angle finder for ground glass focusing?

[chachi]

i'm making a kind of weird camera and what i'd like to do is mount a long loupe or an angle finder in such a way that i'll be able to focus off a ground glass from outside the camera. ideally the glass will be mounted inside the camera and the end of the viewing device will protrude from the body. looking at loupes, it seems as if there really aren't any longer than the horseman, which is just too expensive. but i can find a ton of angle finders for various cameras all over for not much more than $30.

my question is whether this will work. if i just butt the end of the finder up against the ground glass, is this enough, or is there some sort of special coupling that needs to take place.

ideas? thanks.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

It would probably be best if you could find an adapter or fashion a coupler of some sort. What is your GG housing going to made from? You might even be able to fab some notches on you GG frame and have slots cut into your finder for a DIY fix. Knowing moreaboutthe camera and desired aesthetics might help some. My $0.02.

 

[chachi]

the general idea is a street photographer camera, a similar idea to what joe van cleve has made and documented on the f295 board, only more traditional with the camera mounted on the dev. box. the whole camera body is going to be wood and i have an Ica folder that is going to be mounted on the front and which i won't fully extend. therefore, the focal plane is moved back a couple inches to an internal ground glass. the idea is that i can then move paper or film on and off the glass without having to open the camera. how the glass is secured is completely flexible at this point, but my initial idea was just a wood block sandwich.

 

[freygr]

the general idea is a street photographer camera, a similar idea to what joe van cleve has made and documented on the f295 board, only more traditional with the camera mounted on the dev. box. the whole camera body is going to be wood and i have an Ica folder that is going to be mounted on the front and which i won't fully extend. therefore, the focal plane is moved back a couple inches to an internal ground glass. the idea is that i can then move paper or film on and off the glass without having to open the camera. how the glass is secured is completely flexible at this point, but my initial idea was just a wood block sandwich.

The problem I see, is the indexing of the film to the ground glass focal plane. As if the ground glass doesn't move the thickness of the film media would cuase focus problems with lower f numbers.

 

[chachi]

The problem I see, is the indexing of the film to the ground glass focal plane. As if the ground glass doesn't move the thickness of the film media would cuase focus problems with lower f numbers.

hmm, an interesting point, but i'm not really worried too much about it. i would like to keep it as flexible a camera as possible, but i expect to be using it mostly in the high numbers.

it's definitely something to think about though. how would one solve this problem?