How to Make a Pinhole Camera from a Can

Posted on February 22nd, 2009 by Carmelia

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Pinhole cameras are an amazing technology that can be made from the most ordinary materials. It’s a light-tight camera with a small hole, where the light can pass through and imprint the picture on photographic paper. Learn how to make your very own pinhole camera using one of the most common household items: A tin can.

Materials

Tin can. Make sure that your can does not let any light in (light-tight). Check for holes or breaks before using.
Self-adhesive black felt paper OR black spray paint
Heavy duty aluminum foil or brass shims
Double-sided adhesive tape
Colored paper
Bolt and nut
Rubber banks
No. 8 Needle
Compass
Ruler
5mm drill bit and mini drill bit
Cutter
Scissors
Screwdrivers
Sharpie
Black electric tape (optional)

Making a Pinhole Camera

Clean the tin can well using soap and water. Wipe dry.
Cut out the self-adhesive black felt paper to cover the interior of the can. To measure the interior walls, take a ruler to measure the internal length and diameter. Multiply the diameter by 3.14 to get the width of the internal walls. Use a compass to measure the bottom, top and the top’s edge.
As an alternative, you can use a flat black spray paint to coat the interior walls of the tin can. Let it sit and dry.
Use your screwdriver to make or press a notch on the top edge of the can, just deep enough so you can feel it in the darkness.
Use your ruler to measure the the outer wall of the can. Find the middle part and mark it with an x. If you want your pictures to have other special effects, use your compass to find the center of the bottom of your can. Mark it with an x as well.
Drill the marks with your 5mm drill to make a hole with a half-inch diameter. Ask an adult to help you when using drills, especially handheld ones. Sand off any burrs from the drilling. This hole will be your aperture.
Cut out an square of aluminum foil or brass shim, one inch in all sides. Use a needle or a tiny drill bit to puncture a hole in the middle of the square. The hole must be uniformly round all around. This can get a bit tricky, but you can achieve this by placing the square on a larger piece of cardboard paper. Put some tape sticky side out on top of the needle, where the eye is located. Secure your fingers with the tape, put your other hand on the cardboard, and rotate the needle while drilling counterclockwise and rotating the cardboard counterclockwise at the same time. Do not puncture in one go: Drill.
After you’ve drilled the aluminum foil or brass shim, use fine sandpaper to lightly sand the hole and get rid of burrs and fallouts.
Put the aluminum foil inside the can, on the interior wall. Make sure that the hole of the aluminum square lines up with the hole you made on the side of the can. Attach the sides of the aluminum with the can using glue or black electric tape.
To make the shutter, cut a rectangular shape on the black felt paper. Its width should be 1/3 of the tin can’s height, and its length around 3cm longer than the tin can’s diameter.
Wrap the felt paper around the can, and secure it by putting two rubber bands around it. Whenever you want the shutter to open, you can slide down the felt to expose the hole on the tin can’s side, and slide it back up to cover the hole when you want the shutter to be closed.
You can also use black electric tape to use as a shutter.
To make sure that the tin can is light-tight, use a rubber bank to put over the can’s cover or use black electric tape to seal it.