View Finder

[ronald lamarsh]

Anybody got any ideas on how to create a 4x56x12 viewfinderviewing frame to fit a Linhof Tech III witha 90mm lense. I want to be able to use it in the rangefinder mode.

[jose angel]

Perhaps a bit clumsy, but cheap. Buy a wide angle adapter for video cameras (0.45x or so), glue it with epoxy to something that could fit on the top of the camera (flash sinc hot shoe, screw, magnet ...), and mask the front element of this lens with electrical black tape to have the same frame that you have in the ground glass. Good luck,

[Darin Cozine]

You can get a viewfinder for a mamiya universal/23 wide angle lens wich will be big and bright.

If you want to go dirt cheap, do what I did. I bought an old tele/wide lens set, which had an auxillary viewfinder with it. It's smaller, since it was designed for a 35mm camera, but otherwise very usable.

Second thought: I think Jose's idea will work well. (pulling out my tele/wide set) Wow, Jose was right, the wide aux lens looks great! -Mine is huge (mounts on 49mm thread) so ill have to pick up a slightly smaller one. I think 37mm thread will be just about right.

[Emil Ems]

Ronald,

Why not buy the original telescoping viewfinder for the Teknika III on e-bay? This older version should be quite cheap. I use mine on the Teknika III together with a 90 mm Angulon and have masked the front with tape so that it shows the 6x12 area. Since the tape is transparent, I also see the 9x12 area.

The big advantage of this finder is that it can be used in both the horisontal and vertical position.

Another, cheaper alternative is to buy the original wire framefinder and indicate the 6x12 area on it by attaching small pieces of tape on the appropriate endpoints on the wires. This alternative has the advantage that it also indicates the right view if the lensboard is raised.

Hope this helps!

[ronald lamarsh]

Thanks for all the responses. In a rather uncanny deja vu I just stopped at my local pro store and they had items from an estate sale....low and behold there was an original TechIII viewfinder nearly mint for $35 so my quest is over. I also picked up a nearly mint 90mm super angulon for $95! Thanks again