Is Both In Time a replacement for a Solarcan?

No, the two objects answer different wishes. A Solarcan records the sun's path over one place for weeks, with no person in the picture. Both In Time is built for two people who each expose one half of the same sheet, then develop the single picture together.

How much does a Solarcan cost compared to Both In Time?

The standard can costs 19.95 pounds and variants run up to 129.95 pounds for a deluxe set (solarcan.co.uk, read 20 August 2026). Both In Time costs 79 euros including VAT. The price gap is real and we will not talk it away: these are different objects for different wishes.

Do I need chemistry or a darkroom for Both In Time?

No darkroom, but yes, a little kitchen chemistry: the paper negative is developed under red light in Caffenol, which is instant coffee, baking soda and vitamin C. The Solarcan needs no developing at all. That is honestly a point in its favour if any effort is too much; for us, developing together is half the point.

Can Both In Time record the sun's path over months?

No. Both In Time exposes for seconds to hours, never a months-long sun trail. If that specific image is what you want, the Solarcan is the right tool and the cheaper one. Our solargraphy article explains how the technique works and even how to build such a can yourself.

What separates solargraphy from a time capsule for two?

Solargraphy shows a place and the sky above it over a long time, recorded by a can with nobody in it. A time capsule for two connects two people: each exposes one half, weeks or decades apart, and only both halves make the picture. Our ONDU comparison and solargraphy article cover both sides in depth.

Which one is the better gift?

For someone who loves a place, say the window to their garden, a Solarcan is a lovely, affordable gift. For two people who want to hold something between them, Both In Time is built: sealed with a handwritten date, numbered, complete only once both have exposed their half.

Solarcan Alternative: An Honest Buying Comparison

Search for a Solarcan alternative and you are usually asking one of two questions. The first: is there a cheaper or different camera for solargraphy? The second, less often said out loud: is there an object like this can, but with people in it, one that holds a connection rather than a place? This text answers both: the second with an analog pinhole time-capsule camera for two people, and for the first we will not even recommend a product.

Everything we say about Solarcan comes from their own site, read on 20 August 2026, prices included. You can check every line.

What a Solarcan is

The Solarcan from Scotland is a pre-loaded solargraphy can: fixed to one spot, it records the sun's path in a single continuous exposure over weeks to months, with no developing at all; the image is simply there when you open it. How the technique works, and how to build such a can from a drinks can yourself, is covered in depth in our solargraphy article. This page is about the buying decision.

What Solarcan does brilliantly

Honesty first, because the list is long. The standard can costs 19.95 pounds, the reusable PUCK 24.95 pounds, and sets run up to 129.95 pounds (solarcan.co.uk, read 20 August 2026). It demands zero chemistry and zero prior knowledge: hang it, wait, open it. The result is a months-long sun trail no other kind of camera delivers. The site promises worldwide shipping, there is a community World Map of submitted images, and founder Sam Cornwell curates a workshop offering aimed at schools and clubs. If that object is what you want, buy it there; this page will not try to talk you out of it.

If you are actually after a cheaper solargraphy camera

Here is the recommendation no shop writes: you may not need a product at all. A solargraphy can is buildable from an empty drinks can, a sheet of photo paper and some tape, and our solargraphy guide shows every step. Our own research on 20 August 2026 found that search results around buying solargraphy gear are almost entirely build-it-yourself tutorials and personal blogs anyway: at its heart, this technique is a self-build hobby. The Solarcan is its convenient, reliable ready-made version, and a cheaper ready-made version would have to cut quality somewhere; we did not find one.

Where Both In Time stands

Both In Time is a different thing: an analog pinhole time-capsule camera for two people, built in Stuttgart, numbered consecutively, 79 euros. A single sheet of photo paper carries two exposures. The first person exposes their half, seals the camera and writes the date by hand. Some day, weeks or decades later, the second person exposes theirs, and then both develop the one shared picture in a kitchen, under red light, in Caffenol: instant coffee, baking soda and vitamin C. The full mechanics, and the comparison with classic wooden pinhole cameras, live in our ONDU comparison; if you are still weighing buying against building, start with buying a pinhole camera.

Compared honestly, with both tabs open

You are probably comparing prices in two browser tabs right now, so no detours:

The Solarcan shows a place. The picture belongs to the windowsill, the garden, the sky above them; no person appears in it, and that is exactly its magic. Both In Time shows a connection: two halves, two people, one picture, and the camera travels between them by hand, across streets or continents.

The Solarcan asks nothing of you. Both In Time asks for one evening in a kitchen, and means to: developing the picture together is not a footnote, it is half the point.

And the price: 19.95 pounds against 79 euros. If the sun trail is what draws you, the math is simple, buy the can. If a picture with one particular person draws you, you are comparing two different things.

The honest limits of Both In Time

We cost three to four times what the standard can costs. We need kitchen chemistry where the Solarcan needs none. We cannot do a months-long sun trail; our exposures run seconds to hours. We have no community World Map, and our only workshop seats six people in Stuttgart while Solarcan runs workshops aimed at school classes. And both objects make exactly one picture: there is no second sheet with us either.

How to decide

Hang a Solarcan if you want to watch a place grow older. Build the can yourself if the technique excites you more than the object; the guide is ready. And if you want an analog picture that ties you to one particular person, with a sealed date in between: that is what the analog pinhole time-capsule camera for two people is built for, and the instructions show how two halves become one picture. The object itself lives in the shop.

Solarcan Alternative: What You Are Really Looking For