Viewfinders for 28 and 35mm- new vendor

[Zonan]

I have no experience with these, but looks interesting and well-priced

https://www.kekscameras.com/store/p7/KEKSviewfinder.html#/

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have seen them on-ebay. 3D prints from plastic. No frame lines. Unknown accuracy.
IMO, crapped out XA VF is still better alternative to real VF made with metal and glass.

 

[BillBingham2]

If it's 3D printed they can tweak it to add things like frame lines pretty easily.

Might be good enough. Odds are you will have flare, would be wonderful if they could make them 1:1 so I can shoot with both eyes open again.

Looks interesting, though not in the market (just yet.....).

B2 (;->

 

[charjohncarter]

I'd buy one (28mm) if it was even half as good as they say. But I'll wait for a few reports.

 

[agentlossing]

At $30 it's certainly interesting. Maybe I'll try one out.

 

[Highway 61]

Our world is for sure in need of more plastic crap which will be thrown away eventually, and will arrive into the seas sooner or later.
Till today, nobody was making good yet affordable metal and glass 35mm and 28mm external viewfinders for sure.

The more I hear from those internet kickstarters, the more I [fill the blank space with what you want].

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Our world is for sure in need of more plastic crap which will be thrown away eventually, and will arrive into the seas sooner or later.
Till today, nobody was making good yet affordable metal and glass 35mm and 28mm external viewfinders for sure.

The more I hear from those internet kickstarters, the more I [fill the blank space with what you want].

Korean and Chinees could make metal and glass lenses for under 100 USD, I can't see why they couldn't make 100 USD metal and glass VF. Technically. But I guess demand is miniscule.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Something to be aware of with all 3D printed products. The "plastic" used in the process is VERY brittle and breaks quite easily. I would suspect the hot shoe mount point on both of those viewfinders would be a snap point.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Takkun]

Our world is for sure in need of more plastic crap which will be thrown away eventually, and will arrive into the seas sooner or later.
Till today, nobody was making good yet affordable metal and glass 35mm and 28mm external viewfinders for sure.

The more I hear from those internet kickstarters, the more I [fill the blank space with what you want].

Had some good luck with a few photo related Kickstarters. Colorado Tripod sticks and Negative Supply film holders. Others that intrigue me but I can't justify—that Instax rangefinder and the Rondinax revival that seems so popular.

But you're right, there's a lot of absolute useless and more or less disposable junk on there. I'm happy for the revival of film and the rise of a cottage industry for camera/darkroom gadgets, but some of it is just really overhyped offshoots of the whole lomography thing.

You might enjoy a blog, and now podcast, I used to follow, Your Kickstarter Sucks. my partner and I still make jokes about a toilet paper glove they featured years back.

As for the product at hand:
I could possibly see this as a useful spare in some cases. I know I certainly worry about losing finders whose MSRP approaches what I paid for the matching lens. And that's about it; I can't think of much else. Some people like external finders on cameras like the X100 or GR1 but if that was me, I'd prefer something....not with plastic optics. Not really sure what the target market is here, unless its 'people who buy expensive lenses and don't budget for finders'.

I get the 3D printing appeal for these manufacturers—you don't need to contract out for tooling and a molding run, and you can put them together on your kitchen table—but there's countless companies that will do metal-deposition printing instead of relying on a consumer filament printer.

Anyway, I get a lot of ads for their meter, which intrigues me. If I had a meterless handheld camera I'd definitely spring for it.

 

[CMur12]

It says on the website that the outer shell is injection-molded. That doesn't sound like 3D printing to me. Wouldn't injection-molding be stronger than 3D printing?

Also, from the illustrations, the eyepiece looks like it has sheet-metal flaps. That would be sturdier still, though eyeglass wearers would need to cover said surfaces with tape to prevent scratching.

- Murray

 

[Particular]

Something to be aware of with all 3D printed products. The "plastic" used in the process is VERY brittle and breaks quite easily. I would suspect the hot shoe mount point on both of those viewfinders would be a snap point.

Best,
-Tim

These finders are not 3d printed. It states clearly that they are injection molded plastic, which is what Voigtlander has used for their viewfinders that go for a lot more money. The lenses look like they are from a supplier of 35mm snapshot cameras (if those still are made).
As for 3d printed plastic being brittle, it just depends. There are many different processes, and many different materials, plastics and metals, and some are quite tough. The telltale sign that these are not 3d printed is the smooth finish on the plastic. Most 3d printers will produce a coarser surface.

 

[Beemermark]

So you spend how much for a rangefinder with interchangeable lenses and a 28 or 35mm lens and all you can afford is a questionable $30 VF?

 

[Takkun]

So you spend how much for a rangefinder with interchangeable lenses and a 28 or 35mm lens and all you can afford is a questionable $30 VF?

Like I mentioned earlier, I know that there's plenty of people out there with fixed-lens digitals like the GR1 that like optical finders. And to be fair, the Leica finders are obscenely priced (as are their lenses, but that's another story!)

But then again, Voigtlander's are fantastic. Don't know how many times my 25 has bounced off the pavement and been fine.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

So you spend how much for a rangefinder with interchangeable lenses and a 28 or 35mm lens and all you can afford is a questionable $30 VF?

Working early Canon, Nicca, Leotax LTM Barnack copy under 100 USD is still possible. Heck, some crazy people are buying under 100 USD FSU RF cameras from Oleg. FSU lenses works on any of those cameras. And 35mm is under 100, while 28mm is well under 200 USD.
Leica, CV metal and glass VFs would be great match, but they cost around 200 USD each these days, used.

It is 50:50. 400USD on 35, 28 lenses, plus camera and another 400 USD on metal and glass 28 and 35 VFs.

Likely here is still FSU universal finder. Huge, but metal and glass.

 

[xayraa33]

I don't think these VFs are all that bad judging from the photos.

Not all of us need pricey Leitz or Zeiss or Nikon or Canon viewfinders from the 1950s to put on our Zorki or Fed or Kiev.

The FSU Rostock finders are OK too and the last made ones had glass optics but the foot was plastic too and these Rostock finders are getting pricey and not as available as before on Eb^y especially the 35mm VF and the Rostock 28mm VF was as rare as rocking horse manure even in the good old days.

 

[BWF]

I ordered a 28mm viewfinder to try. It arrived in under a week to the US.

Overall, it’s fine and will do the job. It is small.

A few initial opinions. It catches a lot of reflections on the edges, which is a little distracting. It does not have the “ooo wow, this is big” feeling of looking through a Voigtlander plastic external vf (much less the bright lines 21/25). It also protrudes back behind the camera a bit, which is not ideal. The finish is nice though and it looks great on a camera.

Overall it’s a good deal for $30. It’s not up to the spec of a Voigtlander viewfinder though (yet anyway).

 

[agentlossing]

Do you wear glasses? Interested if the edges of the frame are easy to see.

 

[enasniearth]

If you actually go to the link
It stated that the plastic is injection molded
Not 3D printed - so old school plastic production

 

[BWF]

Do you wear glasses? Interested if the edges of the frame are easy to see.

I tried it with and without my glasses. I would say the edges are less easy to be sure of with glasses on, but no worse than what is lost at the edges on my Voigtlander 25mm plastic viewfinder. Overall the Voigtlander has much better edge definition, with and without glasses.

 

[philslizzy]

You can make finders like this from a disposable camera. they are usually free from film process labs if you're lucky enough to find one. I've made several. You need glue, plastic card and a small file.

I have several finders in my collection but when out and about with a 35 or 28 stuck on my Leica I prefer to use my home made plastic job.

The ones featured are a more professional version of mine and look amazing