Pinhole Cameras

http://www.kodak.com/global/images/en/professional/products/chemistry/packShots/kodafixSolution.jpg

caitlin is correct.

you also need darkness.

If you want to go the Polaroid route, I'd suggest looking at the Polaroid 405 holder ($50-75 on Ebay) and using their packfilm (Type 665 is the only number I know off the top of my head). It's a slightly smaller negative or image (3x4 instead of 4x5, I think), but also $1/shot.

I assume you're talking about HP5+ 4x5 film, no? Do you have sheet film holders (~$25 apiece new for 4x5)?

Or nothing-but-red-light for B/W paper, at least.

When I turned on the lights I had a near transparent gray sheet of plastic. What am I doing wrong?

I'm a little confused about the setup - how does the film going in the camera? Is there a slot toward the back for a film holder, or do you put the film in and seal the box? (if the former, it would look something like these: http://www.pinholecamera.com/)

Film developer is different, I've never heard of using Dektol (usually used for print developing)(I just now noticed that the image above was Dektol, I would have mentioned that earlier). That's an incredibly strong developer and even for prints has to be diluted (3:1 water:developer, if I recall). Each developer and film combination requires a different amount of developing - http://home.pacbell.net/mkirwan/Film%20Developing%20Chart.htm

When I turned on the lights I had a near transparent gray sheet of plastic. What am I doing wrong?

You did nothing wrong -- you just have to fuck with the exposures a bit. Also, instead of doing a dark room, try something with a little more contrast -- like a hallway with a few windows in it or something similar. The idea being to be able to see what you SHOULD be getting, so that you know when you get it. Dark rooms are hard to gauge, even wif a "real" camera.

Also, I got confused with the orig. Illford paper/film thing up top so I posted paper chem, rather than film chem.

In terms of film chem, I go with d-76 because I am a film school classisist.

(I'm speaking from experience here - pouring the two down the sink together also not recommended)

milozauckerman, you mentioned diluting the Dektol. I bought a small bag (as shown above) & mixed it with 1L of water--does it need to be further diluted? Considering I had a clear piece of plastic & dark pink developer after the process, I'm guessing this is the case.

http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.html - Look up HP5+ in the list of films there and it has the proper development times for most developers along with the dilution. (All based on an assumed water temp of 20 degrees celsius, I believe). I'd recommend D76 too, it's a fairly cheap developer and has been around forever. With a 1:1 mix ratio, you're looking at a 13 minute developing time for HP5+.

I'll see if I can find a detailed guide to film processing online (my instructions would suck - "put the thing in the thing and flip it, uh...").

The timing depends completely on the developer you use and its dilution - the times on the developing timing chart posted above vary from 5 to 25 minutes.

The only experience I have with HP5+ is with 35mm film, developed in a developing tank rather than trays. The process, though, is something like this:

a) load film into developing tank (a tub with a light-trap so it can be filled and emptied without light fogging the film)

b) dilute developer. Check temperature, making sure it's at least 20 degrees.

c) Pour developer into tank. Agitate gently. Keep doing it, for appropriate time

d) Empty out developer and rinse thoroughly, filling and emptying the tank with water several times.

e) Pour in fixer, agitating again, for at least five minutes.

f) Rinse thoroughly again. This is even more important the second time, because fixer leaves nasty brown stains behind when it dries. You can do this step with the lights on, though - leave it in the sink under a fast-running tap for five minutes or so.

g) Get rid of excess water and peg it up to dry. Try not to get dust on it.

You will probably be able to get a developing tank to fit the film you've got; it depends whether you can be arsed spending money on it or not.

I have no idea what this is (some old Navy manual for photographers?), but that page gives a pretty decent guide to exactly how tray development works, and the previous pages are about developing in general.

Caitlin, what kind of photo paper would you recommend? (Brand & Product number would be great).

Paperwise, you'll probably want variable-contrast (really only important if you have an enlarger to use contrast filters) resin-coated paper. Resin-coated isn't as archival as fibre paper, but it's easier to process and dry. I like pearl, halfway between matte and glossy - http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=501&pid=383

A medium-sized city library should have one of the older editions (ain't nothing changed about black and white in 20 years), every once in a while I see a copy in Half Price Books for $10. I do not recommend paying $90 for it.

anyway, havent seen this posted on the thread yet:

http://www.photo.net/learn/pinhole/pinhole

Again, a nearly clear piece of plastic, but this time with a bit of an image in the center. The image was the objects directly under a light. So what I'm gaining from this is 1) I'm close with my developing recipe 2) I'm not exposing long enough. I'm using a super-wide fisheye camera that recommends a 2 second exposure in bright sunlight, so I tried 12 seconds in a room lit by only a overhead stove light. My guess is that it needed at least 25-40 seconds to properly expose.

I'll try more tests tonight & let you know the results.

Light levels are deceiving. Indoors 400-speed at f/16 (with only one overhead light) is about a half-second to a full second, where outdoors in sunlight it would be ~1/250 or 1/500 of a second.

http://pinhole.fatboab.org/technique/exposure/index.shtml - this has photos showing the difference in exposure times (and a little guide for roughly how long the exposure needs to be). HP5+ is very forgiving, I'd aim long for my tests - maybe a full two minutes and go from there.