FMVF-1 Optical Viewfinder for 6x17 Cameras

thingiverse

FMVF-1 DIY 6x17 Optical Viewfinder Have been working on this for a few months. Started as a simple desire to create an accurate and inexpensive optical viewfinder for those building economical 3D printed panorama cameras. It quickly turned into an obsessive compulsion. I’ve already spent hundreds of dollars on all types and sizes of lenses, a makeshift optical bench, accurate measuring tools along with 100’s of exasperating hours finalizing the design with only a rudimentary understanding of the complex mathematics involved. This is the final version, the ‘Fat Man’, and it has met all my objectives of accuracy, low cost and ease of build. It supports a film gate of 6x17 using a 75mm lens. Magnetically attached masks provide for 90mm and longer lenses. Its 50mm in diameter and 75mm long at about 5 oz but it feels pretty nice on a lightweight camera. To keep costs reasonable, I’ve utilized 2 high quality surplus / NOS lenses as well as one lens obtained from China. The sources are listed below for you to procure and build this on your own. Is it perfect? No, but It’s close. Is it hundreds of dollars? Not even close. Total cost for the lenses and all hardware is typically under $40.00. Requires about 6.5 hours of print time at 60mm/sec with your choice of filament and a .6 nozzle. I used approximately 9.2 meters of Carbon Fiber PLA, about 60 grams.