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08-30-2015, 12:13 PM - 1 Like   #1
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A zero-cost OVF for the Q's

Is $0.00 and about 15 minutes effort (including calibration) OK for the cost?

Any ol' 'crop' from that can't-get-it-open plastic packaging with a 90-degree bend is a no brain-er for a workable sports finder for anyone that's ever shot action pix with a TLR.

Many other possibilities are out there if you keep an eye open. Plastic boxes with 90-degree corners are a little more permanent but more trouble to carry. The standard flash shoe is 18mm wide and max thickness (if you want to mount from the back) is 2mm.

Customize the 'VF window' by trial and error shooting. I've colored this one for the image below but frosted transparent tape (Scotch Tape?) works well as a frame material too. This one works fine for me with the 06 lens in the 4:3 ratio mode. Note the cues for a second FL with the zoom lens. Easy to make and 'calibrate' as the need arises.

Nope, it's NOT exact -- but neither were most of the other 96-99% OVFs you've ever used. Adopt a standard hold position with the Q-cameras and this will work just fine for action shots using AF or hyper-focal focusing modes with little cropping required in PP for exact framing.

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08-30-2015, 12:52 PM   #2
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I always wondered whether you could do something this with a second piece closer to the eye with a frame drawn on it. And then calibrate them so that when you align both frames in your view, it corresponds to the angle of view of the lens you're using. Perhaps even have different frame lines for different focal lengths on a zoom?

In any case this is a really nifty low-tech viewfinder, cool idea!
08-30-2015, 12:57 PM   #3
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Sure you can. Search for pix of Mamiya TLR cameras with sports finders. (TLR sports finder)

But the return for effort for such "exacting" work isn't worth the effort in practice and not flexible enough for zoom lenses as used with AF cameras.

You'd be surprised how well your eye can center and frame through any aperture. Check out the wire-frame view 'framers' on old 4x5 Speed Graphics cameras - routinely used for many award winning images of sports in the days before OVFs became "necessary".
08-30-2015, 01:04 PM   #4
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pointless without the back half to keep your eye lined up with the lens.

08-30-2015, 01:05 PM   #5
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that is a cool idea, pacerr, i'm going back through my recyclables , right now .
08-30-2015, 01:26 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by maltfalc Quote
pointless without the back half to keep your eye lined up with the lens.
Not necessarily so. Same principle as aperture sights on a rifle -- which can be extremely accurate in practical use. Just build confidence in a consistent holding position for the camera and turn/twist with your body, not the camera.

If you absolutely MUST, a rear element is certainly possible. But unnecessary in practice and near impossible to calibrate to any degree of accuracy for individual use or for a zoom lens which is common today.

Oh-yeah. If you have that front cinema VF lens - and can fabricate an L- bracket to mount it - and it suits your FL - cool, why not use it?

Last edited by pacerr; 08-30-2015 at 01:32 PM.
08-30-2015, 02:21 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by pacerr Quote
Not necessarily so. Same principle as aperture sights on a rifle -- which can be extremely accurate in practical use. Just build confidence in a consistent holding position for the camera and turn/twist with your body, not the camera.

If you absolutely MUST, a rear element is certainly possible. But unnecessary in practice and near impossible to calibrate to any degree of accuracy for individual use or for a zoom lens which is common today.

Oh-yeah. If you have that front cinema VF lens - and can fabricate an L- bracket to mount it - and it suits your FL - cool, why not use it?
what? aperture sights also have a front and rear component. and how is it nearly impossible to calibrate something that requires no calibration and works with any lens with zero need for any sort of adjustment when switching lenses? you're not making any sense.

08-30-2015, 04:09 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by maltfalc Quote
. . .a front and rear component . . .
The rear component's the habitual, consistent, repetitious position of the camera at the same place for each shot - a position defined 'rear aperture' if you will. The front component's the 'frame' of the transparent 'front sight'. Many athletic skills rely on this same factor.

