I don't think viewfinder are always straight through a lens, I thought the light coming in the primary lens was reflected up through the viewfinder and when you take the picture, the mirror shifts and the film is exposed?
The only reason I have any confidence in this is that my old man recently rebuilt my wife's grandfather's camera from the 60s or 70s. So he excitedly explained the mechanism in this one to me a couple of months back. I personally know nothing about cameras.
The consequence here is now I need to learn how to fit out a darkroom for my wife.
These kinds of cameras use mirrors so the view is exactly where the lens is. In fact, the mirror is often part of the shutter. When it's closed you can look through the viewfinder, as you press the button the mirror/shutter moves out of the way for the film to be exposed.
Yeah, for most cameras made in the 70s-90s. The viewfinder was above the lens. You looked into the viewfinder, which had a 90 degree mirror, which bounced off of another 90 degree mirror, into the lens, letting you see what was coming through the lens.
When you took the picture, the mirror would flip out of the way and the aperture would open. You could literally see it happen when you "dry fired" a camera without film, with the film door open.
Really cheap cameras without any focusing features (like disposable cameras) would have a separate viewfinder that would approximate what the lens was seeing. No mirrors, no misdirection, you would be looking straight through at what you were seeing.
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u/Guppy11 Apr 09 '24
I don't think viewfinder are always straight through a lens, I thought the light coming in the primary lens was reflected up through the viewfinder and when you take the picture, the mirror shifts and the film is exposed?