Stenopeika
Stenopeika is a maker of large-format cameras in Pistoia, in Tuscany, Italy. The company is owned by Samuele Piccoli and has existed since at least 2014. Its name refers to pinhole photography: Piccoli's first products appear to have been pinhole cameras including the chestnut-wood 6x6 Wood Evolution.[1][2]
The current cameras, though, are general-purpose large-format field and studio cameras. Stenopeika makes two ranges of cameras; their Air Force cameras are described as affordable, entry-level devices, made with anodised aluminium frame elements and black-painted birch plywood panels (somewhat similar to the Intrepid cameras). The range includes Air Force 4x5 (price approximately 600 Euro as of 2024), 5x7, 5x7 Pro (with a better ground-glass and a fresnel screen, and thicker front struts), 8x10, 8x10 Pro, 11x14, 4x10 and 12x20-inch cameras (price approximately 3200 Euro as of 2024). The Air Force range replaced a similar range of lightweight and affordable cameras named the Hyper camera, made in at least 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 and 4x10-inch sizes.
Stenopeika's premium cameras are the Renaissance range, made since at least 2022, with panels of any of several Tuscan woods including cypress and olive and dark-brown iroko (a west-African wood). The cameras also have a different base and better components throughout than the Air Force range. These are somewhat comparable to Intrepid's 2024 introduction of hardwood-panel cameras, though those use the same baseboard and frame as the plywood model.
- Michelangelo 4x5 (Mark 2 of the design; approximately 1600 Euro as of 2024)
- Archi-Mede 4x5 (with more movements; described as intended for architectural photography)
- Lucrezia 5x7
- Leonardo 8x10
- Cosimo 16x20 (approximately 7150 Euro as of 2024)
All the cameras employ a focusing mechanism with a focusing wheel at the rear, below the ground glass, which turns a coarse-threaded rod to rack a block forward on the baseboard, with the front standard mounted in any of several holes in this moving block. This construction is also used in several Chamonix and Shen Hao cameras, and the Intrepid.
Notes
- ↑ Old blog by Stenopeika; the only remaining entry, dated March 2014, only comprises a redirection message to the current Stenopeika website (linked below), but shows a photo of three of the wooden pinhole cameras.
- ↑ Blog entry by Marco Scataglini showing the Wood Evolution. Scataglini appears to have been a partner with Piccoli in its making.
Links
- Stenopeika
- The Stenopeika group pool at Flickr has pinhole photos by both Samuele Piccoli and Marco Scataglini and other users, though not all the photos in the pool are made with Stenopeika cameras; some group members have understood the group as a general pinhole group.
