Are there any lenses in the Kodak Brownie No. 2 Viewfinder?

Are there any lenses in the Kodak Brownie No. 2 Viewfinder, or is it just two pieces of glass with a 45 degree mirror? I'm going to build a "super" brownie for 4x5 sheet film using the Carl Meyer 90mm lens I have, on a plywood box.. I'm not going to kill a brownie for this project, but I'm wondering if I need to get a couple lens elements for each viewfinder.

Many viewfinders that I know of have a lens, mirror, and frosted glass screen. The result, like with a TLR, is an image that is right side up, but left-right reversed.

 

With a mirror but no lens, it would be upside down, but not left-right reversed.

Are there any lenses in the Kodak Brownie No. 2 Viewfinder, or is it just two pieces of glass with a 45 degree mirror? I'm going to build a "super" brownie for 4x5 sheet film using the Carl Meyer 90mm lens I have, on a plywood box.. I'm not going to kill a brownie for this project, but I'm wondering if I need to get a couple lens elements for each viewfinder.

 

“The original had no finder but did have V sighting lines on top. A clip-on accessory reflecting finder became available from August 1900.”

Kodak Brownie Camera Information - The Original | The Brownie Camera Page

 

“In antique cameras the reflecting type viewfinder is the most common means of image preview. Finders of these types are not always easy to use with precision, but they were cheap, compact and easy to add to a folding camera's front standard or folding bed, or into the housing of a box camera. The view in them is reversed left-to-right.

 

Viewfinder - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

 

The Brownie no 2 had one lens, a simple meniscus, to project the image onto the film. The viewfinder had no lens, just a cube with a front hole, a 45 degree mirror and a top hole that projected the image into the photographer’s eye.

 

 

Great, as that makes my life easier.

So it's like a simple periscope then, which makes my life easier.