A DIY retro digital camera project - Blog #10 Introduce maybe the largest OVF on the market

While the app still in final development push (almost there, will post some super sick camera-app operation reels/posts on IG soon), let's have a deep dive on one of the most important elements for screen free digital camera: the optical viewfinder. 

Design:

The RewindPix design pays tribute to the iconic Agfa Optima 1035, re-imagining its clean Bauhaus lines and minimal form in a modern, digital context, including it's iconic large optical viewfinder. 

During the process of finding suppliers, I encountered one major difficulty, no single supplier offered a viewfinder of this size.

All I could find were small, tunnel-vision style viewfinders, the kind commonly used in disposable cameras and other screen-free digital camera peers. 

And this is exactly what I’m trying to avoid for RewindPix. Those small, low-quality viewfinders with poor optical performance: distorted edges that create a tunnel-vision effect, and a highly inaccurate field of view (often equivalent to 24–28 mm, completely mismatched to the camera’s actual focal length 32mm-35mm).

On top of that, the viewfinder magnification is disappointingly low, around 0.5× – 0.6× based on my findings. Which basically means the elephant in front of you shrinks to the size of a dog when you look through it.

As comparison, Agfa Optima 1035's viewfinder is large, bright, accurate field of view and with 0.78x magnification. It provides user a great shooting/framing experience, since without the LCD screen, viewfinder is the only way that connects camera to the world. There is no room for compensation if I want to bring my beloved Agfa Optima back to life. I would need to come up with a solution. 

After a few months of searching and countless late-night calls with optical manufacturers in China, I finally found one who was confident they could replicate the Agfa Optima’s viewfinder. (The Agfa Optima 1035 was launched in 1979,  just imagine how many brilliant “lost technologies” we modern humans have already forgotten.)

And boy, the cost burned through my shallow pockets instantly. But for the sake of building the best screen-free digital camera , not just inside, but outside as well. It’s a cost I have to carry.

 

Comparison:

I guess a direct measurement will be the best way to show case the size differences. 

Figure 1: Start the measurement

Figure 2: Comparison 

Figure 3: Use a tank drew by my kid to show case the magnification

Figure 4: normal small viewfinder

Figure 4: Rewindpix viewfinder

 

And you are right, for the first time, viewfinder on screen free digital camera got clear frame line now and matching 35mm focal length with 3:2 aspect ratio, same as 135film, instead of 4:3. Let's go retro all the way! 

 

My hope: user will immediately enjoy the viewing from Rewindpix and bring the shooting experience to another level!

Next post, app and camera interaction/more filter effects (how about some light leak, texture and analog time stamp options?)