[Ecaterin]

Check out this thread I just put up on another source for inexpensive optical finders in focal lengths from 12mm - 28mm. Another option, always good to have those!

[Turkatto36]

Hello Everyone,

I recently came across a Tele-Wide finder and really like how it filters the light coming through. Does anyone know of a filter I could put on my SLR that could mimic this?

[redcarlsen]

Hello everybody! This the most discussion I've found on these viewfinders. I just received a yashica tele-wide from Ebay. And I have a problem. The lines (etchings?) are crooked. Not just a little either, they are not even close to being parallel with the frame. I wonder how this could happen? And if it possible to fix somehow, or if I should try to return it?
I decided to take some pics with it and it's really distracting because while looking through I have no idea if I'm level or not. And of course if I level with the viewfinder's lines, the picture is very crooked.

[redcarlsen]

I will try to attach a picture to show what i'm referring to:

Attached Images

 

[redcarlsen]

update: After playing with it, I notice I can move the front piece with the lines with my finger. I doubt it is supposed to move. But I can move it to a position where the frame lines are good. I just doubt it will stay in that position :/ especially if the camera is in a bag or something, or after walking around with it.

[nanhi]

Hello Redcarlsen Sir, it is pretty easy to leave the optics in place fixed permanently after you have aligned it. Just drop a wee bit of Super / Crazy Glue on diametrically opposite sides with a tooth pick. Do not apply a drop directly from the tube, as a drop is too much and it will spread inside clogging the optics.
Better still screw out the feet and see if you can open up the barrel to get at the optics for a fix.
Did you buy the full set with the tele / wide lenses in its leather case? The multi coated Yashica auxiliary lenses are pretty good and can be used on your existing lenses with or without a stepping ring. You can easily open them up with a pair of dividers from a school Geometry Box and clean the lenses.
Good Luck.

[redcarlsen]

Hello Redcarlsen Sir, it is pretty easy to leave the optics in place fixed permanently after you have aligned it. Just drop a wee bit of Super / Crazy Glue on diametrically opposite sides with a tooth pick. Do not apply a drop directly from the tube, as a drop is too much and it will spread inside clogging the optics.
Better still screw out the feet and see if you can open up the barrel to get at the optics for a fix.
Did you buy the full set with the tele / wide lenses in its leather case? The multi coated Yashica auxiliary lenses are pretty good and can be used on your existing lenses with or without a stepping ring. You can easily open them up with a pair of dividers from a school Geometry Box and clean the lenses.
Good Luck.

Hello Nanhi. Thank you for the reply and the ideas. My first instinct was to unscrew the mount. But after that I saw know way of getting into the viewfinder. I wonder if the front or back would unscrew? I tried a little but didn't want to really pressure it for fear of damaging it.
I think I will try the drop of glue with a toothpick.
I only bought the viewfinder by itself, no lense or case.

[THoog]

I think the face plate with the "TELE-WIDE FINDER JAPAN" label will unscrew from the body, but you might need a rubber stopper or something like that to use as a tool. It's probably already a little loose, which is why the glass with the markings has twisted.

[Michi Joel]

Mine ^^

[Clarissa]

Just found a black lentar telewide finder on accident, was wondering its value if I have no use, need to research models it works with. I only own one film camera, a Minolta X-370 s.

[THoog]

Just found a black lentar telewide finder on accident, was wondering its value if I have no use, need to research models it works with. I only own one film camera, a Minolta X-370 s.

Tele-Wide finders typically sell for US$25 or less. Ironically, a loose finder is frequently priced higher than a finder WITH its pair of auxiliary lenses. The Lentar finder was sold in a set with two "auxillary lenses" (one tele, one wide, hence the "Tele-Wide" name). Auxiliary lenses screw onto the filter threads of a fixed-lens camera, giving the camera tele- or wide-angle capability. The camera's built-in viewfinder didn't show the actual view through the lens (these were basically point-and-shoot cameras), so the markings on the Tele-Wide finder would give an idea of what the view would be.

Most Tele-Wide finders are the generic type that slides into a hotshoe - some cameras without a hotshoe mounted the finder via a metal bracket - those finders are dedicated to a given camera model and pretty much useless today, except for DIY projects. The two Lentar sets that I found on eBay are generic types labeled by the filter ring size that the aux lenses fit on.