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Pinhole photography: Coated and uncoated holes compared

Since first introduced in the 1930s, coatings have given photographers tough, reflection-free, contrasty lenses. And the same technology can be applied to the holes in pinhole cameras.

But is it worth it? Coating can add a degree of scratch resistance to a hole, but does it make a real-word difference to image quality?

Here’s a direct comparison between a coated and an uncoated hole – with science and images – so you can decide for yourself.

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‘Scanning’ film negatives

This is my set up and process for ‘scanning’ negatives. That is making positive, digital copies of pictures from film negatives.

The usual way of doing this is using a scanner. But – unless you have a zillion-pound, wet-mount drum scanner – you’ll probably be using a flatbed scanner. I haven’t had any joy getting good results out of a flatbed.

I get much better results using a digital camera, a tripod, a light pad and a homemade negative holder. I process the scans in Lightroom and Photoshop. (They are photos of negatives, not scans as such, but I’m going to call them scans.)

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