DIY: Making a rangefinder for your camera

Wednesday 29 January 2025, 15:51 by Elja Trum | 2,603 views | 8 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

You know those older cameras where you could see from above what you were photographing. Photographer James Warner shows in this video how you can make a rangefinder system for your own camera. You can do it with parts costing about a tenner.

Apart from the end result, it is also an interesting video that gives you more insight into your camera's optics.

Don't have a 3D printer yourself, but still want to get started with this project? There are also services where you can have a 3D model printed.

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About the author

Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.

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8 comments

Paul wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 13:00 | reply
This isn't about a rangefinder, but about a waist-level finder
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 14:17 | reply
Ah, I was already wondering whether I had the right name, but I thought this came closest.

A viewfinder then, I guess.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 14:44 | reply
I believe the official name is: Waist level finder, just like the Rolleiflex and Hasselblad cameras have. I have never seen a Dutch name for this finder.
Opzichtzoeker is a name I have never heard before. It is not in Van Dale either and Google doesn't know it either.
Where did you get that name from, Paul?
Translated from Dutch.

Rik Denekamp wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 14:56 | reply
If I turn my screen horizontally, I still have the same thing, so why all the effort?
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 14:58 | reply
Not everyone has a camera with a tilting screen.
Translated from Dutch.

Paul wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 15:06 | reply
Well, you're right that it apparently is a neologism... but I "learned" it from older photographers. They meant exactly the viewfinders as described in this video. See e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/116330558578
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 15:10 | reply
It is kind of funny how these sorts of things take on a life of their own.
Who knows, it might even be added to Van Dale if we use it often enough
Translated from Dutch.

Paul wrote on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 15:27 | reply
Actually, it's a Germanism: on a German Wikipedia page I found :
Aufsichtsucher - View from above onto the focusing screen of the viewfinder (photography from belly level possible)
Translated from Dutch.

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