viewing card for composing

[tgtaylor]

While on a road trip a few years back I stopped at Ink Jet Arts in Salt Lake City and bought all the remaining 6x7 "Blair" cordboard slide mounts and a couple of hundred of their remaining 4x5 slide mounts. When I got back home I took my camera and all my lens to broad flat expanse along San Francisco Bay and holding the card I matched the scene in the viewfinder counting the number of fingers I had to displace it from my nose. For example, my 150mm Rodenstock Apo Sirona-S lens required a displacement of 6 fingers from the nose. I wrote the focal length and finger displacement for each lens on the card.

You can make a similar viewing card by simply cutting out a 4x5 slot on a piece of mounting board and keep it in your pack.

Thomas

[Louie Powell]

if I cut an aperture out of a piece of card, and hold it at the same distance from my eye as the focal length of the lens, then that should give a pretty accurate framing preview- - -

Exactly right.

I painted my framing cards black to help isolate the image field. I added a white strip across the bottom of the card on which I marked the focal lengths of my lenses (90mm and 210mm). To use, I gauge the focal length with my fingers, and then use that approximate spacing when I hold the card up for viewing.

The main objective is to be an aid in seeing potential images, determining the approximate tripod location, and selecting lenses. The final framing still has to be done on the ground glass. The point is that while framing cards are great tools, you don't have to make them into rocket science. Approximate is good enough.

My car has a pocket in the back of the driver's seat that's a perfect place to store a card so that it's always available as I'm riding around. Keep another card in the camera bag, and a third at home.

[Brian Ellis]

I used viewing cards for years, they're very useful. One thing I'd suggest is to not make a small card that fits in your pocket. They're easier to carry around but I think a larger card, like 8x10 with a 4x5 cut-out, works better because it blocks more of the area surrounding the cutout.

[Jan Pietrzak]

It was always fun to be in Yosemite in the summer and know that a Ansel Adams Workshop was going on, by looking at all the people taking viewing card photographs. Always sharp and in focus, well composed and perfectly exposed, color or black and white.

Jan Pietrzak

[jim kitchen]

I used viewing cards for years, they're very useful. One thing I'd suggest is to not make a small card that fits in your pocket. They're easier to carry around but I think a larger card, like 8x10 with a 4x5 cut-out, works better because it blocks more of the area surrounding the cutout.

Ditto...

An 8X10, 8-ply black matte board with a centred 4X5 cut-out, complete with totally characterized with dog ears.

The card is in my left hand, surveyor's tripod on my right shoulder, and my 8X10 equipment strapped to my back as I walk about. My equipment does not leave my back or my shoulder, until the viewing card indicates a well balanced possibility.

jim k

[sun of sand]

i cut viewfinders out of junk cameras that approximate 4x5
its not exact but you could mask it

I use a pony 135
kodak 8mm with framelines
even an objective from that camera i mask for wide angle ..probably more like 35 than 28 but whatever
masked panoramic P&S for wider angles
if you have a corresponding telephoto you can simply flip the viewfinder around

thats how i do it, anyway
no surrounding elements to distract, no wondering if at right distance, no folding up getting mangled, no storage issue

[dikaiosune01]

How far do I hold the card from my eye?
There are a lot of useful suggestions; but i can't seem to find how to properly use one.

The first card that I made is really inaccuate
- the card is not porpotional to 4x5
- The perspective seems to change depending on how far away the subject is.

I have a 180mm lens. I looked at a ground glass, and used some markers around the subject. I used that as a template to visually judge where to cut out the frame. While It worked for that subject -within the comfort of my own home, it didnt' seem to work out in the field.

What is this aperture hole people are talking about? Is it like a foldable box? I'm kind of tempted to just get an equivalent viewfinder (60mm viewfinder) but i'm not sure if that'll work either.

From a desperate noobie trying to work out the subtle technical aspects of his view finder camera.

[Robert Hughes]

i cut viewfinders out of junk cameras that approximate 4x5
its not exact but you could mask it

I cut up old milling machines and steam tractors as viewing cards.

Why is my backpack so heavy? Dang...

[Scott Walker]

When I started in LF I carried an 8x10 grey card with a 4x5 hole in the center and found that it really didn't do much for me so I eventually quit using it all togather. Recently however, I discovered Viewfinder Pro (iPhone app), I use this to determine which lens to use and tripood positioning. It shows a full image for 4x5 with a 150mm lens and brackets an outline for all the other focal lengths you have, I find it very handy.

[Jack Dahlgren]

How far do I hold the card from my eye?
There are a lot of useful suggestions; but i can't seem to find how to properly use one.

The first card that I made is really inaccuate
- the card is not porpotional to 4x5
- The perspective seems to change depending on how far away the subject is.

I have a 180mm lens. I looked at a ground glass, and used some markers around the subject. I used that as a template to visually judge where to cut out the frame. While It worked for that subject -within the comfort of my own home, it didnt' seem to work out in the field.

What is this aperture hole people are talking about? Is it like a foldable box? I'm kind of tempted to just get an equivalent viewfinder (60mm viewfinder) but i'm not sure if that'll work either.

From a desperate noobie trying to work out the subtle technical aspects of his view finder camera.

The simplest way:

Take an 8x10 inch board, cut a 4x5 inch hole in the middle.
Position it at a distance from your eye equal to lens focal length.
If those viewing distances are not to your liking, then adjust hole and distance proportionally. It is geometric, so if you want to double the distance from your eye, double the width and height of the hole.

As people have noted earlier in this thread, using your fingers or some part of your hand to estimate the distance from your eye is an easy way. Some people use a string or other means.