composing with 90mm elmar on Leica iii?

Mudman

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I know the proper way to compose the scene is to get a brightline viewfinder, but the one from Cameraquest for $160 is too much for a lens that I paid $80 for. Can you just use the rangefinder for the composition? I know it is much smaller then the 50mm framelines in my Leica iii. Are there any cheaper alternatives for a viewfinder? If so, anyone know of a reputable shop that has them?

Thanks,
Eric
 
There are many cheap finders that have 90mm framelines. The finder for an 85 is also close enough. The early Canon finders have parallax adjustment, Kodak Retina, Accura, and many others. This is the stuff that Photorama camera shows are great for. I picked up mine for under $20, and a lot of $5 for one that needed work.
 
I know the proper way to compose the scene is to get a brightline viewfinder, but the one from Cameraquest for $160 is too much for a lens that I paid $80 for. Can you just use the rangefinder for the composition? I know it is much smaller then the 50mm framelines in my Leica iii. Are there any cheaper alternatives for a viewfinder? If so, anyone know of a reputable shop that has them?

Thanks,
Eric

Check on the 'bay for one of the variable FL Russian Turret finder. I got one for $35USD including the shipping.
 
Cheap finders are out there. I've gotten them for small amounts of money, traded film for them and even recieved them as gifts. I just recently picked up a Swallow multifinder for cheap: 35 to 135 views. Not as nice as a new Cosina finder but it does what I need to for my 35 and 90 lenses. IIRC Igor's has a Retina finder cheap.

William
 
Igor's Camera Exchange

www.igorcamera.com

Click on full inventory on the left for Kodak.

Also be sure to check under Canon RF - there may be cheap 85 or 100 finders that you could use as well.

Good luck!

William
 
Only a bit at a camera show. He didn't buy any of my gear but hooked me up with someone else who did and paid more than I asked (!) for it so I'm disposed well towards him. His prices seem reasonable as well.

Don't forget to check KEH as well.

William
 
Igor's a good guy, and is pretty fair with his prices. KEH is extremely reputable. I just checked their website for you, and they don't seem to have any VIOOH's at the moment, but they have a TEWE finder that is very good. Closest angle of view is 85mm, but if that doesn't work out for you, then a VIOOH (Imarect Finder) would seem to be the logical choice. My good buddy Sam Shoshan might have something for you ( www.classicconnection.com ).
 
The line-with-a-blob between 85 and 100 on a TEWE is, as far as I am aware, a 90mm finder. Frances and I use it for that, anyway, and have done for years. For my money, the TEWE zoom finder is vastly better than VIOOH. I bought two at 15€ each in Luxembourg three or four years ago, and I already had one I bought 30-40 years ago. The marked focal lengths on the zoom are 35-50-75-85100-150-180-200 plus line-with-blob markings for what I believe to be 37.5, 40 or possibly 42.5 (the red one -- they're all Contax lengths so I ignore them), 90mm (as already mentioned) and 5 inch/127mm. There's a tilting foot for distance compensation (in feet or metres -- tw models) and two index lines for focal length according to distance (infinity and one metre, I think).

Nikon made a very similar finder.

Cheers,

R.
 
I'm a big fan of both the Tewe "Polyfocus" and Nikon '"Varifocal" finders... I much prefer the"zoom finder" to the Leitz VIOOH "incredible shrinking image"...

The nice thing about the multi-focal finders is that, theoretically, you buy one, and that's the only finder you need.

The Tewe finder comes in a couple different versions, some dial down to 200mm, others only to 150; it's a quality piece.

Probably the least expensive ( consistently ) multi-focal finder are the Russian copies of the Zeiss 436 "turret finder"... these were made for the Kiev and Zorki RF cameras.

I was extremely fortunate to wind-up with a Nikon "Varifocal" zoom finder w/ case when
I bought a Chinon-Rokkor 135 mm LTM lens on eBay... I wasn't paying attention to the finder that was being included with the lens... a pleasant surprise, though.

I have been using it on my Leica III shooter ever since.

Regards,

LF
 
I've tried using the viewfinder for longer lenses with different cameras, and it doesn't work. You have to compensate for parallax, and that becomes very problematic for close shots (15 feet or closer).

I've used the Imarect with a LTM Leica. Worked nicely. It has a shrinking mask.

Turret finders rotate lenses and act as miniature scopes. I like these the best, because they also magnify camera shake, which can be a problem with longer lenses.
 
For added fun, try a VIDOM finder. It has the shrinking image like the VIOOH, AND it is in reverse! Making it hard to track a moving target. 😉
 
Well I ended up buy the VIOOH finder from KEH in bargain condition, and it showed up in EX+! Literally almost no wear to it whatsoever, the glass is immaculate and everything works great on it. Fun little thing.
 
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