Otis Memorial Pentaxian Registered: March, 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Posts: 42,007 | | Review Date: January 24, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Easy to use, inexpensive | | Cons: | Parallax, Usefulness of frameline FOV | |
Talking Points- Common and inexpensive
- Originally provided as accessory viewfinder as part of auxiliary lens set for Yashica 35mm rangefinder cameras
- 3:2 aspect ratio appropriate for 24x36mm and APS-C format
- Two sets of framelines, "tele" and "wide"
- The "tele" frameline approximates 40° diagonal FOV (58mm lens on 24x36mm frame)
- The "wide" frameline approxmates 61° diagonal FOV (38mm lens on 24x36mm frame)
- Parallax compensation provided for "wide" frameline for close focus (0.8-1.0m) using alternative top margin
Pros- Inexpensive...To put this in perspective, a plastic auxiliary viewfinder for 35mm focal length made in the former Soviet Union will cost about $45 USD. At the upper end a Voigtlander 35mm metal viewfinder is about $210 USD.
- Build is good, but there is some variation. I have two, one of which is high quality metal construction and the other plastic.
- View is bright and framelines are visible even in dim light
Cons- May be difficult for eyeglass wearers to see the full "wide" framelines
- The 3:2 ratio framelines are not ideal for 4:3 ratio frame such as the Pentax Q
- If the framelines are appropriate for your lens, all is good. If not, not so good.
- Parallax can be a problem if the subject is close
Notes
Accessory viewfinders such as the Tele-Wide are a standard solution for interchangeable lens rangefinder cameras where the finder may only support a single or limited range of lens focal lengths. As long as one is comfortable with less-than-precise framing and the need to focus separately, they are a decent solution for that type of camera.
I use the Tele-Wide in conjunction with a 35mm lens on several of my vintage 35mm film rangefinders. The view is a little narrow with the "wide" frameline, but not enough to make much of a difference for this type of shooting where a tight crop is seldom a good idea. Strangely enough, it also works well for street photography with my SLRs where prefocus is the norm and careful framing the exception rather than the rule. If I had a K-01 with 24mm or 40mm lens mounted, the Tele-Wide would rock.
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Veteran Member Registered: September, 2010 Location: Somewhere in the Southern US Posts: 12,285
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 26, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Less expensive than the Pentax, great retro look, fits | | Cons: | Not as precise as the Pentax finder, used | |
The Yashica Tele-Wides say "Tele-Wide Finder" and "Japan" on the back, are black with three chrome bands, and have a yellow reflective coating on its optic. This little finder was originally packaged in a 2 lens adapter set with case and this viewfinder for Yashica rangefinder cameras.
It weighs just 14g and has a nice yellow lens coating that gives its fine-lined frames a bright, contrasty yellow color.
The Yashica's tele frame is square-cornered, and the wide frame is round-cornered.
It fits perfectly in the hotshoe of my Q and since all the Pentax dSLRs have the same hotshoe it should work fine in the Q10 and K-01 as well.
So far so good. It should really help in bright light and to save battery power by turning off the back LCD screen (press Info button several times).
11/28/12 UPDATE: I am having a lot of fun with the Tele-Wide Viewfinder and am seeing a significant increase in battery life with the LCD off for nearly everything. I did leave the flash of the captured picture option on so I get a 1 second glimpse of the image to make certain I had it framed right. I'm using the focus confirmation beep to guide me and just having a blast. Nice addition to the Q.
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