with a sharpie marker.

The image above is the completed interior of the pinhole camera. As you can see I connected the 35mm film to the film advance and to keep it placed there I put a piece of foam core underneath with some foam to create a nice snug fit. On the other end I put in two slots where the film will load into. It took me a REALLY long time to get this film advance to work.

My next and last step was creating my shutter. This part was simple. All I did was tape a piece of black foam core over the pinhole using black tape. Everytime I make an exposure all I have to do is lift the foam core and then seal it back shut.

I was recently given the task of building my very own pinhole camera. The thought of building my own camera from scratch sounded very interesting therefore, I was very excited. I have built a pinhole camera in the past however, I used cardboard, and exposed to paper. This time I decided to get a little more complicated and made a 35mm pinhole camera out of wood.

It took a lot of research and planning to make this camera.

Materials Needed:

- Wooden box (anything that will keep light out)
- Wooden down
- Wooden spool
- Black tape
- Black Foam Core
- A sewing needle (or something with a sharp edge)
- A drill
- Black paint
- Aluminum from a soda can