# Compact camera generic clip-on Optical non-electronic Viewfinder???



## pm-r

Do any of you photographers know of any generic clip-on Optical non-electronic Viewfinder for use with a compact digital camera??

We have a compact Canon Power Shot and now a new sub-copact Sony CyberShot camera, both of which suit our needs, but I'm an old up-to-the-eye viewfinder type that I would like to have available for use with both cameras, but I cannot locate anything.

I was thinking of something like the spring loaded flip-up viewfinder that I had on my old Practica 35mm SLR camera that just consisted of a rectangular cutout and a much smaller rectangular cutout to view through to get a rough idea of where the camera was aimed for a shot. I believe they called it a sport or action view viewfinder.

Any help or suggestion would be most welcome, and I can't believe that no one has invented or produced such a thing.


----------



## MacDoc

Yeah I miss a viewfinder but sort of have accepted shoot now crop later ideology. Given the zoom range etc of the small cameras these days one wonders if the framing device you seek will be of much use.

I came real close to the G3 with the good VF and swing out LCD panel .....but the G1 is so small and the touch focus so sweet I'm glad I went that direction.

I suspect it's a learned art to shoot from the hip so speak and let the camera capture lots of data for you to trim later. I still have a hard time not shooting the shot I want but shooting the general area then cropping it to the shot I want.


----------



## pm-r

Any such trimming is what I would like to avoid, and maybe my older avid picture taking sister (sans commuter/digital camera nor even TV while I think of it) has the right idea with her cheap film camera - complete with a normal viewfinder!!

Then she just drops off her many rolls of film at the local WalMart/LondonDrugs etc. and gets an included second set of 3 x 5 or 5 x 7 shots included free and basically for just a few cents/developed and printed shot, even - if she hasn't used of the readily available discount coupons, and all ready to be shared and viewed. And no electronics or batteries required!!  Hmmm... maybe she's not so backward thinking as I thought??? 

But thanks for your thoughts - by just using a quick zoom setting with the cameras LCD display and you made me think of my old aluminum P-Shooter complete with its machined mouthpiece and it's flip-up front and rear cross-pinned sights. It was deadly accurate with a LOT of power back in my fast athletic running/trumpet playing/non-smoking days.

PS: I'm not sure of the G3 or G1 to which you refer.


----------



## MacDoc

Panasonic Lumix GX-1 and G3 were what I was agonizing over to replace my point and shoot. Wanted to get something under $800 all in I could go birding with but still carry on the motorcycle in a big pocket.
My TZ25 point and shoot was driving me batty - no way to focus by hand and it would hunt all over the place at times giving me a perfectly focused set of leaves and a blurry bird in front of them.
The G are smaller than the full sized SLR and yet still can handle different lenses and the Gx-1 in particular - the body is not much larger than the point and shoot I was using. Touch the location on the big bright screen you want to focus on and it's instant even in cluttered situations which is what I would get in the rain forest all the time. That plus low light had me guessing what kind of shot I would end up on the LumixTZ-25 I was using.

GX-1









versus TZ25









But the TXZ is single lens and it retracts so very slim. The GX not so slim with lens attached but still that's a pretty small lens for a small zoom









Electronic trimming seems to now be part of the photography process for better or worse.
I really liked the TZ in most circumstances as it was a take anywhere camera and on occasion pretty fine shots would result - but was slow to focus and the automatic settings would hunt about at times so two shots in a row would give very different outcomes.

The ultimate irony with film ( aside from Kodak going bankrupt ) is on occasion having to make a photo shoot around parents house to capture the fading glory of 60+ year old prints to preserve and share online 

Was there a favourite brand of dried pies to go with that cannon ?


----------



## Lawrence

You might try looking on ebay for a "Watameter Rangefinder"
They used to use them on Rollie cameras attaching them to the accessory shoe.

Besides that idea, Ever played golf?
You could also just buy a cheap golfing rangefinder.


----------



## Lawrence

This one from Voigtländer is neat too, Might be a bit hard to find nowadays though.


