[Leica] Ted's park bench advice

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Ted' s advice for park bench deception is sage and undoubtedly will lead to
great street photographs. But for lazy photographers the right angle
viewfinder is a convenient shortcut. Just about every camera made since 1900
has an available right angle viewfinder. Even Leica. In fact a vintage Leitz
made WINTU finder is currently offered by Green Mountain Camera for $124.

<http://www.gmcamera.com/servlet/the-4200/Leitz-Leica-Wintu-Right/Detail>


Many cameras came with right angle finders built in. Robot cameras had a
viewfinder which would either swivel or could be adjusted for right angle
viewing by moving a small lever. Leica and most other quality German cameras
had several aftermarket waist level and right angle viewfinders, some of
which are still available at KEH.

<http://www.nemeng.com/leica/027b.shtml>

I have a tiny right angle finder that fits to the top of my Minox when I
want to be really sneaky.

Shahn took a number of memorable street type photos using a Leica right
angle finder during the depression.

<
http://johnedwinmason.typepad.com/john_edwin_mason_photogra/2010/03/shahn-leica-right-angle-viewfinder.html
>


The downside of using these finders is that few permit you to focus the
camera when shooting to the side. This is hardly a great liability since the
wide angle lenses usually used for street photography have sufficient depth
of field for guess focusing. But if you really want to avoid most of these
problems, just use a Rolliflex and turn it sideways.

Larry Z