Help! What is this viewfinder for??
Mar 14, 2022 19:46:18 GMT
on Mar 14, 2022 19:46:18 GMT
Posted: Mar 14, 2022 19:46:18 GMT
OK Folks, I'm completely lost with this one...it's marked Super Yashinon 13.5cm.
On the face of it, it's a viewfinder but that's where my confusion starts. I can find no reference to this in any Yashica literature. I even toyed with the idea this was an add-on for the Atoron camera though how it would be used beats me as there's no provision for attachment. I found it last week in Japan.
13.5cm Super Yashinon Viewfinder comp
Firstly, I don't recall seeing any Yashica viewfinder for a 13.5cm lens and this is marked specifically for a Super Yashinon version. Next, I'm surprised to see that it features a focusing dial that rotates from 3ft (0.9m) to infinity. Finally, and to me most bewildering, is that it has a beautifully machined, spring-loaded mechanism (see right hand picture) to raise or lower the attitude of the viewfinder. The fact that the bright-line is at an angle is very odd - I wonder if that glass element has shifted but if it has, I can't get it to rotate at all. It appears to have multiple glass elements within it.
Under what photographic or cinematographic condition would you want to tilt a viewfinder from the plane of the lens?
Can any of you help identify this oddity?
On the face of it, it's a viewfinder but that's where my confusion starts. I can find no reference to this in any Yashica literature. I even toyed with the idea this was an add-on for the Atoron camera though how it would be used beats me as there's no provision for attachment. I found it last week in Japan.
13.5cm Super Yashinon Viewfinder comp
Firstly, I don't recall seeing any Yashica viewfinder for a 13.5cm lens and this is marked specifically for a Super Yashinon version. Next, I'm surprised to see that it features a focusing dial that rotates from 3ft (0.9m) to infinity. Finally, and to me most bewildering, is that it has a beautifully machined, spring-loaded mechanism (see right hand picture) to raise or lower the attitude of the viewfinder. The fact that the bright-line is at an angle is very odd - I wonder if that glass element has shifted but if it has, I can't get it to rotate at all. It appears to have multiple glass elements within it.
Under what photographic or cinematographic condition would you want to tilt a viewfinder from the plane of the lens?
Can any of you help identify this oddity?
