Directors viewfinder - good idea?

[Deleted member 88956]

I would suggest a Vidom finder would be far more useful.

Vidom ??? Any details what that is

 

[awty]

I use the free version of Magic film viewfinder. It has film sizes up to and including 4x5, after that you need to calculate the difference in focal length of your lense.It has focal length up to 300mm. Lens wider than 90mm on 4x5 start to get cropped on my phone, havent found a way around that.
No adjustment to filters, you can hold a filter over the lens to get an idea, but films behave differently.
3 option of grids, grids dont show on taking a picture, just frame.
Maybe more options on the bought version.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

@awty I was actually specifically asking about iPhone only app Mark II Artist's Viewfinder.

But thanks for the Magic I will try that one in free version to get an idea ho wit works.

 

[cliveh]

Vidom ??? Any details what that is

It allows you to adjust parallax and angle of view, should you be using a wide angle or telephoto lens. But the best bit is the fact that it allows you to see the image inverted left right, or right left (however you decide to print, shiny side up or down) and also shows the image upside down for appreciation of composition.

 

[abruzzi]

one issue I found when looking into the same was that once you calculated the equivalent focal length from super 35 (or whatever the directors viewfinder is marked in) to 4x5, I found that many of them won't go wide enough for a 90mm lens, let alone a 75mm (my widest 4x5 lens). You may have a similar issue with a smartphone app. The best they can do (without using a clumsy wide angle attachment) is to go as wide as the built in camera lens, which also might not get you quite to the view from a wide lens. So, in the end, I bought a Linhof Technika viewfinder, and use it like a director finder.

 

[KinoGrafx]

The little Graflex viewfinders from the tops of Crown and Speed Graphics are pocketable and don't need batteries, and not that hard to find. Plus you can get an assortment of slides that drop in the front for different focal lengths. And they're much better (the an iPhone app) in the dark or at night!

 

[Deleted member 88956]

I have Linhof's multifocus finder, not going to go into anything that was not designed to be hanging of my neck. That was the reason I was looking into director's finder.

iPhone app discussed especially in another thread, has a lot going for it. The more I think about it, the better it gets. And if developer throws in B&W filter emulations it will be probably be just right. Kind of hard to say this for me as I am traditionalist and analog is analog to me. But sometimes technology starts to make a lot more sense and time comes to let go beliefs.

 

[nosmok]

I too have the Linhof finder, it's pretty useful. Being able to estimate parallax is very handy when you don't have the time to go full ground glass, or in my case when I use converted 122 roll-film cameras with no GG feature.