TLR Vertigo

[ruben]

Hi Folks,

As I am killing time till I get a Kiev 6c, I went to give another look at my Mamy C=330.

Looking donwards towards the waist level finder I noticed something new worth to be pointed to, in my opinion.

I don't know how exactly express myself, but let's say that with a TLR you can produce a kind of swings of the image, not only diagonally, but also downwards and upwards, and even combine both. (And this produces a slight vertigo on my eyes).

This is not new of course, not even for me. But what it seems to me worth of attention, is that this effects cannot be achieved by a SLR or a RF.

Am I right ?

Would you like to develope the idea ?

Cheers,
Ruben

[dll927]

Since a TLR reverses left/right, vertigo can very well be a result. I'm not sure I quite follow the "swings and tilt" bit - that sounds more like view camera talk. I have heard it said that a TLR can give a somewhat lower point of view, since it is not eye-level but closer to belt level.

I have a Yashicamat 124, and I admit it's been a bunch since I have used it, but it sure takes darned decent pictures. Problem is, I have pretty much gotten away from doing my own developing and printing in the last 20 years or so, so doing 120 film goes back a ways for me.

[ruben]

Hi dll927,

If you can, pick up your Yashicamat, focus it on a near object, a chair, whatever, and start moving the camera diagonally, upwards and downwards, all the time with your subject within the frame.

You will notice a lot of "viewpoints", "distortions", I don't know how exactly to call it, but these options are not seen through the SLR or RF viewfinder.

The "vertigo" stuff, is a side issue, that although real for me, I am using to attract the attention of the readers.

Cheers,
Ruben

[ruben]

I think that I catch the issue a bit.

When we look through a SLR or RF viewfinder, we are very much copyng the usual way we look - forwards.

But looking through a waist level finder, is in some methaphoric sense like positioning ourselves with our back towards the subject while holding a mirror to view the subject.

It's a kind of drastic departure from our usual way of looking (hence the vertigo) and this loss of balance opens a lot of opportunities.

This visual compositional opportunities may be partially found at the SLR/RF viewfinder, but the relatively small image we have there, makes it barely noticeable, while with the big TLR screen they become very obvious.

Cheers,
Ruben

PS,
Now I feel happy about not selling unused gear. "Fiscally irresponsible" :)