NOPO’s beautiful wooden pinhole cameras are pieces of art handcrafted for making art

by Gannon Burgett

posted Friday, October 30, 2015 at 3:26 PM EDT

Pinhole cameras are, in essence, the most basic tool you can use to capture an image. You have the medium being exposed, a hole to let in light and your own timing (along with the knowledge of the size of the aperture) to create a proper exposure.

Considering the simplicity of pinhole cameras, it’s easy to make them out of almost anything. But for those who want a more premium pinhole experience than what an empty Altoids tin or oatmeal box provide, look no further than NOPO Pinhole cameras.

Currently on Kickstarter, NOPO Pinhole cameras are the work of Toño Cañadas, a Madrid-based photographer who decided to fuse his passions for design and photography to make a lineup of beautiful, wooden pinhole cameras.

Up for grabs are five different models, each of which presents a unique format and experience to capturing pinhole images.

First up are the NOPO 135 and NOPO PAN 135 pinhole cameras. As the names allude to, the NOPO 135 camera uses 35mm film to capture f/128 images at a 35mm focal length. The NOPO PAN 135 similarly uses 35mm film and features an f/128 aperture at 32mm, but instead captures a panoramic image measuring in at 24mm x 65mm just shy of double the width of a standard full frame negative.

The NOPO 24 also uses 35mm film, but instead opts for a 1:1 ratio negative, measuring in at 24mm x 24mm. The aperture gets a bump up to f/90 while the focal length is a fair bit wider at 12mm.

For medium format lovers, such as myselfe, the NOPO 120 is what you’ll be looking to get. With a focal length equivalent of 35mm and aperture of f/132, the NOPO 120 captures 1:1 ratio 6cmx6cm images.

If your life motto is ‘go big or go home’, the NOPO Large Format is for you. This massive model lets you capture 50mm equivalent images at f/128 on either 9cm x 12cm or 5” x 4” film formats.

Last up is a more unique offering, the LATA DE SOL. This little guy is designed to solarigraphy, a type of photography that exposes an image over the course of months or even years. This model comes with film already installed inside and offers a focal length equivalent of 75mm at a ridiculously small f/280 aperture.

All models are 3D printed and CNC milled using walnut, cherry and birch certified by the TIST foundation. To expose the film, you simply twist the lens to activate the central shutter comprised of 14 individual steel and wood components. A 52mm thread is used across the entire lineup, meaning you’ll only need to carry around a single filter for all the models.

The Kickstarter campaign still has nine days to go, but the oddly specific funding goal (US$13,420) has already been reached and surpassed. NOPO offered ‘Christmas Shipping’ early bird specials, but they were almost immediately snatched up. That means the NOPO 24, NOPO 135 and NOPO PAN 135 will start shipping in February 2016, while the NOPO 120 and NOPO Large Format will ship in March 2016.