viewfinders question

I am thinking about getting a medium format camera but I really rely on my
right angle viewfinder thats on my nikon. Do they make right angle
viewfinders for medium format cameras? Thanks.

TomCat999 wrote:
I am thinking about getting a medium format camera but I really
rely on my right angle viewfinder thats on my nikon. Do they make
right angle viewfinders for medium format cameras? Thanks.

You talking about SLR medium format? Most have a waist level finder
that serves the same purpose.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
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Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

I don't understand your answer. I want to buy a medium format camera(mamiya 7
most likely but it could be any brand). Can I attach a right angle viewfinder
on it or not? I am a new york city street photographer and I photograph
people without them noticing so much because I have a right angle viewfinder.


dadiOH wrote:
I am thinking about getting a medium format camera but I really
rely on my right angle viewfinder thats on my nikon. Do they make
right angle viewfinders for medium format cameras? Thanks.

You talking about SLR medium format? Most have a waist level finder
that serves the same purpose.

TomCat999 wrote:

I am thinking about getting a medium format camera but I really
rely on my right angle viewfinder thats on my nikon. Do they make
right angle viewfinders for medium format cameras? Thanks.

You talking about SLR medium format? Most have a waist level
finder that serves the same purpose.
_____________

I don't understand your answer. I want to buy a medium format
camera(mamiya 7 most likely but it could be any brand). Can I
attach a right angle viewfinder on it or not? I am a new york city
street photographer and I photograph people without them noticing
so much because I have a right angle viewfinder.

You mean you want to point the camera in one direction but have it
take the photo at 90 degrees to where it is pointing? If yes, all you
need is a mirror in front of the lens...mirror can be attached jury
rigged by you or there may be a ready built one. If the one you use
on your 35mm is big enough in diameter you may be able to use step up
rings to fit to medium format camera.

As far as the Mamiya 7 goes, I have no suggestions for being able to
view what the lens will take when such an attachment is used on a
camera with an optical viewfinder.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

You mean you want to point the camera in one direction but have it
take the photo at 90 degrees to where it is pointing?

yes, but I want a real right angle viewfinder. It doesn't seem it exists for
medium format. Thanks anyway though.

"TomCat999" u35419@uwe wrote in message news:7461fb9552f61@uwe...
I don't understand your answer. I want to buy a medium format camera(mamiya
7
most likely but it could be any brand). Can I attach a right angle
viewfinder
on it or not? I am a new york city street photographer and I photograph
people without them noticing so much because I have a right angle
viewfinder.

You'd have to kludege something up for the Mamiya 7. (I've never seen a
right angle finder for any rangefinder, and the Mamiya 7 is an overgrown
Leica M.) It doesn't really have anywhere to attach a right-angle finder.

Cameras like the Rolleiflex TLR or Hasselblad 500C are waist level from the
get-go; you have to add a prism to those to make them be eye level.

The Mamiya RB67 and RZ67 are also waist level from the get-go (the backs
rotate, so you don't really need a prism), but I have the impression most
people use them with prisms.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:58:15 GMT, "TomCat999" u35419@uwe wrote:

I don't understand your answer. I want to buy a medium format camera(mamiya 7
most likely but it could be any brand). Can I attach a right angle viewfinder
on it or not? I am a new york city street photographer and I photograph
people without them noticing so much because I have a right angle viewfinder.

You don't _need_ a right angle viewfinder with most medium format
cameras.

As I'm sure you're aware,the mirror in an SLR reflects the light from
the lens up on to a horizontal focussing screen. In 35mm SLRs there's
a pentaprism (or equivalent mirror box) fixed above this to allow you
to view the focussing screen from behind the camera at eye level. For
most 35mm SLRs "allow" in this context means "force": the pentaprism
is fixed, so you have to hold the camera at eye level to see into the
finder. If you want to hold the camera lower you need a right angle
attachment fitted behind the finder, as you know.

With most medium format SLRs (and a few 35mm ones) the pentaprism can
be removed and replaced with a waist level finder. This allows you to
hold the camera at waist or chest level and look straight down on to
the focussing screen from above. Some waist level finders have optics
in them to assist with focussing, but the simplest are nothing more
than a folding shade to protect the screen and cut out ambient light.

