Nice! Glad it worked out for you!

Definitely. Sean was just lazy :)

Thanks!

We're bringing Shrinky Dink back! :)

Glad you like them! Send us your results--we'd love to see what you come up with!

That would be a cool project!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Glad you liked it!

Thanks!

Oh, we basically just duct taped the tripod plate to the bottom of the camera. Not ideal but it works :)

You could try using frosted plastic/a ground glass material like we did here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qch-ipd6rc-8qIk.html

All we're using the DSLR for is to digitize the image the camera obscura is producing. That being said, you're technically correct, because once we introduce a digital camera element to a camera obscura, it does become more of just a regular camera. But otherwise the images would just sit there on the ground glass and no one else could see them.

Thanks!

It would be cool!

Yes, that should work as long as you have the phone positioned so it can focus on the ground glass.

Yes, it should work. Just place the photo paper where the frosted plastic is. The trick would be to make it all function in cardboard. An easier method might me to use an existing large format camera and replace the lens with a magnifying glass for the lo-fi out of focus look.

That would be interesting!

No, because you need the space for the magnifying glass's image circle to enlarge to fill the fresnel. You also need space to move the lens back and forth to focus near or far.

It's a glass or other transparent material that's textured on one side to pick up an image coming from the lens of a camera. In this case we used Shrinky-Dinks material, but you can also use frosted plastic or textured glass.

Yes and no. Yes, it will work with a pinhole, but the image will be much darker and harder to photograph. Pinholes work better when you're capturing directly to film or a digital sensor.

Any fresnel sheet from Amazon will do, but I believe we used this one: www.amazon.com/Magpro-Lightweight-Magnifying-Magnifier-Patterns/dp/B07MCCPFTW/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2Q9QBWYO1U8N5&keywords=fresnel%2Bsheet&qid=1692714331&sprefix=fresnel%2Bsheet%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-6&th=1

For sure!

Could you use tissue paper? I am attempting to make my own obscura

Any sort of frosted glass or plastic could work. Just make sure it's somewhat clear.

Apparently the textured material in a laptop screen also works, but we haven't tried it yet.

@@FotodioxInc thank you! Also do you have any suggestions for measurement when creating the hood or the 3rd box? I used a 40 mm magnifying glass and the focal length is around 6.5 inches. Does making the box wider make any difference? Let's say i'll keep the 6.5 length, can i make my Boxes width and height bigger ? Won't it affect the images that'll show in my paper? Since i tried to make one, but orientation is landscape, and its size w:5 inch x h:3 inches. Thank you!

@@Arlechinoxx I'm not sure how helpful I can be. When I make these cameras, I just throw them together and modify them as needed, so I'm a bit hazy in the math. One way you can check the focal flange distance you'll need is to point the magnifying glass optic at a distant light source and then hold up your hand on the other side of it and see how far your hand has to be from the glass for the light source to be in focus. That's how far your ground glass will have to be.

:D

According to Merriam-Webster a camera obscura is “a darkened enclosure having an aperture usually provided with a lens through which light from external objects enters to form an image of the objects on the opposite surface.” So technically a camera obscura can have a lens or a pinhole. Technically it is a room though, so what Sean has created is more of a portable version, plus he is then capturing the image off the ground glass with a camera, so the final product is actually a photograph of what the camera obscura created.