"side axis" ?

[BobD]

I see these inexpensive clip-on "side axis" viewfinders for sale but I can't find an applicable definition for "side axis."

What does the term mean?

 

[AgX]

I am clueless. Can you link to a photo?


Well... could it mean a "wire frame" finder?

 

[faberryman]

It is a mystery to me. They look like ordinary viewfinders that slip on the hotshoe to me.

 

[markjwyatt]

I think they are referring to the fact that these viewfinders are not on the "lens axis". They tend to be on a parallel axis that is above and to the side (just Googling "side axis viewfinders"). I did not find an explicit definition, so just conjecturing based on descriptions.

 

[rknewcomb]

I've been wondering about this myself. Looking forward to an answer from some knowledgeable person here.
Robert

 

[AgX]

I think they are referring to the fact that these viewfinders are not on the "lens axis". They tend to be on a parallel axis that is above and to the side (just Googling "side axis viewfinders". I did not find an explicit definition, so just conjecturing based on descriptions.

ANY viewfinder, except for SLRs, is off-axis, whether built-in or external. Thus the above yields a differentiation for external ones only when they are used on a SLR.

 

[markjwyatt]

ANY viewfinder, except for SLRs, is off-axis, whether built-in or external. Thus the above yields no differentiation for external ones.

Maybe all external viewfinders are "side axis" viewfinders.

 

[AgX]

Yes. But the internal ones too, except for SLRs. That is why I added above that for an external one on a SLR that designation makes sense though. (You just reacted too fast to have seen my correction...)

 

[markjwyatt]

Yes. But the internal ones too, except for SLRs. That is why I added above that for an external one on a SLR that designation makes sense though. (You just reacted too fast to have seen my correction...)

Agreed. Usually with TLR descriptions it is emphasized that there is no side parallax (of note, hopefully), only vertical parallax, for instance. My thinking is they say this to emphasize that in fact these viewfinders do have parallax (as do rangefinders, TLRs, etc., pretty much anything other than SLR, ground glass direct viewing, EVF, maybe others I cannot think of).

This seems to be a term used by Leica, but i see others. Here is a description which fits, but they do not use the exact term:

https://www.viewfinder.eu.com/blog/2021/07/16/direct-optical-viewfinders/

"Direct viewfinders are essentially miniature GALILEAN TELESCOPES; the viewer’s eye was placed at the back, and the scene viewed through the viewfinder optics. A declining minority of point and shoot cameras use them. PARALLAX ERROR results from the viewfinder being offset from the LENS axis, to point above and usually to one side of the lens. The error varies with distance, being negligible for distant scenes, and very large for CLOSE-UPS. Viewfinders often show lines to indicate the edge of the region which would be included in the photograph."

Here is a Leica thread on a Leica forum: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/238710-leica’s-off-optical-axis-viewfinders/

 

[MattKing]

I think it probably is a translation issue, and is intended to refer to viewfinders that mount using a hot old cold shoe.
I find some of the descriptions quite fun: "Installation method: plug it into the camera's hot (cold) shoe, but it is not recommended to use models with too high SLR warships (the parallax will be large)"
Anyone else using an SLR warship?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Anyone else using an SLR warship?

The only way to fly 35mm, MF and LF.

 

[BobD]

but it is not recommended to use models with too high SLR warships (the parallax will be large)"
Anyone else using an SLR warship?

"Warship" is how the Japanese refer to the top cover of an SLR due to its typical shape, I presume. I see this often in translated Japanese repair manuals.

 

[Sirius Glass]

"Warship" is how the Japanese refer to the top cover of an SLR due to its typical shape, I presume. I see this often in translated Japanese repair manuals.

Such as ...

 

[markjwyatt]

I think it probably is a translation issue, and is intended to refer to viewfinders that mount using a hot old cold shoe.
I find some of the descriptions quite fun: "Installation method: plug it into the camera's hot (cold) shoe, but it is not recommended to use models with too high SLR warships (the parallax will be large)"
Anyone else using an SLR warship?

Maybe, but one "warship" e-bay ad says, ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/133857963948 )

"All rangefinder viewfinders will have parallax, as are the original Leica viewfinders. This is related to the position of the viewfinder optical axis and the lens optical axis. You can compensate yourself after mastering the parallax offset."

Elsewhere they refer to it as a "Hot shoe (cold shoe) optical viewfinder", so why no translation error here?

 

[markjwyatt]

Such as ...

This looks less like a warship and more like a sailing ship (maybe a sailing warship?).

 

[Sirius Glass]

Such as ...

This looks less like a warship and more like a sailing ship (maybe a sailing warship?).

Something like that.

 

[__Brian]

"Side Axis" viewfinder is a term a Chinese seller is using to describe "External Viewfinder", "Accessory Viewfinder", or "Auxiliary Viewfinder". It's probably a machine translation for the Chinese words.

Most external viewfinders were made to match the axis of the camera they were intended for..



One for a Contax/Kiev, another for a Fed/Zorki. The mirror-image offset of the finder is made to position it over the lens.

 

[markjwyatt]

"Side Axis" viewfinder is a term a Chinese seller is using to describe "External Viewfinder", "Accessory Viewfinder", or "Auxiliary Viewfinder". It's probably a machine translation for the Chinese words.

Most external viewfinders were made to match the axis of the camera they were intended for..



One for a Contax/Kiev, another for a Fed/Zorki. The mirror-image offset of the finder is made to position it over the lens.

The Zeiss ones do compensate (I missed that), but the Chinese ones I see that are called "side axis" do not compensate (nor do some of the Voigtlander/Cosina ones), so I suspect that may be why they call them "side axis". It could be some other translation error, but in the descriptions I see them also described as "external viewfinder" for instance.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Maybe, but one "warship" e-bay ad says, ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/133857963948 )

"All rangefinder viewfinders will have parallax, as are the original Leica viewfinders. This is related to the position of the viewfinder optical axis and the lens optical axis. You can compensate yourself after mastering the parallax offset."

Elsewhere they refer to it as a "Hot shoe (cold shoe) optical viewfinder", so why no translation error here?

Thank you Mark, I just bought an orange 28mm viewer for my Nikonos V.

 

[markjwyatt]

Thank you Mark, I just bought an orange 28mm viewer for my Nikonos V.

They are pretty inexpensive. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Sirius Glass]

They are pretty inexpensive. Let us know how it works out.

I have to be sure to put it on in the correct direction.

 

[markjwyatt]

I have to be sure to put it on in the correct direction.

It is 28mm one direction and 135mm the other.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Actually I could use one for the 85mm lens too.