The point of a right angle finder is to reverse the right angle added
by the pentaprism, but removing the pentaprism means you can get rid
of the right angle view in the first place.

--
Matthew Winn
[If replying by mail remove the "r" from "urk"]

TomCat999 wrote:
I am thinking about getting a medium format camera but I really rely on my
right angle viewfinder thats on my nikon. Do they make right angle
viewfinders for medium format cameras? Thanks.

If I understand your question correctly,
then, depending on the brand you get, the answer is yes.

You say "right angle viewfinder".
I take that to mean a thing you stick on the *back* of your Nikon SLR,
specifically onto the viewfinder (the place where you put your eyeball),
so that you can look *down* into it to see what you're taking a picture of
rather than holding the camera up in front of your face.
Does that sound right?
Without citing references,
I'm pretty sure that describes the term you are using.

Such a device is typically used if you want to take a picture of something
so close to the ground that you can't get your body down low enough
even by lying on your belly.

If *that's* what you're talking about,
then (according to my Mamiya M645 manual) Mamiya *used to* offer such a device.
In that case, you actually *remove* the whole viewfinder from the top of the camera
(just rotate a lever and push a button and off it comes),
and *replace* it with the "waist-level viewfinder".

Whether Mamiya actually ever made any, I can't be sure.
Whether Mamiya now makes them to fit current models, I have no idea.

scenic_man wrote:
TomCat999 wrote:
I am thinking about getting a medium format camera but I really rely
on my
right angle viewfinder thats on my nikon. Do they make right angle
viewfinders for medium format cameras? Thanks.

If I understand your question correctly,
then, depending on the brand you get, the answer is yes.

You say "right angle viewfinder".
I take that to mean a thing you stick on the *back* of your Nikon SLR,
specifically onto the viewfinder (the place where you put your eyeball),
so that you can look *down* into it to see what you're taking a picture of
rather than holding the camera up in front of your face.
Does that sound right?
Without citing references,
I'm pretty sure that describes the term you are using.

Such a device is typically used if you want to take a picture of something
so close to the ground that you can't get your body down low enough
even by lying on your belly.

If *that's* what you're talking about,
then (according to my Mamiya M645 manual) Mamiya *used to* offer such a
device.
In that case, you actually *remove* the whole viewfinder from the top of
the camera
(just rotate a lever and push a button and off it comes),
and *replace* it with the "waist-level viewfinder".

Whether Mamiya actually ever made any, I can't be sure.
Whether Mamiya now makes them to fit current models, I have no idea.

I use one on my 1000S all the time for still-life photography.

lj

thanks but thats still not it. I use it so that I'm looking through the view
finder at one angle and my lens is pointed towards people in front of me,
that way I take photos of people when they think my eye is pointed towards
something else. got it? I'm not photographing anything on the ground. Yes, it
was on my nikon.


scenic_man wrote:
I am thinking about getting a medium format camera but I really rely on my
right angle viewfinder thats on my nikon. Do they make right angle
viewfinders for medium format cameras? Thanks.

If I understand your question correctly,
then, depending on the brand you get, the answer is yes.

You say "right angle viewfinder".
I take that to mean a thing you stick on the *back* of your Nikon SLR,
specifically onto the viewfinder (the place where you put your eyeball),
so that you can look *down* into it to see what you're taking a picture of
rather than holding the camera up in front of your face.
Does that sound right?
Without citing references,
I'm pretty sure that describes the term you are using.

Such a device is typically used if you want to take a picture of something
so close to the ground that you can't get your body down low enough
even by lying on your belly.

If *that's* what you're talking about,
then (according to my Mamiya M645 manual) Mamiya *used to* offer such a device.
In that case, you actually *remove* the whole viewfinder from the top of the camera
(just rotate a lever and push a button and off it comes),
and *replace* it with the "waist-level viewfinder".

Whether Mamiya actually ever made any, I can't be sure.
Whether Mamiya now makes them to fit current models, I have no idea.

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