Happy Worldwide Pinhole Day!

Nautica: Example of Lensbaby Pinhole/Zone Plaate Optic in pinhole mode.

Today, April 25, is Worldwide Pinhole Day. I had grand plans of attempting an infrared pinhole landscape, but the ensuing rain ended all that. So I decided on an indoor still life instead.


My father, who passed away in 1999, collected nautical antiques, some of which I inherited. This still life is a tribute to him.

This is a good example of the Lensbaby Composer using the pinhole/zone plate optic in pinhole mode. I bracketed the ISO with a 30 second exposure (since that’s the longest shutter speed setting). The final image was 30 seconds at f/177, ISO 640, about 80mm focal length.

While I was at it, I also took a zone plate photo...

Nautica: Example of Lensbaby Pinhole/Zone Plaate Optic in zone plate mode.

The image is actually sharper, but veiled in a kind of “glow”, quite different from the pinhole. It’s handy that you can switch between the two optics by sliding the pinhole/zone plate optic in the front of the lens, as you can use the zone plate to compose the picture since it lets in just enough light to use the viewfinder.