Using Side Mount Range Finders on Press Cameras

For anyone reading this who has used a press camera with a side mount range finder; If you're like myself, and many others who I've seen take photos of themselves using their press cameras on Flickr, I'm willing to bet that when you try to focus with the side mount range finder, that you resemble the picture I've posted to the left. Either you raise the camera up & to the left, or scrunch your head down to the right to try and use the range finder while keeping the camera level.

I did this for years, and always thought it was kind of cumbersome, but just assumed that is how it was meant to be. Then, after watching some vintage footage involving a Speed Graphic being used, I've been enlightened. The secret to quickly using the range finder is to not try and use it while keeping the camera level, but to rotate the entire camera counterclockwise about 45° and let the range finder come to the eye.

Give it a shot! I find that it is much quicker to switch between setting the range finder and composing the shot this way, and feels much more ergonomic as well. I also find that using the range finder itself is easier in this mode. With the camera rotated, the range finder patch will now travel from the top left to the bottom right, instead of straight up & down. In a world where most things are straight up & down, I find it obscenely easier to know when the range finder is on when it travels at this angle since you can match the images on either the horizontal, or the vertical. Great tip if you are working on a series about plain metal poles.