Door viewfinders actually work great. I used one that is about 1-1 1/2 inches diameter masked off (with black tape) for 90mm schneider on a Zone VI field camera.
I also made a handheld yoke out of gray PVC 3/4" conduit and drilled a hole for a Bogen Cable release in the right handle. Worked very well. It screwed to the camera base via a quick release Holder bolted to the top of the PVC--to hold the camera. Had a nice balance. I also put a quick release base on the bottom so I could go use it either on or off the tripod. On board a river cruiser I would use the tripod to hold the camera steady while I focused-or checked the focus-- then pop it off and heand held for the shot I wanted. I focused a 65mm, 90mm & 120mm to points about 100-200 feet distant and tried to shoot f8-f16 at 1/125 or (preferably) 1/250. I figured 100' to be a safe hyperfocal distance. Good balance in the handheld yoke was the key to steady -mostly level shots. For the wider lens a little comparison between viewfinder, camera ground glass gave me a 'feel' for what the framing was. With practice you can point almost any camera--any viewfinder makes it even easier. With a Wire Framer (like a sports finder) I think you need to have three basic line-ups. The center of the frame (like a sight on a rifle) and then the two extreme sides. Turn this concept 90 degrees for vertical of course. Even if you cannot keep all three 'sights' in your eye at one time, you can move your head around to see whats-what. You'd get a pretty good idea of what will be in- and outside the frame. My biggest problem with making a wire finder was figuring out how to make all the lines converge on my eye. Maybe I'm dumb but it took me a while to realize that I needed to make the rear sights aabout two inches away from the convergence point. It's like drawing a triangle and then cutting the top two inches off. You could make a multi finder by making a black cardboard box and have interchangable aperature mattes for the front side. Hope this helps. will ---William Nettles [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nettles Photo / Imaging Site http://www.wgn.net/~nettles Find out what's happening in Echo Park: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 12:07:44 -0600 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Cameramakers digest, Vol 1 #439 - 5 msgs > > > Wire frame viewfinders don't really work so well with really wide angle > cameras. I think the cheapest and easiest thing to use would be a masked > off door peephole viewer. Although there would probably be distortion, it > would give you a pretty good idea of what would be in the frame. _______________________________________________ Cameramakers mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers
