Pinhole lens for Nikon Z mount camera - does precision matter?

[Marc]

The question in a nutshell is - how critical is the distance between the pinhole and the camera sensor?

I thought I would try my luck at pinhole photography and not finding anything available for the Nikon Z mount, I came across this and downloaded the code and had a pinhole cap printed by a 3D printer service in UK:-

Pinhole for Nikon Z-Mount by eagereyes | Download free STL model | Printables.com

I have no expereience of 3D printing.

Anyway, it produced a flat lens cap surface (I don't know how else to describe it - and the plastic circle - the actual mount which has to be fixed to the flat surface, eventually by gluing it in place. There are slots so that the mounting ring keys into the flat cap.

However, the male parts on the mounting ring are just too large for the slots in the cap - so I have had to butcher it a bit so that at least I can be sure that the who parts are mated at the correct position. (With me so far???)

However, I haven't manage to get the two surfaces to be completely flush with each other so that there is a fraction of a mm gap and that means that the lens distance is a fraction of a mm further away from the sensor.

Here you can see the mount ring with the raised male parts. The slots in the surface can't be seen as they are underneath the flat surface




I suppose that because the two parts aren't properly flush with each other, the lens is slightly loose in the camera - which I have solved by putting an elastic band around the mounting ring - weather proofing!!

Here is a picture of the parts which I had printed. You can see the raised parts on the ring mount and the slots in the back of the cap surface.


I don't know if it is something which I have done wrong or the printing service - or the author of the Code.

And here are two which I bodged earlier - and by the way, I consider that this is all the purest spirit of pinhole photography.



On the right you can see the glue holding the mount ring to the cap and you can also the elastic around the outside - a hair band which I tealeafed from my daughter.

Anyway, it seems to work - but once again - would one notice any difference/improvement if the two parts were properly mated together as intended?

 

[Martin Henson]

The distance determines the focal length, so it’s important in that the image circle covers the film size or sensor size.

If it’s not mm correct I doubt it would be detrimental

A while back I used the wrong pinhole size on my zero54 pinhole camera, to match the focal length, the picture turned out fine , I did not get as much in the composition as intended. The pinhole was 50mm in focal length the the pinhole to film plane was 75mm, it should have been 50mm.

If the pinhole image circle is to small you will get a dark black circle around your picture

 

[Marc]

Ta.

I'm trying to work out what all that means – so far I've only fitted and tried the .15 pinhole and that seems to be taking pictures correctly although I haven't uploaded them and seen them on a proper screen yet.

The other ones I have are .55 and .35.

The distance from the sensor is certainly minute – only just enough to make the pinhole lens loose in the mount. I was concerned – partly that it might not work and that now seems unfounded because it does seem to work, but also I was interested to know what difference it might make if it was fitted as designed - and you have answered that so thank you.

 

[khan1]

Yes, the precision of the pinhole lens used with the Nikko z mount camera is important. The quality of the image captured by the camera will depend on the precision of the lens.

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[Glenn]

Where did you get the pinhole plate from please Marc?

I made my own crude version for my Z7 with an FTZ adaptor and a set of old Nikon F extension tubes. I covered the end with a homemade foil plate with a small hole poked through and checked on my ancient optical microscope. It worked well enough but I would like to repeat with something better.