A couple weeks ago, all the camera makers gathered in Las Vegas to strut their latest. Amidst the bright lights, big screens, buttons, and megapixels, it was easy to forget that photography can be a very simple art form.

There’s no better way to remind yourself than to make your own camera. Out of paper, a tin of mints, or a can of spam.

You won’t get optical image stabilization or face-tracking focusing when you make a pinhole camera, but you will get dreamy, surreal, and ghostly photographs from a camera you made with your very own hands. And, we hope, fresh perspective on a favorite hobby.

The Dirkon — Communist Czech Paper Pinhole Camera [thx Youngna!]
See also: Linatree variation on the above [thx John Tan!]

DIY Altoids Tin Pinhole Camera

Spam Can Pinhole Camera

p.s. Our favorite SD memory card, the fold-it-up-and-stick-it-right-in-your-USB-port Sandisk 2GB, is now at an absurdly low $37 on Amazon. Get it while it’s hot, it used to be $90!

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