----------



## Kami

The problems with trying to use an optical viewfinder as an aftermarket product with a compact digital camera are twofold

1) trying to find an effective way to mount the device and 
2) taking into account the effects of zooming from wide to telephoto and vice versa

Unless your camera has a hot shoe built-in then you need to mount the viewfinder via a bracket attached to the tripod socket. This would be ungainly and big. At this point, you might as well buy a new camera with an optical or LCD viewfinder built-in

If you had a hot shoe then you could you use one of the old rangefinder eyepieces (e.g. Leica, Yashica, etc). Problem is that these were meant for primes so you would not be able to see the effects of when you zoom in or out

I think that you really have 2 choices to solve the camera to the eye issue,
1) buy a camera with a separate eye level viewfinder (optical or LCD)
2) try to find a eyepiece adapter that fits over the entire LCD. Something like the hoodman loupe 

HoodLoupe 3.0


----------



## eMacMan

Kami said:


> The problems with trying to use an optical viewfinder as an aftermarket product with a compact digital camera are twofold
> 
> 1) trying to find an effective way to mount the device and
> 2) taking into account the effects of zooming from wide to telephoto and vice versa
> 
> Unless your camera has a hot shoe built-in then you need to mount the viewfinder via a bracket attached to the tripod socket. This would be ungainly and big. At this point, you might as well buy a new camera with an optical or LCD viewfinder built-in
> 
> If you had a hot shoe then you could you use one of the old rangefinder eyepieces (e.g. Leica, Yashica, etc). Problem is that these were meant for primes so you would not be able to see the effects of when you zoom in or out
> 
> I think that you really have 2 choices to solve the camera to the eye issue,
> 1) buy a camera with a separate eye level viewfinder (optical or LCD)
> 2) try to find a eyepiece adapter that fits over the entire LCD. Something like the hoodman loupe
> 
> HoodLoupe 3.0


Also parallax shift especially as you get closer to the subject. 

Something that helps me a lot is a fishermans hat. Makes it fairly easy to to shade camera and even the lens with one hand and hold the camera with the other. A Stetson or Sombrero might even be a step up from that.


----------



## MacDoc

That's a good idea - tricky on a mcycle tho.

Have to find out where my brightness is on the new toy - could barely see shooting in sunlight.


Y'know it would be kinda cool if there was a wearable viewfinder with a cable to the camera a couple of feet long.

So you would wear it like pair of glasses but only one eye covered ( too cool if it would swing away ) 

The all the manufacturer needs is a thin cable to feed the VF - it's the swing out LCD taken to extreme and you could shoot from low or high and still have the viewfinder in play.

Here is just the ticket










incredible definition 



> Photographers who've spent years looking through the window of a high-end optical viewfinder may never find an electronic version that fully satisfies them. But this new MicroOLED EVF may get us closer than ever to an acceptable digital replacement for the TTL OVF, which will never find a home in modern-day compacts and mirrorless ILCs. Developed with military and medical-industry heads-up displays and digital camera viewfinders in mind, the new microdispay is able to deliver a 5.4 megapixel (2560 x 2048) monochrome image, or* 1.3 megapixels in full 16-million color -- all in a 0.61-inch diagonal panel*. The display boasts a top contrast ratio of 100,000:1, 96-percent uniformity and 0.2 watts of power consumption. There's no word yet on when the new tech will start popping up in enterprise devices and digital cameras, or how much of a premium it'll carry for electronics manufacturers, but it looks like we're closer than ever to having an excellent electronic alternative to the optical viewfinder. Jump past the break for the full PR from MicroOLED.


more
MicroOLED viewfinder delivers 5.4 megapixels in 0.61-inch monochrome display -- Engadget


----------



## pm-r

eMacMan said:


> Also parallax shift especially as you get closer to the subject.
> ...


All I really need or want is some sort of simple aiming device to get at least get close to centering the pre-zoomed set setting for distance shots. Sort of like any of the simple open sights some sport gun sights use should work.

Obviously, they probably wouldn't be too accurate for any real close up shots but probably better than just shooting from the hip.


----------



## Lawrence

pm-r said:


> All I really need or want is some sort of simple aiming device to get at least get close to centering the pre-zoomed set setting for distance shots. Sort of like any of the simple open sights some sport gun sights use should work.
> 
> Obviously, they probably wouldn't be too accurate for any real close up shots but probably better than just shooting from the hip.


You could always just jerry rig a golfing distance scope on top of your camera,
Maybe using a dot velcro button. (Male and female type)

That kind of scope is cheap and plentiful to find in most sports stores.


----------



## iMatt

Mounting any sort of optical finder is going to be a PITA without a shoe.

Options as I see 'em:

- if there's enough room on the camera's top plate -- ideally precisely over the centre of the lens -- add a shoe (search for "cold shoe" -- about $15), then add an optical viewfinder (with all the caveats already mentioned about zoom, parallax, etc.). Unfortunately a suitable optical finder may not be as cheap as you'd like. I'd look for a finder almost as wide as my camera's widest setting, but there's nothing stopping you from trying out various lengths
- get a shade for the LCD, assuming your main issue is that the screen is hard-to-see in bright light
- get a loupe, e.g. a Hoodman. This basically covers your LCD with a little tent; you look in through an eyepiece
- trade up to a camera that solves the issue without any further fuss or hacking. My preferred option, but one of the above hacks might work for you.


----------

