Photographer James Warner, who goes by Snappiness online, built a do-it-yourself waist-level viewfinder that works for any camera, whether it’s analog or digital. Better yet, it requires only about $10 worth of materials.
As seen by Hackaday, the waist-level optical viewfinder works using 3D-printed parts and a Fresnel lens. While the concept of a waist-level optical viewfinder is not new, having been featured on many analog cameras over the years, its appeal persists in the digital era.
Many digital cameras have tilting screens that can replicate the workflow of a waist-level viewfinder, albeit through an electronic viewfinder rather than an optical one. However, as Warner notes, not all digital cameras have tilting displays. This means that photographers must hold the camera up to their face to see what they are doing, but that isn’t always as fun — or as likely to produce appealing photos — as shooting from the hip.
Warner’s creation is not the first of its kind, but as he says, many options available online are pretty expensive and typically limited to just specific focal lengths. Beyond the affordability, the appeal of his solution is that it’s flexible and user-customizable.
Compared to the optical viewfinder in an SLR camera, which relies on light coming through the attached lens, Warner’s waist-level optical viewfinder needs its own lens. This is what will determine the equivalent focal length for the viewfinder. For this purpose, the lens used just needs to be convex or double-convex, meaning that the light that passes through it will be focused to a point on the other side. The larger the glass, the brighter the viewfinder, although photographers don’t want a huge viewfinder on top of their camera.
Warner provides links to the lenses he used in his video’s description but notes that any lens with similar specs could work. “Convex lenses are super cheap and can be found just about anywhere in all sorts of sizes and focal lengths,” he explains.
The light that comes through the lens is flipped, so, like with an SLR’s optical viewfinder, the waist-level DIY viewfinder needs a mirror. Just about any will do, provided it’s the right size. Warner found a bulk package of small mirrors at a local craft store for a couple of bucks.
The third and final piece of glass required is a Fresnel lens. This is a flat piece of glass with etched concentric lines. It focuses light similarly to a convex lens but in a flat format. These come in a variety of sizes and focal lengths.
The final puzzle piece was building a container to hold these three elements: the convex lens, the mirror, and the Fresnel. Warner opted for a 3D-printed solution, which is lightweight, affordable, and customizable to specific needs. He has provided the 3D model STL files for free.
For those without access to a 3D printer, Warner jokes that they need to make friends with someone who does or just built a little box for the glass themselves. It doesn’t need to be pretty, it just needs to be the right size.
James Warner says the waist-level viewfinder project is part of a larger goal to build his own camera this year. Those who want to stay up to date with that project should subscribe to his YouTube channel, Snappiness.
Image credits: Snappiness / James Warner
