Re: Laser Guided Spud

[Joel Alpers <joel.alpers@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

M. Robson wrote:
> 
> After dabbling with some shoot & lean Yashicamat pairs
> I've taken delivery of my new Sputnik and 100 mounts
> to start so I guess I'm graduating to enthusiast level.
> 
> Greg's comment about the Sputnik's poor viewfinder for
> focusing and framing got me thinking about a possible
> solution (for low light focusing) which others may have
> already discovered.
> 
> I found that my laser pointer wedged nicely between the
> supply knob and viewfinder boss on the Sputnik. My pointer
> has about a 2 deg. taper on the output end which angles the
> beam nicely toward the center of the field. When I looked
> through the viewfinder I couldn't believe my luck. The
> laser spot imaged right in the middle of the ground glass
> circle, enabling me to focus very accurately (by bringing
> the laser spot to a pin sharp focus) in low light or
> even complete darkness! The laser on/off button is right
> there under my index finger and very convenient. I've
> tried this with rangefinders also where it works even
> better, showing two bright spots converging to one at focus.
> 

<grin>

Great trick, Mark, thanks for sharing it!!!!