I’m still a little pissed off at the municipality for their refuse bin red tape. So, I decided to deliver a couple of bags to the dump site myself this morning. The first attempt was a disaster: the closest site is only about 10 minutes away, but it was full! It seems they are closing it down soon. It is in the middle of nowhere (OK, all of them are) and there is just this one attendant who leers at your rubbish but is practically useless.

So, I rushed back home (didn’t know if they close at some point) and looked up the second-closest site on the web. I’m feeling slightly better about the municipality now: their website is quite useful and it wasn’t difficult to find a nice map. What is more, this second dump site was excellent! Real user service! When I arrived about four or five attendants jumped up to help me unload. Well, first there was a lady with a clipboard who collected information about the dumpster. That would be the person who dumps. I think the upper bound on dumping at these sites is 1.3 tons (!) per month, so my two bags were probably under the limit.

After a couple of other Sunday errands, I came and constructed my pinhole camera:

It is extermely simple: a matchbox with a small hole (6×6 mm) cut in the “outer” shell, and another hole in the “tray” (24×24 mm). The second hole is the frame, and over the first hole is mounted a pinhole lens: a piece of aluminum with a small hole pricked in it with a pin. Well, technically this is a needlehole camera. You get the idea. Through the matchbox is threaded a rollof unexposed film. It’s the canister on the right in the picture. At the other end is an empty canister that will receive the exposed film and which I’ll hand it to be developed. All of this is held together with black duct tape, and all light leaks are sealed up securely. The shutter is a flap of duct tape.  That’s it!

I took about 8 exposures. I guess I could have taken more, but better to err on the safe side. This first “session” is just a test to see if the pinhole worked, if the camera is lightproof, and what the exposure time should be. I’m a little worried about the pinhole. I was suppose to sand it down to get rid of metal edges, but I don’t think it will be completely ruin the shots.

Altogether, the camera cost about R100, but the next versions will be cheaper: about R30.50. The bigger part of that price is the film; a box of matches costs 50c. I could probably buy in bulk, but I don’t intend to build too many more cameras, unless the results are phenomenal. Or if I do, I’ll aim for a little more sophistication. I’d love to try a bigger box version using photographic paper. Don’t know how much that will cost.