Invention of Pinhole camera

Ibn Al-Haytham (Alhazen), an Islamic mathematician, astronomer, and physicist invented the pinhole camera around 1000 Gregorian Calendar and explained why the image was upside down. Later around 1600, Della Porta reinvented the pinhole camera. Apparently he was the first European to publish any information on the pinhole camera and is sometimes incorrectly credited with its invention.

pinhole camera is a camera without a conventional glass lens. It is a camera that uses a pinhole to form an image instead of a lens. An extremely small hole in a very thin material can focus light by confining all rays from a scene through a single point. In order to produce a reasonably clear image, the aperture has to be a small pinhole on the order of 0.5 mm (0.02 inches) or less. The shutter of a pinhole camera usually consists of a hand operated flap of some light-proof material to cover and uncover the pinhole. Pinhole cameras require much longer exposure times than conventional cameras because of the small aperture; typical exposure times can range from 5 seconds to hours or days.

The image may be projected on a translucent screen for real-time viewing (popular for viewing solar eclipses; see also camera obscura), or can expose film or a charge coupled device (CCD).

Relevant Links

2005 WYSTAWA FOTOGRAFII OTWORKOWEJ - Polish-American Photography Exhibition at the Museum of History of Photography in Krakow
Pinhole Photography - History, Images, Cameras
The Pinhole Gallery - A gallery of photographs taken with pinhole cameras, current selection by over 300 photographers.
Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD)* The Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is an event organised in support and celebration of pinhole photography. Photographs from all over the world taken on this day using pinhole cameras are then shown on the project's Internet pages. It was launched in 2001 and is held every year on the last Sunday in April, so the next WPPD will fall on 29 April 2007.
The Pinhole Resource - World's Largest Supplier of Pinhole Photography Products & Non-Profit Archive for Pinhole Photography

 

pinhole images