How to make a digital pinhole camera

In this tutorial we show you how to capture quirky images without a lens, by making a digital pinhole camera using your DSLR’s body cap.

Believe it or not, you don’t need a lens to capture a photo with your DSLR – you can make an image simply by allowing light to pass through a small hole onto your camera’s sensor.

The technique is known as pinhole photography, and it’s a great way to add a twist to your creative repertoire.

Okay, so the images you get won’t be perfect; in fact they’re likely to be quite blurred, but that’s all part of the charm!

What’s more, the technique is very simple, and very cheap. All you need is a spare body cap for your camera, a small, thin piece of metal, a pin or needle to make the hole, scissors, some tape, fine sandpaper, a drill and some basic DIY skills.

And if you’re not too handy with tools, you can purchase a pre-made laser-drilled pinhole – they’re readily available online.

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Step by step how to make a digital pinhole camera

Make your pinhole lens, set up your DSLR to capture a long exposure and add some flash lighting.

01 Drill the body cap
Place a spare body cap on a block of wood or other secure protective surface, and drill a hole that’s roughly 5mm in diameter in the centre. Use some fine sandpaper to file away any loose bits of plastic so they don’t fall into your camera.

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02 Make the pinhole
Carefully cut out a small square (to fit snuggly inside the plastic body cap) from a clean aluminium drinks can. Use a needle or pin to make a hole in the centre of the square, and file down the centre of the hole with sandpaper until it’s smooth.

03 Align the holes
Place the aluminium square inside the body cap and secure it with tape, positioning it so the pin-size hole is as close to the centre of the hole in the body cap as possible. Now attach the body cap to your camera body.

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04 Use a tripod
Place the camera on a tripod – because the light is passing through the pinhole exposure times are likely to be several seconds, so it’s essential that your camera remains still. Set your camera to Manual mode, and set a low ISO of 200.

05 Set the shutter speed
You’ll need to experiment with the shutter speed, as the camera’s metering system won’t be able to calculate a good exposure through the pinhole. Start at between 5-10 seconds, take a test shot and adjust your settings until you get a balanced exposure.

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06 Add some flash
When you’re happy with the exposure, use off-camera flash to add vibrance and depth to your image. Set the flash to quarter power, point it at the subject and press the test button to fire flashes from different angles during the exposure.

Composition

Composing your shot will require a bit of guesswork, so use the rear LCD screen to help you. The smallest of adjustments to the position of your camera will have a big impact on the composition; to make things easier, move the camera further back so there’s plenty of breathing room around the subject, then crop in as necessary in post-production.

Quick tip
Use your camera’s histogram after taking a test shot to help you calculate a balanced exposure

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