Do You Ever Shoot Waist-Level By Means Of A Right-Angle Finder On A 35mm Camera ??

[DF]

Like it reads. Yah, I see it done with those using medium format, but I'm 35mm.
Would like to try street shots but be less noticed.

 

[Pioneer]

It is not as easy to do with 35mm because the screen is so small.

The Pentax LX has an Action Finder that is magnified and rotates between horizontal and vertical viewing. It is not bad but even then action pictures are not easy.

I have also removed the finder on my Nikon F and used it as a waist level viewfinder. It can be done but it is nowhere near as easy as using medium format such as a TLR.

 

[ic-racer]

Pretty easy with the Rollei, because it has a flip-up finder so you can see the focus screen directly without a right-angle attachment. The shutter release buttons on the side of the camera are made to be used when holding at waist level.

I don't have a prism for my autofocus Rollei 6x6, so I have been using that at waist level and, after enjoying the benefits of autofocus, wish they still made the 35mm and made that with autofocus. It would make using the waist level finder easier.

 

[BrianShaw]

https://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/technology/digital-camcorders/super-secret-spy-lens/

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Thread moved per original poster’s request to find an appropriate analogue/digital/hybrid forum for the question.

 

[Paul Howell]

When I bought my F it came with a waist level finder, I tired to use it, several different ways, one was to hold the up over my head with the camera upside down to shoot over a crowd and at waist level for the covert shot, and with bellows for macro in which case my eye was right on the finder. Using it for macro and I assume with a telescope adaptor it worked as would a right angle finder. Unless you eye is right right on the finder just too small to be useful.

 

[jimjm]

I've used my Nikon F3 with a waist-level finder in this manner. It works reasonably well, especially if using wider lenses and smaller apertures for greater depth of field so you can scale-focus.
Since the F3 meter is built into the body, I can set the exposure to auto and don't have to look at the meter display, which is very small with the waist-level finder.
If you want to use the built-in magnifier, you have to bring the camera closer up to your face, which sort of ruins the idea of being candid. At waist-level, I can see the screen well enough for framing and composition.

 

[AgX]

Like it reads. Yah, I see it done with those using medium format, but I'm 35mm.
Would like to try street shots but be less noticed.

A right angle finder needs to be brought to your eye, thus it is not something making you less noticed if you hold the camera to the front. Holding the camera sideways yields not not much of a benefit to my mind.

Consider a right-angle attachment for the lens , but this limits the choice of focal length.

Consider using a 35mm SLR with waist-level finder (there are cheap models). Here the issue is the very small finder image at holding the camera at waist level.

 

[awty]

The screen is small which makes it hard to focus, so zone focus . Also hard to see the screen in sunlight. Also a pain to switch back to eye level finder when needed.

 

[mrosenlof]

I have the 6x non-prism finder for the f2 and f3. It's not really waist-level as the magnifier is fixed and works held up to my eye. It's a bit different, mostly I like it, but don't use it all that often. I think the main reason for that particular finder was for use of a camera on a copy stand, and the 6x for accurate focusing.

 

[choiliefan]

Some various Berning Robot 24X24 cameras feature a movable mirror which can be switched from straight-on to "deceptive angle" (an old Graflex term) viewing. These are viewfinder 35mm cameras.
https://www.lomography.com/magazine/276524-berning-robot-star-small-but-mighty