Wallace Koopmans Artlog

Back to the USSR, specifically the Lubitel 2 that was made in the U.S.S.R. This is the TLR with what I have described as the worlds worst viewfinder.

The Lubitel 2 is an interesting camera, it certainly makes you think about composing your pictures.  Primarily because you can’t.  It without a doubt has the worst viewfinder I have ever encountered.  Others have described it as tunnel vision, I would describe it as frustrating.  It’s one thing to have everything reversed as with all TLR cameras but moving the camera can also make the image disappear entirely if you aren’t absolutely directly aligned.  There are two focus aids though.  One is that the finder can be configured as an eye level frame as seen in the picture of the camera and the other is the small magnifying element that can be flipped out to assist in focusing.  While I’m on the subject of focusing, it also is unique.  The image is not actually formed on a ground glass but is seen directly from a lens element that has  a darkened spot in the center.  It is very difficult to focus and requires the use of this magnifying loupe to ensure accuracy.

And now some samples