Pentax 6x7 Chimney Finder

[Kirth Gersen]

I recently purchased a Chimney Finder for the 6x7, and have found it really hard to get my head round composing with it as moving the camera while looking through the viewfinder is reversed. So much so, I don't want to use it.

Any tricks and tips on how best to use it?

Thanks

 

[Ariston]

It works like a waist level finder. It just takes practice. I still have difficulty and I have used a WLF for awhile on my RB and Autocord.

If you think that is hard, you should try large format. It is upside down, too!

 

[Kirth Gersen]

Thanks for your reply. Well, I will give it another try, and see if I can get used to it. If not, it's going on ebay :-(.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Practice, practice, practice.

Seriously, it's just a matter of time and exposure. Eventually your brain does the flip and it becomes easy. Sit at home and just view the kitchen, practicing. Deliberately pan left and right as if following something moving is really helpful to make clear what the reversal is about. Think about the camera as a pivot point, the center of rotation, and pay attention to which direction you need to turn to follow something moving from one side to the other. Once this gets ingrained, making the flip gets easy down the road, but it takes time for the brain and muscles to get a handle on it. I can not use a waist level finder for weeks or months, pick one up, and be comfortable to the reversal within 30 seconds, but that's after years with TLRs.

You can also do this practicing without the finder in place, viewing just the bare screen. this can help make the adjustment easier as you aren't trapped inside a pipe while dealing with the direction issue.

 

[Kirth Gersen]

Thanks for your advice - I'll give it a shot. Really angry with myself as I intended to do this today and went out with my 6x7 to shoot some landscapes.... and forgot to take it .

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

When I bought my RB67 I couldn't get use to the waist level finder. I'd move one way and the people would move the other. It drove me crazy. So immediately bought the eye level mirrored viewfinder. Also bought the eye level magnifier that fits over it. The only time I'll use the waist level or my chimney finder is when I have to get low to the ground to shoot flowers. Now that I bought a 4x5 view camera, everything is upside down. So I'm considering a mirrored eye level finder for it too.

 

[MattKing]

Practice on dogs and kids - it will come to you!

 

[abruzzi]

The funny thing, after using waist level finders for that last couple years, if I use a prism finder that looks down (like the various right angle finders) I have a hard time composing because of the lack of reversal. (That hasn’t impacted my ability to use a standard horizontal prism finder. Just when I look down, my brain things the world is reversed.). The short answer is, as others have said, your brain acclimates to it in time.

 

[DREW WILEY]

No big deal. Don't be impatient with it. Gets easy and intuitive after awhile. But it's not as versatile for me as the prism. The northern half of the world has always been either upside-down or backwards anyway. Just take it to the southern hemisphere and everything will be rightside-up again. And if the image is inverted left to right, just cross over to the other side of the International Date Line.

 

[voceumana]

WLFs always exhibit this characteristic--and, the image is upside down if you rotate for a vertical shot.

Go for a prism finder to get "right reading" and "upside up" if you can tolerate the slightly less than full format view. Personally, I can focus so much more easily with a prism, that I'm happier with it. Regardless of camera. I quit using my TLR because of it. Much of the focusing problem is related to my particular eyesight.