NEWS: Pinsta – Instant Pinhole Camera, Micro Darkroom and Negative Enlarger – Launches on Kickstarter

By Hamish Gill

Pinsta, in instant pinhole camera, micro darkroom and negative enlarger has just this week launched on Kickstarter. This thing is cool! It is exactly what it sounds like: a pinhole camera that lets you develop your photos internally, that also allows you to enlarge negatives.

For creating pinhole images, it is suggested that you shoot it with Ilford’s direct positive paper. The result of using this paper is that you can make positive mini-prints whilst out shooting. You simply use it like a normal pinhole camera, then using a set of syringes that it comes with, you can inject dev, fix and stop directly into the camera.

This is cool enough in its own right, but Pinsta has also been designed so that a negative can be held in a frame inside it, and so mini 4x5cm enlargements can also be made by shining a light through the top.

This is great for photographers at all skill levels, I think. But, the real beauty of all this is that it allows photographers who haven’t printed before, don’t have access to a darkroom, or are put off analogue printing by perceived complexity to get into printing without to much fuss, need for space, or financial investment. It is another product that helps democratise analogue photography, and I’m all for that!

Pinsta Features in short (as outlined on the Kickstarter page):

  • Makes analog photography available to everyone
  • Lets you print analogue photos wherever you are and whenever you like
  • Enlarges your own negatives without the need for a darkroom
  • Let’s you be creative like never before with Pinsta’s internal slide system
  • Teaches more about traditional photographic processes, and so is perfect for education and photography workshops
  • Gives people something photographic real and tactile to engage with
  • Is true analogue photography, but still lets you see your image before you move on
  • Is great for beginners and experts alike
  • Is a little bit of the real magic that is analog photography

I met Oliver for the first time in real life on the Analogue Spotlight at the Photography Show in September and saw Pinsta in action – it is, to reiterate, very cool! That wasn’t the first time we interacted with him though. I had already chatted to him before the show after finding him on instagram. I was really impressed with his ideas and so encouraged him to write this article to tell people a little bit more of the backstory. In short, this isn’t just a random product that’s come out of the blue – this guy has a history of making photography products. In fact, so did his dad before him.

I have from day one been really impressed with this idea, and I am extremely pleased to see how well it has done on Kickstarter already!

You can (and should) back Pinsta here

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About The Author

By Hamish Gill
I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for a little more than decade I've been a professional photographer and, of course, weekly contributor to 35mmc.
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