From f295: The Chaneloflex

F295 was an international discussion forum begun and administered by Tom Persinger. Originally just about pinhole photography, it expanded into all kinds of alternative methods.  It was active from 2004 until 2015 but it remains on-line. Recently it disappeared from the web for a few days, and that prompted me to decide to reprise some of my favorites here at Pinholica, for backup if no other reason.

It’s gotten to be a tradition to make Sarah a camera for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.  This was the first one, posted on May 5th, 2012.

In the first pinhole workshop Sarah and I participated in with Ruth Thorne-Thomsen in 1982, she provided the design of the camera (her design, my PDF) we all made with matte board that was black on one side (the inside of the camera of course), and white on the outside, with all of the corners taped up with black tape. Sarah's first thought when she saw it was that it looked just like a Chanel product.

Ever since she has considered just about every box she has gotten from Chanel as a potential camera.

The inclusion of the camera picture on the WPPD site this year pushed us over the edge, and I built her a camera out of the box for a bottle of Eau d'toilette, parts of a nail polish box, and the handle from a nail polish brush.

It's f275. .2mm pinhole 55 mm from a 24x45mm frame on normal 35mm film.

I made a film carrier out of cardstock and foamcore.

Which slides into the camera in a slot of foamcore.

With a bonus baffle to make darn sure no light wiggled inside. The end cap of the box was then slid back on.

A closeup of the 529 Graphite shutter.

A sample photograph (by Sarah).

And the image she submitted to WPPD.

She also used this camera on Pinhole Day in 2013, 2014, and 2017.