As for 'calibration', lacking a better word at the moment, I simply refer to the very obvious need to outline the lens' approximate field of view for a given FL. Let the precision with which this is accomplished suit the actual need in practice. (Such a slap-dashery approach ain't for everyone.)

I've used this sort of pseudo-OVF, open-aperture gun sights, TLR sports finders and wire view frames on Speed Graphics with equally satisfactory results long enough to be willing to publicly suggest them to others who might be interested them. The 'MacGyver-factor' at work if nothing else.

If they don't "make sense" to you I apologize for not expressing the idea(s) in a manner that you can understand. Perhaps you'd like to construct one of these and review your results here? Maybe one for each of the four image ratios available in the Q's which are otherwise unavailable at any cost, much less virtually for free?
08-30-2015, 04:22 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by pacerr Quote
The rear component's the habitual, consistent, repetitious position of the camera at the same place for each shot - a position defined 'rear aperture' if you will. The front component's the 'frame' of the transparent 'front sight'. Many athletic skills rely on this same factor.

As for 'calibration', lacking a better word at the moment, I simply refer to the very obvious need to outline the lens' approximate field of view for a given FL. Let the precision with which this is accomplished suit the actual need in practice. (Such a slap-dashery approach ain't for everyone.)

I've used this sort of pseudo-OVF, open-aperture gun sights, TLR sports finders and wire view frames on Speed Graphics with equally satisfactory results long enough to be willing to publicly suggest them to others who might be interested them. The 'MacGyver-factor' at work if nothing else.

If they don't "make sense" to you I apologize for not expressing the idea(s) in a manner that you can understand. Perhaps you'd like to construct one of these and review your results here? Maybe one for each of the four image ratios available in the Q's which are otherwise unavailable at any cost, much less virtually for free?
sorry but you're just talking nonsense and i'm not wasting any more time on you.
08-30-2015, 04:30 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by maltfalc Quote
pointless without the back half to keep your eye lined up with the lens.
Agree!! But I think he's just pulling yer leg.
09-03-2015, 12:12 PM - 2 Likes   #11
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There's been PM's from folks expectin' to use this idea inappropriately.


Don't try to use it as a close-up VF - just like with older range-finder cameras, the parallax issues arises BIG time. It's a sports/action solution at medium-to-long distance that works just fine IF you "calibrate" it to a reasonable shooting distance.


Come on, guys -- jeez, it's free -- what did you expect. Use it as intended! Ya have to "calibrate" it to your own needs. It ain't magic -- just FREE.



(OBTW - I'm neither 'stupid nor inexperienced! Jeez, has no one out there used a wire view finder on a 4x5 Speed Graphic? Or a TLR sports finder? )
09-03-2015, 01:14 PM   #12
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I am with you on this one pacerr. So long as one had a fluency with his camera this would work fine. For me I think the tip of my nose would be on the left hand edge of the back with my left thumb under it. That would create the necessary alignment. Great for up and fast candids.
09-03-2015, 01:19 PM - 1 Like   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by pacerr Quote
(OBTW - I'm neither 'stupid nor inexperienced! Jeez, has no one out there used a wire view finder on a 4x5 Speed Graphic? Or a TLR sports finder? )
NOPE! Not since I quit using my blunderbuss.
09-03-2015, 01:24 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by CWRailman Quote
NOPE! Not since I quit using my blunderbuss.
And you obviously have never used a shotgun
09-03-2015, 01:37 PM - 1 Like   #15
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pacerr-inspired

you've inspired me to at least try making one of these, pacerr, found this little square thing among my 'stuff ' don't have a clue what it was from.
attached with super glue to a spring-clamp paper clip, with one 'handle' removed, slips right into the hotshoe.
if i set the Q on 1:1, and just barely touch my nose to the lcd, voila - works great with the 01 lens - at least on the few shots i've tried so far.
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