50mm aux viewfinder

[andrealed]

Hallo, do you know if zorki or fed made also an aux finder for 50mm? I was looking for a cheaper alternative to leitz or voigtlander finders that are not so cheap...I would stick to single finders (I'm looking for 35 and 50) because the multi seems to me rather bulky on the top of a leica II clone.
1:1 finder would be just lovely....,
Thank you
bye from Genoa, Italy
AndreaLed

 

[Jocko]

Hallo Andrealed, Although you never know with the Soviets, I am as certain as one can be that no 50mm accessory finder was made - except for multifinders. However, the 35mm finder is excellent, although the price may not be too far from that of a used C/V. It is possible to make your own 35mm finder for very little cost - have a look at Jay's (RFF member Zorkikat) excellent FED/Zorki website for details - http://jay.fedka.com/

Cheers, Ian

 

[je2a3]

Hi andrealed,

Likewise, I don't think there was an FSU 50mm VF manufactured. The Helios VF I got from a fellow RFF member in the UK is a 35/85/135. Recently I splurged on a CV 50mm brightline on special from photovillage and before that I was futzing the 50mm FOV with a tele-wide [~40/75] VF that came with aux. lenses for Petri, Yashica and etc. - Japanese fixed lens RF cameras from the 60s/70s.

Joseph

 

[Nickfed]

You might consider the Voigtlander Contur finder. I have seen them cheap on the Bay. They aren't popular as a lot of people can't come to terms with it - or don't understand it.
If you don't like it you can always sell it on. I found it very good. I believe the Contur is only available for 50mm. The marking is misleading and probbaly contributed to the unpopularity.

The Krasnogorsk 35mm finder is excellent and usually cheap.

 

[pvdhaar]

Hallo, do you know if zorki or fed made also an aux finder for 50mm? I was looking for a cheaper alternative to leitz or voigtlander finders that are not so cheap...

Being expensive is one of the problems with the Voigtlander viewfinders, the other one is that especially the all metal 50mm 1:1 finder doesn't sit tight in my Fed1 accessory shoe. The plastic 25mm finder is a lot better in this regard. A zoom finder that I have is worst, sits completely lose in the shoe.

I then tried everything else I had available (flashes, shoe to pc sockets, shoe to tripod screw adapters etc. etc.) Everything with plastic a plastic foot fits the Fed, most things metal dropped out.

May differ on your camera, but could be something to factor in your eventual choice..

 

[tkluck]

Being expensive is one of the problems with the Voigtlander viewfinders, the other one is that especially the all metal 50mm 1:1 finder doesn't sit tight in my Fed1 accessory shoe. The plastic 25mm finder is a lot better in this regard. A zoom finder that I have is worst, sits completely lose in the shoe.

I then tried everything else I had available (flashes, shoe to pc sockets, shoe to tripod screw adapters etc. etc.) Everything with plastic a plastic foot fits the Fed, most things metal dropped out.

May differ on your camera, but could be something to factor in your eventual choice..

I've had similar problems with a variety of cameras and accessories, including OEM accessories on the same brand of camera.
I wedge a tooth pick under the shoe. (and break it off so that I don't poke my eye out!) Laying a bit of paper under the shoe and then sliding it on works too.
Seems compatable with the spirit of Soviet design...

 

[jonasv]

If you keep an eye out, the deals are there... I picked up a real user SBOOI for $40. It looks horrible from the outside (scratches, serious dings, etc) but when looking through it, it does perfectly.

 

[andrealed]

Thanks to everybody, I love 50mm and 35mm so I would love the Helios , but, too bad, it has lines for wide and tele only..no 50mm
Btw, any experiences with leica viooh/imarect? As I can see, it seems that sometimes they are cheap on OBOOY (leica name...)

 

[je2a3]

The VIOOH is a "masking" type universal VF so the 50 FOV is smaller than lifesize. But then it has parallax correction. I got mine fogged up but sent it to Oleg who did a great job cleaning it up - it's very bright now! I tried to DIY but messed up the reassembly maybe someone has a tips/link on how to DIY it properly.

Joseph

 

[Rico]

You might consider the Voigtlander Contur finder. I have seen them cheap on the Bay. They aren't popular as a lot of people can't come to terms with it - or don't understand it.
If you don't like it you can always sell it on. I found it very good. I believe the Contur is only available for 50mm. The marking is misleading and probbaly contributed to the unpopularity..

I just lost a Kontur 35mm on eBay: would have been interesting to see if 1:1 really works at that FOV. My consolation prize was a mint SBOOI for $150. Now I get to spec a Leica SM body and 50mm lens. Life is good. 🙂

Ref:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7626275054