Another Jeremy
Newbie
Pardon my still learning, amateur ways...
I have a Fed 4 LTM (big brick workhorse of a camera) that works wonderfully. I'd like to put 28 or 35mm lens on there but don't really understand what will happen as far as composing the shots in the viewfinder. Do I need to get one of those viewfinders that attaches to the flash mount so that I can get an accurate picture of what I'm framing? I would assume so.
Thanks for indulging me.
I have a Fed 4 LTM (big brick workhorse of a camera) that works wonderfully. I'd like to put 28 or 35mm lens on there but don't really understand what will happen as far as composing the shots in the viewfinder. Do I need to get one of those viewfinders that attaches to the flash mount so that I can get an accurate picture of what I'm framing? I would assume so.
Thanks for indulging me.
Hi, Jeremy -- Yeah, you're right. You will need an external viewfinder to compose your shots. Sometimes the lenses are sold with a matching viewfinder, and that makes loads of sense to me. Especially where the lens is for a camera that doesn't feature matching viewfinder framelines built-in.
For instance, when I was shopping for a Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8 for my Kiev 4, I saw several eBay vendors offered a combination with the matching viewfinder. But most didn't. I ended up getting them separately.
The Russian/Ukrainian 35mm finder is pretty nice, though the Voigtlander item is better. Voigtlander lenses 25mm and wider all come with a matching viewfinder, while the longer viewfinders are sold separately.
I think the only FSU 28mm is the f/6 Orion; awfully slow. Kind of an odd 4-element design but it appears to work fine. The 35mm Jupiter is an excellent lens of Zeiss design.
For instance, when I was shopping for a Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8 for my Kiev 4, I saw several eBay vendors offered a combination with the matching viewfinder. But most didn't. I ended up getting them separately.
The Russian/Ukrainian 35mm finder is pretty nice, though the Voigtlander item is better. Voigtlander lenses 25mm and wider all come with a matching viewfinder, while the longer viewfinders are sold separately.
I think the only FSU 28mm is the f/6 Orion; awfully slow. Kind of an odd 4-element design but it appears to work fine. The 35mm Jupiter is an excellent lens of Zeiss design.
There is a new CV 28/35 mini viewfinder. The bright lines for both focal length are visible at all times. This would be killing both birds with one stone, but it is a bit expensive, $145ish, compared to the Russian finders.
iMacfan
Established
I'd recommend the Russian Multi-finders, which have separate optics for 28, 35, 50, 85 and 135mm. The front elements rotate round to select to required length. It's very usable and cheap, I managed to get one off eBay for abotu 50 USD. And it is contemporary for the FED to boot!
David
David
Another Jeremy
Newbie
Thank you all for your help...much appreciated.
jdos2
Well-known
Doug said:
Both are copies of Zeiss- the Orion is a copy of the Zeiss Topogon (just like the 65mm Mamiya Universal lens) Sharp, but slow.
And VERY pricey in Contax mount.
Thanks for the info, JD; didn't know that! 