Post by belgiumreporter on Apr 19, 2021 9:35:22 GMT -5
Back in the fifties most people serious about 35mm photography mainly used rangefinder cameras.
Slr's weren't fully developed back then and had a lot of drawbacks.
The problem with rangefinders though was, well... you couldn't see through the lens. So accurate close up or macro photography was impossible unless the extra necessary tools were added.
Most of us know the visoflex add on mirrorbox for Leica M cameras or the "goggles" needed for lenses of focal lenghts wich weren't covered in the viewfinders framelines and so on, a lot of these "add ons" existed, some of questionable use.
Here is one of these contraptions made to solve the problem of seing exactly wat is polarised with a polariser in front of the lens. It's the Zeiss bernotar wich consists of a holder wich mounts on the external bayonet of a contax II or III(works just as good on a Kiev or Nikon S type rangefinder).
The idea is to use a polarising filter of wich the polarising direction is matched with a smaller one through wich the photographer can evaluate the scene, turning the thumb wheel simultaniously turns both the taking and the viewing polariser so what you see is what you get. Still no light measuring through the lens means the variable filter factor needs to be taken in to account when making the shot.
All in all those aids were no more than means to an end and i think most photographers now are only to happy with their (D)slr, maybe not realising just how difficult or complex some things used to be not so long ago.
Slr's weren't fully developed back then and had a lot of drawbacks.
The problem with rangefinders though was, well... you couldn't see through the lens. So accurate close up or macro photography was impossible unless the extra necessary tools were added.
Most of us know the visoflex add on mirrorbox for Leica M cameras or the "goggles" needed for lenses of focal lenghts wich weren't covered in the viewfinders framelines and so on, a lot of these "add ons" existed, some of questionable use.
Here is one of these contraptions made to solve the problem of seing exactly wat is polarised with a polariser in front of the lens. It's the Zeiss bernotar wich consists of a holder wich mounts on the external bayonet of a contax II or III(works just as good on a Kiev or Nikon S type rangefinder).
The idea is to use a polarising filter of wich the polarising direction is matched with a smaller one through wich the photographer can evaluate the scene, turning the thumb wheel simultaniously turns both the taking and the viewing polariser so what you see is what you get. Still no light measuring through the lens means the variable filter factor needs to be taken in to account when making the shot.
All in all those aids were no more than means to an end and i think most photographers now are only to happy with their (D)slr, maybe not realising just how difficult or complex some things used to be not so long ago.
