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Optical viewfinder for Tech cameras

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
Advice please from tech camera users. I'm trying to find an optical viewfinder I can use for the XT on the rare occasions I use it hand-held. Currently I'm using a cheap TT Artisan 21 mm designed for full frame cameras - 21 mm being roughly the field of view of my 32 mm Rodie. It's very distorted! I'd like to get something more professional!

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
Shashin

Shashin

Well-known member
I guess it also depends how much you want to spend. I picked up the Sigma VF-51 which is designed for their 21mm equivalent DP0 Quattro. I use mine with my XPro2 and 14mm lens. Yes, it has a bit of barrel distortion (although the finder lines are straight (go figure)), as most optical viewfinders of this type have, but it is nice and bright and bigger than the Voightlander optical finders. They may have to be special ordered.



www.bhphotovideo.com

Sigma VF-51 External Viewfinder

Buy Sigma VF-51 External Viewfinder featuring Optical Viewfinder for dp0 Quattro, Albada-Inversed Galilean-Type OVF, Framing Guide for Accurate Composition, Eye-Level Monitoring in Bright Light, Mounts via Hot Shoe. Review Sigma VF-51
www.bhphotovideo.com www.bhphotovideo.com

Otherwise, the next class of finder for medium format cameras gets really big and expensive.
 
4

4x5Australian

Well-known member
Yes, as JeffK said, the Cambo WDS-580 is nice. Masks for individual focal lengths snap on over the front and can be rotated from horizontal to vertical and are secure in those positions. The area of the frame for that particular focal length is indicated by a barrel-shaped rectangle etched into the clear plastic along with tick marks above and below for rise and fall in increments of 2mm. There are multiple marks for multiple sensor sizes, which makes it a bit busy until you get used to it. However, at so close an apparent distance, even my near-sighted eyes have trouble pulling focus from the view beyond onto the etched lines.

The king of the viewfinders, I think, is the Arca-Swiss VarioFinder for the Rm3di and other R-line cameras. There are several pictures and a description of it at the link below. The view through each focal length is achieved by a combination of a sturdy metal mask and telescoping the main rectangular housing to the correct position for that lens. The printed table on top spells it out clearly. The benefit here is that once set up properly you don't have to read and interpret any marks whilst viewing. The mask is physically moved up, down and sideways until you achieve the framing you want and then you can transfer those settings to the camera. The housing, attachment stalk and the optical components are all first-rate. In addition, a printed plastic 'barrel' supplied for each lens clips onto the rear and provides depth of field information.
www.arca-shop.de

VarioFinder für R-Line Kameras

Vario Finder 120° | für Brennweiten von 23 bis 210mm...
www.arca-shop.de www.arca-shop.de
 
JeffK

JeffK

Well-known member
@Bill Caulfeild-Browne – not sure you can get away from the distortion around the sides. Even on the Cambo 580, it's still trying to fit a wide FOV into a small area. There is some distortion when looking through. When I had the little WRC400 I used the VF to frame, but knew it was a relative view and I would likely crop a bit in post.
 
JeffK

JeffK

Well-known member
kind of the same. I did not have live view on the IQ260, but I did use the ALPA STC with the ALPA VF like a point and shoot too. That was with a back with live view. Kind of difficult to use live view and hand hold - hence the necessity for an optical VF. But I realized my hands are too shaky, even at 250/sec. So now it's all on a tripod and using live view.

IMG_5702.jpeg
 
jotloob

jotloob

Subscriber Member
JeffK said:
kind of the same. I did not have live view on the IQ260, but I did use the ALPA STC with the ALPA VF like a point and shoot too. That was with a back with live view. Kind of difficult to use live view and hand hold - hence the necessity for an optical VF. But I realized my hands are too shaky, even at 250/sec. So now it's all on a tripod and using live view.

View attachment 200475
Click to expand...
The ALPA VIEW FINDER is beautiful in the way of "ALPA LIKE" but has the disadvantage of being rather heavy , and that you need a mask . That mask depends on your sensor size and the used focal length of your lens .
I have tried to find other , lighter view finders and but ended up with compromises . And optical viewfinders are rather expensive .
An other possibility is to use an iPHONE holder and the MARK II viewfinder App from ALPA . That is not very handy either for handheld photography but very good as a view finder . The Mark II App can be programmed according to your lenses and sensor size .

Better in any case is to use a camera like the HB X1D / X2D or the FUJI GFX system .
 
LonnaTucker

LonnaTucker

Member
VarioFinder-V.jpg


For the photographer that makes site visits with clients or prefers to scout locations before production, the Arca-Swiss VarioFinder is extremely helpful.

This accessory is an optical viewfinder that mounts into the accessory shoe on the R-line camera or can be removed for scouting without carrying the camera. Some users have customized a wooden handle with the accessory shoe mounted on top for the purpose of scouting. I carry mine in my coat pocket generally or use it on camera.

VarioFinder mounts to the camera horizontally or vertically. The focal range for medium format lenses is 23mm through 210mm with the housing telescoping to different positions for different focal ranges. A mask system matches lenses to the digital back sensor size.

The viewfinder masks are drilled to reveal pinpoints of light. A pinpoint revealed in the finder corresponds to 5mm of displacement, so two pinpoints revealed is equal to 10mm, etc. Displacement settings are easily transferred to the camera for really quick setups in the field after visualizing your composition with shifts, etc. 3 viewfinder masks cover the entire focal range. There are also masks available for the roll film back user.
 
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Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
Thank you all very much for your input. Given the few times I use the XT hand-held, I think I'll pass on the best solutions suggested. Some of them approach the cost of XT itself! (I'm exaggerating!)
This forum proves its value to me once again.
 
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