21mm frame finders?

[M like Leica M6]

A few years ago I sold my Voigtländer 4/21 and the finder forabout 250 Euros, not knowing how expensive this stuff would become. The little finder alone costs at least 150 Euros today, the Zeiss finder is well above 300, and I don't even want to know how much Leica would charge for the 21mm peephole.

As the only task of a 21mmfinder is to show a frame I think that a frame or sports finder could do the trick as well. Some advantages would be included: no distortion at all, no glass, collapsible.

No problem. Leitz did it,many years ago:

L-CAMERA-APPS - Leica Sammlerstücke, Ersatzteile, Accessories & Zubehör: RASAL Rahmensucher, schwarz lackiert : Sammlerstücke

Yes, I noticed that they did not make one for 21mm.

Did someone else ever produce such a finder? Or is there a DIY template?

 

[Dante_Stella]

Graflex made a coiled-spring-material wideangle wire finder for the XL (6x9 with 47mm Super-Angulon). Same field of view as with a 21mm lens (I actually use this with a 50mm on a Fuji 6x9 camera in a double shoe with a Seculine Action Level cross).

A 21mm wire finder is huge, and you may need to modify the foot to fit in a modern camera (the XL apparently had a seriously spring-loaded shoe).

Dante

 

[Particular]

Most 4x5 press cameras have wire frame finders, which work fine. The disadvantage to using a wireframe for a 21mm is that the view is wider than your eye. The frame edges would be in the extremities of your peripheral vision. If you don't mind scanning the edges of the frame with your eye (which may slow you down) then it should work ok.
To experiment, you could take an empty slide frame and hold it at 21mm from you eye.

 

[johannielscom]

Hi Clemens,

happy to read the IXMOO's arrived!

My tip: Get a Komura 28mm finder and take the front mask out. The resulting field will match a 21mm field quite closely.

 

[thegman]

I have a Pasoptick 21mm finder as it is much the same as 47mm on 6x9 film. It's cheaper than a Voigtlander, but IMHO, not quite as nice. I've used a 15mm Voigtlander, and it's like looking at life in HD, the Pasoptick isn't, but it's metal, nice, and works just fine.