Angled Viewfinder

[desert bluegrass]

I have been searching for information on angled viewfinders for a Canon T2i. I had come across a site that mentioned this piece of camera equipment and it is exactly what I was looking for. The Pentacon/Praktica was the particular name for what was being used on the photos but it was a Russian photog that was doing the work. I'm not specifically looking for that name brand but a viewfinder is right up my alley. At the moment I am doing a lot of photos in the desert on mountainous and hilly ground. Craning my neck down to the camera viewfinder is not the most comfortable and sometimes impossible task. An angled viewfinder would be perfect. I imagine that this does involve the use of mirrors and awkward perspectives. Any comments pro or con would be appreciated.

Charlton

[Chris S.]

Charlton,

I use a right angle viewfinder attachment constantly. You can see one (a Nikon DR-6 model) on my rig here. Canon of course also makes them, as do third party makers such as Opteka and Seagull.

These are fairly simple devices that function a bit like a periscope. I do not find mine awkward to use at all, and consider it almost a necessity for a lot of shooting. In case you're wondering, the image you see is not reversed or upside down--it is almost exactly what you'd see if looking directly through the camera's viewfinder. One nice addition is that some models (including mine) offer switch-in/switch-out magnification of 2x or 2.5x. This cuts a portion of the image from your view, but can make focusing much easier.

While I have experience only with Nikon-brand angle finders, the prices of some the third-party models are attractive, as is the ability of at least some of them to adapt to different camera brands and models. And on some, the reviews seem pretty good. I would be tempted to try one of the cheaper ones.

--Chris

--edited typos

[desert bluegrass]

Thanks Chris. Yes I was wondering if the perspective would be a reversed or upside down view so thank you for advising of this. I did see some from Opteka and Seagull as well as one from Canon. I think I will probably settle on purchasing the one from Canon even though it is more expensive, it isn't outside of the budget realm. Plus, the ones from Opteka and Seagull had good reviews except for one little item about attempting to obtain a response from customer service. I like having to be able to contact someone if there is a serious issue.

Charlton