Topic: Print-your-own 35mm pinhole camera

[sam]

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/03/print-your-own_35mm_pinhole_camera.html

Francesco Capponi created this handy printable template (A4, unfortunately for U.S. makers!) for creating a pinhole camera using a roll of 35mm film. Both the template and instructions are found on Francesco's Flickr page.

[Rik]

I can remember making a pinhole camera as a kid, Sam, though using sheet film.

[Simon]

What would one be used for? 

[Rik]

It's a camera which doesn't rely on a lens to focus the image on the film, instead using a tiny hole (aperture) to replace it. The big version, the camera obscura, was the precursor to cameras as we know them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura

[sam]

and you can still get some pretty nice images.

Tis also a very good and safe way to observe the Sun.

[Clive]

A time-honoured method in fact.  You can see sunspots quite clearly when they are around. 

[sam]

indeed you can, nice simple experiment to measure the rotation rate of the Sun there too.

[Simon]

Now you mention viewing the sun, I realise where I've heard of them before. 

[sam]

probably some eclipse related show.

[Simon]

Probably the last 'proper' eclipse some years ago.

[sam]

1999 I guess. Oh how disappointed I was.  Still was worth a shot... one day I'll have to travel to see one.

[Clive]

Well worth it Sam.  I watched that Brian Cox astronomy programme last night which was about the total eclipse from India last year.  He's very good to be fair.  I had considered going to Easter Island to see this year's eclipse but the weather prospects are very poor in the south Atlantic in August and the island will probably sink with so many tourists crawling over it on the same day!

[sam]

I still get annoyed by his presentation. Especially having a particle person doing astronomy, surely there has to be a good astronomer out there who could have done the job!

[Simon]

I haven't see any of them yet!  The clips look interesting. 

[sam]

I've not watched any but I had a lengthy discussion with my mother about Enceladus today.