For those who like their pinhole photographs made with a 35mm SLR, the body cap is the main ingredient. The limitations are few. I can only name one in my case, and that is hand-holdability. Pinhole cameras produce best when they are attached to a tripod or sitting solidly on terra firma. A 35mm camera’s advantage is in its portability. This article will describe how to make a hybrid pinhole camera system using a 35mm SLR. And the result will be a hand-holdable unit.


1. First get a body cap. Mark the center of the cap with a grease pencil or chalk.





2. Drill or cut a pilot hole into the lens cap. A 1/16” bit will do. It need not be centered perfectly! You can even use a Dremel tool and cut out a square hole.


3. Drill or cut a bigger pilot hole. The next size, and so on. Again, it does not need to be centered perfectly


4. Continue until you have made a hole about ½” to 3/4” in diameter. If you mess up, it can even be 1” in diameter. No big deal. File off the burrs and clean out all the dust and debris.

5. Find a small magnifying lens that will cover the ½” or 1” hole you made. You
can find cheap plastic lenses in sewing shops, toy slide viewers, or even surplus stores like American Science & Surplus or Edmund Scientific. I’ve used lenses up to 1 inch in diameter and they work just fine. Once you find one, attach it to the rear of the lens cap; not the front! Use 5 minute epoxy, Shoe Goo, or silicone glue, and let it dry overnight. Silicone or Shoe Goo is best, because you can remove it and “change” lenses.



(Rear of body cap with lens from a toy camera glued in place.)



6. Once the glue has dried, you can attach the body cap/magnifying lens to your

camera and look through the viewfinder. Chances are, everything will be too out of focus. Well folks, it’s not finished yet. Next is the fun part.



(Front view with lens attached)


7. You will be making a series of apertures. The best material is blackened sheet film, but aluminum foil or card stock (blackened) will do. Any material you choose should be opaque. Cut the material into 1”x 1” squares. For now, make about three. Next, get a drill or a sharp blade to make the holes. I use a scalpel to make square holes in each square I have. Vary the size of the holes, starting from the smallest that you can make, up to ¼’. They don’t have to be perfect, nor do they have to be centered perfectly.



(An aperture made out of exposed sheet film)



8. Next, put a small strip of tape on one edge of your makeshift aperture. Go outside and find a photographic subject and point your camera towards it. With the
body cap on your camera, look into the viewfinder, and place the makeshift aperture over the body cap. Move it around until you see what you like, then press the tape onto the surface of the body cap. Now, tape all around the makeshift aperture to hold it in place.


You’ll find that “stopping down” will get you the sharpest image, but I try to find a happy medium between sharpness and hand-holdability. Try out your other apertures. You can even cut out different aperture shapes like cat-eye slits or crosses. What I like about this hybrid pinhole is that the "holes" do not have to be as small as conventional pinholes. That's it. Enjoy!