Sentinel4

I am interested in buying a lens cap modified for pinhole use for my Fuji XT3 or 2. The Thingify reviews are not that impressive. Has anyone had a lens cap drilled or perhaps had someone use a 3D printer to make one?

Thanks for any info.

Sentinel4

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I took an extender, put aluminum foil over and punched a pin hole in the center. worked well enough.

Sentinel4

Thanks.
Sentinel4

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

These used to be produced and available for purchase. But they weren't lens caps. They were modified body caps. They will work, but the tradeoff is sensitivity versus resolution. Bigger openings admit more light, but quickly make a less sharp image. It is also important that the material the pinhole is drilled into be as thin as possible for best images. I'd start by making a 1/4" hole in a body cap, attaching aluminum kitchen foil, and make a very small hole in the foil. The foil cannot be wrinkled, and "punching" the hole isn't ideal, because the edges roll back toward the film (or sensor), leaving an edge that is not well-defined. The other challenge you will face is that body caps are generally not designed and built to guarantee a light-tight fit to the lens mount, so you may have to deal with light leakage.

I bought one of the commercially produced ones in the 1980s, primarily to shoot model railroad photographs. The main outcome for me was learning pretty quickly why it was so beneficial to progress to lenses with glass and diaphragms. But doing the experiment was great.

BebuLamar

As the previous poster said it's not a lens cap but rather body cap. Making a body cap via 3D printer is more expensive than just buying one. As for the pin hole part, the 3D printer can't print it well because it has to be very thin and the hole very small and round clean hole.
If you want to do it yourself it's best to buy a regular lens cap and make the pinhole yourself.

Sentinel4

Thanks for the advice.

Sentinel4

Sentinel4

Thanks.

Sentinel4

User ID

Yup, foil. If tempted to attempt precision drilling a body cap consider how much easier to drill a coarse hole and then use a foil pinhole over the larger hole.

I messed around with a Thingyfy for about a half hour and tossed it. Also, their own website indicates they are kinda clueless about pinholes and basic simple optics.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Exactly. I was in a camera club and this topic was discussed for the evening. My takeaway was aluminum foil, pin and poke out and smooth it. PS different macro tube lengths give different "focal lengths".

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Make a larger hole on your body cap and tape or cement either a homemade pinhole or a commercially available one in place over the larger hole.

I have read that to make the cleanest hole with no burrs, make a dimple in the metal, then using a high grit sandpaper on a block, sand the dimple down From the backside to form the hole. I haven’t done this myself but it does sound like the best way to get a cleaner, rounder hole.

Stan

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

I did one with a body cap, Drilled a 1/8" hole, then I used a piece of aluminum thin metal sheet (From a beer can or soda can, get the one as thin as possible), then I drilled with a sewing pin, not a drill bit to make a hole to about 0.4mm in diam.( I have a measurement scale to roughly determine the size), carefully rounded up the edge, shown in the following image, the result was quiet good.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I purchased what looks like a body cap with a hole drilled in the center. Fotodiox makes them.
--Bob

lsupremo Loc: Palm Desert, CA

I’m just curious as to why you and/or others want to take pinhole images? I thought this system of imagery went out about a 100 years ago.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Just like people still use film.
Or glass wet plates.
Or manual focus lenses.
Or match needle metering or meter with a separate meter.
Or better yet use a bit of charcoal on paper to make a portrait.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

For me just for fun, nothing else!