International Camera Museum : Blue Moon Camera and Machine

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Reality So Subtle 6x12F

The Reality So Subtle 6x12 is a curved-plane pinhole camera that uses 120 film to produce six 6x12cm images per roll. By using a curved plane, the camera creates images with even exposure from edge to edge, with no falloff of light common on flat-planed panoramic cameras.

The camera is part of the Reality So Subtle lineup of pinhole cameras made by James Guerin. It was originally introduced in 2018, as a follow up to the dual pinhole 6x12. This version features a single pinhole, centered in the face of the camera, with a 77mm filter ring mounted around it, allowing for the easy use of filters. The camera has a focal length of 60mm and an angle of view of 120 degrees. The effective aperture of the pinhole is f/200.

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Reality So Subtle 6x12F At Crown Point

We have long been fans of the Reality So Subtle line of pinhole cameras. The line began in 2013, with a curved plane 6x17 model and has since grown to include 6x6, 6x12, 6x9 and 4x5 versions. Over those intervening years, the creator, James Guerin, has made updates and improvements, or added new features. For example, the 6x6, 6x12 and 6x17 models all got versions with a filter thread feature. The 6x12 and 6x17 have also had updates to help make them a bit easier to load and to prevent the binding that can happen while advancing Kodak films through these cameras.⁠

⁠We'll be honest, the 6x12 and 6x17 cameras are still not for the faint of heart (or those short of patience). They are still a task to get loaded and they do require more than a little manual dexterity. Once you have them loaded up, they are definitely a lot of fun to shoot. Generally speaking, panoramic is just a fun format to experiment with, but adding in that curved film plane certainly takes it to another level. On one hand, that curved plane helps reduce the fall off of exposure that happens at the edges of the negative with panoramic cameras. On the other hand it can add a whole new type of distortion where horizontal lines curve up or down, depending on whether they are in the top or bottom half of the frame, or if the camera itself is tilted forward or backward.⁠

⁠Here is an example of a 6x12 camera, owned by one of our staff, out at Crown Point in the Columbia River Gorge. On this day he had the camera loaded with Rollei Superpan 200, which can be used as an infrared film with the proper filters, so the camera had a Hoya R72 attached. The result is pretty high contrast. The addition of the filter darkens the edges up, but also allows for a decently long exposure time to capture some movement in the clouds. We thought it was a fun result to share with you.⁠