Extremely odd on-line conversation with B&H

Jock Elliott

Hall of Famer
Location
Troy, NY
Yesterday I was searching B&H's online catalog of used gear, trying to find an affordable 28mm optical viewfinder to slide into the hotshoe of my G12.

I identified two candidates -- a zoom OVF from Nikon and a "universal" 28-135 zoom OVF.

I used the online chat function to talk with folks from B&H. After some palavering, I was told that these two OVFs were only for film cameras and not for digital cameras. Further I was told that they had no used OVFs for digital cameras.

Now, I may not be sharpest knife in the drawer, but I fail to understand how an optical viewfinder for a 28mm field of view for a film camera differs from an optical viewfinder for a digital camera with the same field of view, so long as it attaches in the proper place on the camera. In other words, the 28mm OVF for a Leica M6 ought to work on a Ricoh GR, and vice versa: the OVF built for the GR ought to work on the leica film camera so long as the field of view and the attachments are correct, right?

Or am I wrong? If I am, would someone please set me straight??!!

Cheers, Jock
 
sometimes it's best to check with your buddies at SC instead of someone at the "help" desk. If you have links to these 2 items and questions, we'll be happy to help ;)

Luke,

You are a pal.

Here are the two items:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800893579-USE/Nikon_Varifocal_Zoom_View_Finder.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/801008533-USE/other_brand_universial_zoom_viewfinder_for.html


BTW, the objective is to provide a "better" viewfinder -- at least at 28mm -- than the one that is built into the G12.

Cheers, Jock
 
well....not much info to go on there with that second one.

I think I would order both and intend to return one. Viewfinders can be different even when on paper they appear to do the exact same thing. Either of them should be a big improvement over the small one in the Canon.

Is the aspect ratio of the Canon the same as a 35mm camera? Just wondering aloud.....I'm sure someone more technically minded than myself would know.
 
well....not much info to go on there with that second one.

I think I would order both and intend to return one. Viewfinders can be different even when on paper they appear to do the exact same thing. Either of them should be a big improvement over the small one in the Canon.

Is the aspect ratio of the Canon the same as a 35mm camera? Just wondering aloud.....I'm sure someone more technically minded than myself would know.

The G12 can be set to 3:2 aspect ratio.

Cheers, Jock
 
The G12 can be set to 3:2 aspect ratio.

Cheers, Jock

Yeah, but there's a difference between a camera with a native 3:2 sensor and a native 4:3 sensor that's cropped down to 3:2 - it's still the same narrower width as the native 4:3 frame but with the top and bottom cropped off. A true 3:2 native sensor is both wider and shorter than a native 4:3. I'm not suggesting that working with one of these hot-shoe OVFs is all that precise an exercise to begin with, but a good accurate 3:2 frameline in an OVF is going to show a wider view than the camera will actually pick up.

Probably nothing to worry about, but worth being aware of nonetheless.

VERY few cameras have actual multi-aspect ratio sensors that will maintain the same image circle and the same full resolution at various aspect ratios. The LX5 and LX7 have them (probably the LX3 too), the G1X mk II has one, the GH1 and GH2 had them. There may be others that I'm unaware of. That was one of the things I absolutely loved about the LX5 and LX7 that none of the other compacts have except now the GIX mk II.

-Ray
 
Product knowledge in any given store runs on the continuum of clueless - guru. At the clueless level are the people who's best line is 'do you want a memory card with that?'
At the upper end of the scale is the person who can discuss the minutiae of medium format film scanning vs a Phase One digital back.

The reasons for this run from apathy and necessity to passion and obsession. Shop assistants have to keep track of every kind of product they have available in the shop, whereas people like us have specialized interests and can therefore allow ourselves to dig a lot deeper. Many of us also spend many hours a day on the internet browsing camera websites and forums. Heck, I know I do, and I often know more about a camera I'm interested in that the usual shop assistant.

But we sometimes assume that just because we, 'the public', know something, then surely someone who works in the area does, too. Not all the time. :cool:
 
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