Happy Little Mac Pinhole Camera

We have all heard of Macquariums, and I have even built a few, but have you ever heard of a Mac Pinhole Camera? Here is how I built one for International Pinhole Camera day (4/29/07). I just know there is an old Mac sitting in your basement... go ahead, it is time to void the warranty!

Step 1 Gut the Mac

I used an old Mac SE for this project. To crack the case, there are just a few screws to pull. They are torx screws, If you do not have a torx screwdriver, a flathead will work. Once the screws are removed, the front pulls off easily. Just get your fingernails along the crack and pull.
Really, it is not that hard to do.

Here are some other instructions on how to crack open a Mac

Once you have the case open, remove all the electronics and discard. You will have to look for screws. Be careful of the monitor, sometimes high voltages can zap you! Wear a long sleeve shirt in case the monitor breaks. Don't worry too much, just be careful.

Comments

[rimar2000]

Very good result. Pinhole photos are usually bad, but yours are good.

[bpwagner]

It is all in the pinhole and how much time you put into creating the pinhole.  The pinhole I used is perfectly round.  I put it under a microscope and took a look at it.  Also having it focus on a full sheet of paper makes it good.  Thanks for the kind comment!

[bpwagner]

Just regular photo paper - 1 8x10 sheet

[mindesign]

is the photo paper just regular photo paper that you would expose negatives to?

[Wetwillie1800]

Hey!!!! 4/29 is MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! SWEET!!! PS: Cool Instructable!

[bpwagner]

There is something going on with the comments. I have received some comment/questions by email, but cannot respond until the comments show up here. I will respond when they show up. If anyone out there knows how to fix this, it would be super. Brian

[LasVegas]

I assume you got my initial attempts at posting a comment. I kept getting that 500 error.

[bpwagner]

I did get it ... Not a digital nor one pixel, but a cool instructable, nonetheless! It's sad you disposed of the electronics. It might have come in handy if your school ever wanted to present '1984' for the annual play. Actually I do have an old Mac classic set up in my computer lab. I am a middle school computer teacher. The kids love to play Shuffle Puck Cafe, Risk and Oregon Trail. The first question out of there mouths is how do you open Firefox...

[quicumque]

Cool use of the Mac, I also like "rocket surgery," which is in my top 5 mixed metaphors. Cheers!

[bpwagner]

if you want some really funny metaphores try these... actually they are analogies...

[Mister_Caipirinha]

I thought this was going to be an instructable about building a one pixel (single sensor) camera using rotatable mirrors etc. I wonder what gave me that idea?

[pharoah]

I have to agree that the title makes no sense in context.

[bpwagner]

Ok, Ok, I Changed the title. I was trying to make a clever comment on the state of photography these days. The single pixel was the pinhole and the digital part was because the photo was taken in an old computer. I did scan the image and invert it in Photoshop. After completing this project I have a new respect for old school photography. Just taking a couple of photos is a half an hour process.

[clickykbd]

Really nice instructable.

[crapflinger]

would putting that sickly green monochrome lettering that made the old macs so desirable on the outside of the mat board make any difference in the photos taken? it would be nifty to put some randome code up on the "screen" as if it were still working

[bpwagner]

It would make no difference at all. You can do anything as long as you don't let any light into the box (except the pinhole)

[VIRON]

(removed by author or community request)

[LasVegas]

The Apple II had color output (16 colors). The green screens were simply popular monochrome monitors at the time. Green was supposed to be easier on the eye and green phosphor tends to be slower (retains the light longer) making the screens less jittery at 50 or 60Hz refresh rate. This is also why oscilloscopes tend to have green screens. I paid extra for an amber screen for my Apple II, considering it more confortable than green. The Apple II came out in 1976 (Apple incorporated officially on April 1, 1976), but at the time only b/w or color "TV Monitors" were available and were very expensive (no green or amber yet). My first monitor was a b/w TV that I had removed the tuner and sound filter according to instructions from Don Lancaster's fabulous book "The TV Typewriter Cookbook." The IBM PC was introduced in 1981 at the heals of the Apple III (1980) and five years after the Apple II.