"through the viewfinder" TTV photography

<p>Has anyone ever tried this on a film camera? I have a Nikon F3 and wondering if anyone has done this type of photography using 35mm as opposed to digital.</p>

<p>I think it's popular with digitals because small sensor digital cameras are often capable of very impressive close focusing... it is a function of having a small sensor and therefore a short focal length lens that they can focus very close to their subject, to the point of actually being able to fill the screen. Autofocus probably also helps being able to hold two cameras at once and one-handed. You can do it with your F3 using some kind of almost-macro setup, but maintaining focus would probably require the two cameras to be affixed firmly to some kind of rig that they could both be carried by.</p>

<p>It works with a TLR pretty cool. Put the TLR on a tripod and shood down at the viewfinder...</p>

<p>I agree with Larry, the whole charm of the TTV style is to have some distortion or debris visible on the print. I don't think the F3 viewfinder will really give you the "look" of a TTV picture. A TLR is a great place to start, although i would stay away from the nicer ones with grid lines and better yet seek out a really old fixed focus box camera with the top side viewfinder like a lot of the old 620 cameras. some of these were crystal clear without the matte screen, as you really weren't focusing on anything, just composing. I have an Ansco Panda that seems perfect, although i really haven't given it a good run for the money yet. </p>