History of the Pinhole Camera: Classy and Superior

Pinhole camera has been in popular use for many years due to its simple and easy handling features. In fact it is the simplest model to be used till date. The use of the pinhole camera ranges from taking pictures for fun, art and science to security surveillance. The mechanism and design features that make it classy and superior are explained in this article.

Unconventional camera
The pinhole camera deviates away from the conventional models in terms of both the design and the functions that it performs. In the place of the usual camera case, the pinhole camera uses a light-proof box. Even a match box or a cereal box can function as the light proof box. The usual glass lens is replaced by a tiny sized hole, which is exactly similar to a hole made by a pin.

Though the description may make it seem like a toy, this card board camera is not one to be taken lightly. The images registered in this pinhole camera are very impressive and superior to the conventional cameras that are in use. Soft and infinite depths of field images are special features of the pinhole camera.

Principle of pinhole camera
The principle on which the pinhole camera works is very simple and is based on pinhole optics. Light is passed from outside through a tiny hole in the box and an image is produced in the camera. To have a better understanding of the principle, imagine that you are inside a large box that is completely dark. A tiny hole is present on one side of the room through which light is focused. The light is passed at different angles.

In the side of the wall that is directly opposing to the pin hole, a tiny dot is formed as a result of the light passed from the outside. The dot moves along with the direction of the light. When the box is taken out and focused on the garden, the side of the box opposite to the hole will carry an inverted image of the garden. This is due to the light beams present in the garden which pass through the hole and create images in the wall directly opposing to it.

In this manner the whole picture of the garden is produced on the wall of the box. The picture creation may take a long time to form due to the magnitude of the area and the tiny opening but the results will be appreciable but a dim image is formed due to the small size of the hole.

Tiny size of the camera
The pinhole camera that is in regular use has a hole, which is very small compared to the example given above. And in the place of the empty wall opposite to the hole, there is a film flattened against the wall on which the image is formed by the light passing through the hole.

The exposure time of the pinhole camera is longer than the usual camera exposure time and ranges from a few seconds to several hours. The reason is due to the size of the opening, which allows only a small amount of light to enter at a time. However the picture created is very good and well focused and is worth the time it takes to record.