Malefic 6x17: What would you use for a viewfinder?

cayenne · Sep 8, 2021

I’m looking at their site, and not much info there.

I saw a pic or two that appeared to have some sort of viewfinder on one body…but no info.

I was thinking of getting one maybe with a cone for a nikkor 75mm…but I have no idea what I’d use for framing shots for that or any other of the lenses they list as working with the camera…

Thoughts?

cayenne

beemermark · Sep 9, 2021

Wire close hanger. Seriously. Back in the good old days I made a VF out of a wire coat hand attached to the bottom of my M4 to shoot close ups with a close up lens attached to the 50mm Summicron. Bottom of the VF wire fastened to the tripod mount. Do some shooting on a tripod then try to frame it with a cardboard cut off of the view. From that make a rectangular wire VF. I think this would work batter than any type of optical VF. 4x5 Speed Graphics also had a large pop up wire frame VF for shooting without the ground glass.

macfred · Sep 9, 2021

There are several ViewFinder apps for IOS and Android - maybe worth a look.

TheFlyingCamera · Sep 9, 2021

You could get one of the optical finders made by Fotoman, DaYi or Gaoersi. I have a finder for my 4x5 pinhole that is I think either a Fotoman or DaYi. It's a zoom finder with fields of view from 58mm to at least 90, if not a little longer. You could just mask it for 6x17 and then zoom to the appropriate field of view. I'm not seeing any of them on Ebay right now, so it may take a bit of investigating to find one.

ProfessorC1983 · Sep 9, 2021

I recently designed my own optical viewfinder for a 3D printed 6x6 pinhole camera by following this guide: https://www.panomicron.com/viewfind...galilean-viewfinders-and-how-to-design-them-1

The math is straightforward and you can get appropriate PCX and PCV optics from Surplus Shed or Edmunds for a couple dollars. I printed a plastic housing for mine but I suspect a bit of cardboard, glue and patience would do nicely as well.

cayenne · Sep 10, 2021

TheFlyingCamera said:
You could get one of the optical finders made by Fotoman, DaYi or Gaoersi. I have a finder for my 4x5 pinhole that is I think either a Fotoman or DaYi. It's a zoom finder with fields of view from 58mm to at least 90, if not a little longer. You could just mask it for 6x17 and then zoom to the appropriate field of view. I'm not seeing any of them on Ebay right now, so it may take a bit of investigating to find one.

Thank you, that sounds like what I’m thinking of…

C

cayenne · Sep 10, 2021

ProfessorC1983 said:
I recently designed my own optical viewfinder for a 3D printed 6x6 pinhole camera by following this guide: https://www.panomicron.com/viewfind...galilean-viewfinders-and-how-to-design-them-1

The math is straightforward and you can get appropriate PCX and PCV optics from Surplus Shed or Edmunds for a couple dollars. I printed a plastic housing for mine but I suspect a bit of cardboard, glue and patience would do nicely as well.

Oh, VERY interesting….

C

cayenne · Sep 10, 2021

macfred said:
There are several ViewFinder apps for IOS and Android - maybe worth a look.

Hmm…interesting. I’m wondering if there are 3D printing files out there for mounting camera maybe to hotshot…?

I wonder what is involved getting the phone sync’ed with the lens so that both are aligned and seeing the same thing…?

cayenne

Bashful71 · Oct 13, 2021

I have a Triplet with a 150mm Fuji lens, and I immediately gave up on the supplied optical viewfinder and use the Artist's Viewfinder app on an older iPhone. The wide lens on the phone is just wide enough to equate to the 150mm lens. I just hold the phone camera directly above the camera lens to get a rough idea of the framing - it isn't going to be exact. I'm waiting for a simple phone holder from one of the Chinese vendors which will hold a phone at 90 degrees to a standard hot shoe (i.e. with no swivel joint in between) to keep the phone somewhat aligned.With very wide panoramic lenses, the phone camera can't cover the whole width of the view, but if the top and bottom are in view, you can use a bit of imagination. I don't expect my framing to be down to the last tenth of a degree anyway. However, for a 75mm lens, you might want one of the latest phones with an ultra-wide third lens - I can't comment on those - or experiment with a cheap ultra-wide add-on lens that clips over your phone lens. The viewfinder app can account for one of those if you know its magnification.

cayenne · Oct 15, 2021

Bashful71 said:
I have a Triplet with a 150mm Fuji lens, and I immediately gave up on the supplied optical viewfinder and use the Artist's Viewfinder app on an older iPhone. The wide lens on the phone is just wide enough to equate to the 150mm lens. I just hold the phone camera directly above the camera lens to get a rough idea of the framing - it isn't going to be exact. I'm waiting for a simple phone holder from one of the Chinese vendors which will hold a phone at 90 degrees to a standard hot shoe (i.e. with no swivel joint in between) to keep the phone somewhat aligned.With very wide panoramic lenses, the phone camera can't cover the whole width of the view, but if the top and bottom are in view, you can use a bit of imagination. I don't expect my framing to be down to the last tenth of a degree anyway. However, for a 75mm lens, you might want one of the latest phones with an ultra-wide third lens - I can't comment on those - or experiment with a cheap ultra-wide add-on lens that clips over your phone lens. The viewfinder app can account for one of those if you know its magnification.

What exactly is the "triplet" option?
I couldn't quite figure out. what that meant on the website...

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

Malefic 6x17: What would you use for a viewfinder?

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