I made a right-angle mirror viewer for my Rollei TLR

[ame01999]

I was quite into Walker Evans during college and read that he might have used a right angle mirror for some of his street photography. (I assume his portraits of subway riders sitting across from him would have just required a 'periscope' or right angle viewer so he could glimpse down at the camera presumably hidden in a held bag or under his coat).

Well, a decade after college I got into laser cutting board games, and now another decade later I finally realized I had the technology to at least make a passable right angle mirror for my Rollei.

Some caveats: right now the only thing holding the device in place is the friction of the Bay 1 to 37mm adapter on the taking lens against the wood frame. I don't yet have an extra adapter for the top lens, but hopefully the fit will be tighter once I do. I worry about having to secure it with a free hand.

I used two standard sized 2" front-surface optical grade mirrors. I thought they were going to cost me about $160 through an American supplier, but the pair I found for $25 from China on eBay look just great to me.


My chatbot estimated just a 45mm wide mirror set at 45 degrees would be wide enough to encompass the field of view of the lens. Unfortunately, the viewing lens is capturing something 'wrong' at its right edge. I'm not sure if this was a conceptual mistake or an implementation mistake. But the view lens is f2.8 and the taking lens f3.5. If I don't shoot wide open, I'm hoping I can get a full image without any stray reflection.

So, I still need to get an extra adapter to snuggly fit it, and then I'll shoot some film and hope for the best.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Paul Strand used a mirror for some of his street photography. Like the famous 'Blind,' 1917. Paragraph 3 here...

A Weltian Rhapsody: Paul Strand, “Blind” (1917) and Eudora Welty, “...

There are few photographs of blind people in the repertoire of American photography. One of the most famous is “Blind” (1917) by Paul Strand (which is part of the permanent collection of the Metrop...

journals.openedition.org

Paul Strand - Blind Woman, New York - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Inscription: Signed and inscribed in pencil on print, verso, bottom right: "-Paul Strand- // -1916-"; signed and inscribed in pencil on mount, recto, bottom right: "-Paul Strand-1916-"; inscribed in pencil in unknown hand, verso, center left: "Strand, Paul // 314 West 83rd St

www.metmuseum.org

You should put a printout of an iPhone camera side on the front of the wood!

 

[OAPOli]

That's neat. But I suspect the box will cause vignetting. It's ~32mm wide? A Rollei hood is 42mm wide and only 22mm in front of the lens.

 

[ic-racer]

What I do is just hold the camera sideways.

 

[neilt3]

What I do is just hold the camera sideways.

Likewise. It's doubtful that anyone your photographing with TLR with a WLF would even recognise it as a camera .

It would just look like your looking into a box for something , especially as your neither holding a camera to your eye or facing who your photographing .

@ the OP .
Hiding things under your coat with a box of mirrors on the front whilst you struggle to focus etc as you hold your coat / disguise etc would stand out in a crowd and look very suspicious to me as your trying to do something without being caught.
Looking at the WLF to finalise focus before taking the shot should only take a few seconds and would be less noticeable.

 

[Arthurwg]

What I do is just hold the camera sideways.

Simple is best.

 

[JPD]

Didn't Franke & Heidecke make a mirror attachement like that in the 1930s?

 

[abruzzi]

my father built something similar for his Minolta SLR when I was young and we lived in Zaria Nigeria. Some people there apparently didn't like being photographed.

 

[loccdor]

I'm curious to see the images when you take them. Maybe you could even get some cool effects by intentionally letting dust cover the mirror and shooting toward the light.

 

[ic-racer]

One could get a minox right angle finder, but the mirror was on the viewfinder side, thus giving the lens the unadulterated view of the subject

 

[Maris]

Years ago I figured my candid street photography would improve if a purchased a Spiratone Circo-mirrotach.
This disguised right-angle mirror at the front of my 70-200mm zoom lens would be ideal for photographing people unawares.

My buddies told me to absolutely do not do this. If the street crowd suspects I'm a pervert with a camera the presence of the Circo-mirrortach constitutes absolute proof of nefarious motives.
They said I'd be lucky to end up in emergency with a mirrortach shoved where the sun does not shine.

 

[awty]

Nice work.

 

[neilt3]

Years ago I figured my candid street photography would improve if a purchased a Spiratone Circo-mirrotach.
This disguised right-angle mirror at the front of my 70-200mm zoom lens would be ideal for photographing people unawares.

My buddies told me to absolutely do not do this. If the street crowd suspects I'm a pervert with a camera the presence of the Circo-mirrortach constitutes absolute proof of nefarious motives.
They said I'd be lucky to end up in emergency with a mirrortach shoved where the sun does not shine.

When your looking sideways threw the viewfinder you can get in even more bother as it looks like your pointing an even bigger lens directly forward.
Then you get a crack off the person facing you .

Shooting sideways with a TLR could definitely get you into trouble from the lady stood in front of you !

And definitely don't use one where children are present, a lynch mob might soon form .
No instant pictures to prove your innocence like with a digital camera.