Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Well, here's tha thing. I am in the process of conducting my research and all that good stuff. I am buying a camera and I have found a point-and-shoot camera. I don't want to buy it yet because I do not know if it is the right kind. Can anyone help me???

Hi Justyce,
I'm sure that someone can help you, but first we need to know what you want to do with the camera. Can you please tell us more about your project?
Looking forward to hearing more,
Chris

A pinhole camera can be made pretty easily with just a couple pieces of stiff paper or cardboard.

Take one piece, stick a pin through it and pull it out.

Pick an area with pretty bright light and interpose the cardboard with the hole.

Use the second piece as a projection screen, vary the distance between the two and you'll see an image projected on the second screen. The image will be upside-down.

People used to use this technique to observe solar eclipses without damaging their eyes.

Old-style cameras worked on this principle, except the second piece of cardboard was film and the pinhole was usually a lens. Another interesting thing you can do with pinholes is replace glasses with them. If I hold a piece of cardboard with a hole in it at the right distance from my eye, I get perfect vision even without glasses. The reason squinting helps some people see better at distance is related to this principle.

This link goes into more detail and matches the experience of when I did this in middle school, back in the 70s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera

I am not sure how this translates to a digital camera though, so I'm not sure how relevant all of this is.