Alternative Digital Techniques

[cal_gundert05]

This is a spin-off of my earlier thread ("This could be cool...") in this forum.

Here's the story:

I was considering making a pinhole camera, but I don't know how to develop film and that's not a road I want to venture down, what with film's uncertain future (I'm also kind of cheap, and afraid that having to pay for each image I make with a pinhole might discourage me from taking many pics).

So I was wondering if there's a way to get "pinhole-esque" results with a digital camera. By "pinhole-esque," I mean images with variable picture quality that often look better with fewer elements/subjects in the shot.

I don't have a digital SLR, so I can't do the pinhole-in-the-body-cap method.

I was thinking of getting a very old digicam, or one made for kids that has bad picture resolution--like <0.5 megapixels.

Do you have any ideas how else to get that "pinhole-esque" effect with a digicam? Questions, concerns, comments, tips?

Thanks

 

[cal_gundert05]

No one seems ot have any suggestions, but I'll keep trying.

I want to get images like these, with their lack of sharpness and washed out colors, with a digital camera.

Some of the kids cameras I've found online have a max 640x480 resolution. Do you think that image resolution would make the noticably crumby images I'm looking for?

Thanks guys

 

[Glen C]

I have an old Intel Pocket Cam with 640x480 resolution (640K) and that picture you posted looks very much like the results it gave me. If that's what your looking for I think your looking in the right place. My shots come out like this:

Some worse, some better.

 

[oldnavy170]

I am just curious as to why you want to do this? I am just curious thats all.

 

[cal_gundert05]

Hey, thanks Glen. 640X480 does seem like what I'm looking for.

I am just curious as to why you want to do this? I am just curious thats all.

Honestly, I can't quite put my finger on it.

I have a pretty good digital camera and a film SLR, so it's not like I'll be missing out on the chance to take good quality shots of important events and beautiful images.

I also like the feel of those low quality shots in some (but not all) cases. Also, many times I end up shooting a mediocre subject, relying on the camera to fix the problems for me. However, I think that shooting with a crumby camera will make me work harder to develop my subject (did that make sense? ). But who knows?

 

[cal_gundert05]

I found someone willing to give me their crap-tastic digicam for free. YAY!

I pick it up Thursday morning, but here's the link I was given:

Trash-Cam

I'm so excited. This should be a hoot.

P.S. If snyone's reading this (I doubt it), notice that I've posted 3 of the 5 responses to this thread. :blushing: