Normally I am not a fan of the Mamiya TLR porrorfinder. For two reasons: first the viewfinder image area, now not reversed, is smallish and secondly, the focusing knobs do not feel comfortable down by my chin. Focusing and releasing the shutter with the same hand is awkward. I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for a left-handed person.
The TLR is an ideal studio camera, best on a tripod, used at waist level, looking down. Getting use to the reversed image and making slight framing adjustments for parallax becomes second nature after a few rolls of film. Okay for static subjects but dizzying when tracking something on the move. I sold the first one I owned because I never used it, preferring to shoot more fixed subjects. A couple of years ago I bought a C220 system from a photographer friend and dropped the included porrofinder while playing with the stuff at home. A piece of mirror had broken. It did not matter much because it was the meter type, with the battery cover missing. Something for the garbage can. I threw in in a box of camera junk because of an aversion to throwing away anything photographic.
In Halifax there is an outdoor speed skating oval which is open to the public a few hours every day. It can be quite crowded on a good weekend and makes an interesting picture. I wanted to take pictures on film with the TLR and thought the old broken porrofinder would be ideal for tracking skaters in motion, ... if it could be repaired.
The beauty of the Mamiya is it can easily be taken apart and re-assembled by someone with minimum of mechanical skill and the porrofinder was no exception. Two screws, clean and re-glue the broken mirror and Bob's your uncle. Now to test it out.
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