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  #1  
Old 6th June 2011, 07:27 PM
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cliveh cliveh is offline
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Default Viewfinder Preference

I’m sure this question may have been asked before, but SLR, TLR, View, Rangefinder or other. Do you have a preference and why? I like rangefinders for the simple reason that it is an aid to composition, allowing you to see left, right, above and below the area of shot.
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Old 6th June 2011, 07:47 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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For MF I prefer TLR's and for 35mm I prefer Rangefinder's, I also like the fold up viewfinders I have on some of my folders as you can easily see what is just outside the frame,
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Old 6th June 2011, 09:08 PM
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I use the groundglass screen on my Mamiya. I've tried the prism finder, but it just doesn't work for me. On my Zorki, I use the turret finder.
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Old 6th June 2011, 09:10 PM
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Waist level finders are my favourite.


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Old 6th June 2011, 09:54 PM
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As a Mamiya 7 user I could wax lyrical about 'seeing outside of the frame', using a 'Texas Leica' with all of it's advantages and connections to Cartier-Bresson, etc, not being interrupted by the image going blank (a la SLRs), etc. However, the truth is that my photos need none of this. Why I use the Mamiya 7 is simply because it gives super sharp negatives and I have, over 10 years, learnt to see exactly how the 65mm lens 'sees' the world' with me as it's guide.

IMHO there is only one 'perfect' camera and that is the one that gives you the results that you want.

Previously, that was for landscape work a 4 x 5 MPP, for me learning about Lewis Baltz it was a Leica with Tech Pan, then it was a Leica with Pan F in Cellar-Stellar learning about Lee Friedlander, then it was a Hasselblad learning how to use a square format (with a big influence from uncle Bill Brandt, Bailey and my friend Brian Griffin), then it was 6 x 9 trying to be a B&W version of Martin Parr.

Finally, I remembered my work as a very young man in camera clubs with a Perriflex and then an Exa 1a and found my way. In those times my work pleased me the most because it was not 'ordinary' and this was the result of the equipment and my rather small stature as an 8 year old.

After so many years I realised that why these images worked for me so well was that I felt that I had my own 'voice'(although clearly due to my physical size at the time and using a waist-level camera). It has taken me almost 40 years to get to the point that I can combine my 'vision' (learnt so young) to a cohesive approach to image making.

Better later than never!!!!
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Old 6th June 2011, 10:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dsallen View Post
As a Mamiya 7 user I could wax lyrical about 'seeing outside of the frame', using a 'Texas Leica' with all of it's advantages and connections to Cartier-Bresson, etc, not being interrupted by the image going blank (a la SLRs), etc. However, the truth is that my photos need none of this. Why I use the Mamiya 7 is simply because it gives super sharp negatives and I have, over 10 years, learnt to see exactly how the 65mm lens 'sees' the world' with me as it's guide.

IMHO there is only one 'perfect' camera and that is the one that gives you the results that you want.

Previously, that was for landscape work a 4 x 5 MPP, for me learning about Lewis Baltz it was a Leica with Tech Pan, then it was a Leica with Pan F in Cellar-Stellar learning about Lee Friedlander, then it was a Hasselblad learning how to use a square format (with a big influence from uncle Bill Brandt, Bailey and my friend Brian Griffin), then it was 6 x 9 trying to be a B&W version of Martin Parr.

Finally, I remembered my work as a very young man in camera clubs with a Perriflex and then an Exa 1a and found my way. In those times my work pleased me the most because it was not 'ordinary' and this was the result of the equipment and my rather small stature as an 8 year old.

After so many years I realised that why these images worked for me so well was that I felt that I had my own 'voice'(although clearly due to my physical size at the time and using a waist-level camera). It has taken me almost 40 years to get to the point that I can combine my 'vision' (learnt so young) to a cohesive approach to image making.

Better later than never!!!!
Very good and informative about your wider aims and vision, but the question was about viewfinder types and why.
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Old 7th June 2011, 07:06 AM
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Hi Clive, thought that was clear in my answer - rangefinder for the last 10 years.
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  #8  
Old 7th June 2011, 07:39 AM
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My preference is for 'straight-through' onto a ground glass screen, reversed and upside-down. This gives me a form of detachment from actual reality, but in so doing creates another reality, a bit like the photographic print which for me has always been a 'reality' in itself, separate from the thing photographed.
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  #9  
Old 7th June 2011, 10:27 AM
PaulBJE PaulBJE is offline
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Interesting to see the various opinions. I have a Bronica and Mamiya RB and use a prism nearly all the time unless it's a low level shot and it is then easier to use the 'waist level' viewfinder!

I take the point that viewing indirectly may give a different reality, but I much prefer to see the shot as it appears although I know the final photograph may not end up as I see it through the viewfinder!

Paul
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Old 7th June 2011, 11:35 AM
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Rangefinders for me Mamiya M7 and Leica just seem brighter than SLRs - maybe it's because my Nikons are ageing..

Also I like seeing outside the frame through the viewfinder, as implied elsewhere here.

Not a viewfinder point, but the quiet shutters are a bonus too.
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