CCB V PINHOLE CAP & PINHOLES
The Custom Camera Building (CCB) Hasselblad Body Cap & Pinholes should be on your shopping list if you enjoy pinhole photography and own a Hasselblad 200, 500, or 2000 series camera.
My initial feelings about shooting a pinhole negative less than 6x17cm or 4×5″ were not very positive. My thoughts drifted toward the added blurriness a smaller negative might produce. Pinhole images are already unsharp, but just enough that I like them. I assumed shooting a pinhole with a smaller film frame might cause the image to be less likable due to more blur. Boy, was I surprised. Not only were my images artistically fulfilling with the unsharpness I like, but there was an added workflow bonus I had never thought of until my first shooting.
On the 2023 Worldwide Pinhole Day, April 30, I used my Hasselblad 501cm as a pinhole camera for the first time, using the 0.35mm (77mm/220) pinhole. The ability to take a few pinhole images with the CCB body cap in place, then remove it to take one or two images with my CFi 180/4 lens was priceless to this photographer. I had never considered that option before. When I travel with my Hasselblad kit, the CCB Pinhole Cap & Pinholes will travel with it. This is a nice and easy way to be creative with the same subject.
NO SHARPENING | + SHARPENING
The image comparison above shows ‘In A Dream,’ created with the Hasselblad 501CM and a CCB pinhole lens of 0.35mm. The left image has no sharpening applied, while the right image has been sharpened using Topaz Sharpen AI.
The CCB Hasselblad #4 kit includes five different pinhole sizes, along with the cap and an empty pinhole holder for use alone or to install a customized pinhole. Miroslav Francuz from CCB was kind enough to answer my questions and respond with helpful information about why different pinhole sizes are included in the kit.
Having a Variety of Pinhole Sizes is Good for:
(1) Help adjust exposure length (larger pinholes allow more light in),
(2) Create more blur using a pinhole size that is not the ideal size,
(3) Try different pinholes with extension tubes and homemade cameras.
Thanks to CCB’s kit and the information they provided, I will test these various pinholes on my Hasselblad camera with my digital back before shooting film.