Brando.com are selling a cheap red dot sight and adapter to attach it to a camera's hot shoe (flash) mount.
I very much dislike this trend of attaching gun parts to cameras. It is going to one day end in disaster.
[ Many thanks to David for emailing me the link. ]
Supposedly, it’s good for photographing birds in flight.
2 
0This isn’t anything new.
I have a film camera with a fast finder on it for when you can’t get it to your eye. I happen to use mine underwater where often things are zipping around too fast that if you use the regular view finder you miss things.
Often these sorts of hot shoe sights would be used with a shoulder mount and a medium telephoto lens for in two case.
One to shoot fast moving subjects like motor-sports where you just aim at the cars but need to see a wider area of the action to see where they’re going and the framing doesn’t have to be perfect.
Or with a long telephoto so you can have it roughly on target by the time you bring that 600mm f/4 with 1.4x converter to your eye. It’s just too hard to aim after it’s stuck on your face.
Red dots are new, but it’s not really different than the wire sights on older cameras.
1 0Awesome. Now when they outlaw reflex sights because “No civilian should ever have the need to aim a weapon so quickly!”, we can just say our EOTechs are for our cameras!
0 0The only red-dot sight I own was designed to work as a finder scope for a astronomical telescope. AFAIK, red dots have been used for astronomical purposes for as long or longer than they’ve been used for rifle sights.
I’d imagine that the application in this case is similar: using a low-powered sight to help the camera track or find an object while zoomed in.
0 0too late to be afraid of that trend: “Fotosnaipers” were already available in the 1940s: http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/fs12/
Better dont go to a war zone as a reporter using a black camera with a pistol grip, trigger and a stock.
0 0Most digital SLR cameras can’t use the big screen on back as a viewfinder.
0 0Camera shooting flying birds or other fast action with a 1000 mm lens hand held requires both eyes open to track and lead. Even the old Crown Graphic 4X5 cameras had the wire frame for sports action. The red dot sight, properly adjusted makes it easier to track objects that can’t be followed through the viewfinder. It works.
0 0I used the red dot sight when I shot whit my Leica V-lux-1 to keep birds in flight in the frame while shooting continious mode. The EVF can’t keep up.
0 0in the old days (like 1930′s) you would use a sight like this for sporting events. they were large sights about 3″x3″ wire frame. they obviously didnt have a laser but the concept is the same….you could see more of the action with the wire frame compared to looking thru a tiny viewfinder…..journalist also used these a lot for taking images of fast action….
0 0“Can you say that certain videoed military helicopter strike controversy over a lens thingey being mistaken for an RPG?”
There was a guy actually carrying an RPG there.
It doesn’t surprise me that these two disciplines are converging. We after all “shoot” photos. Camera journalists have long been on the front lines. And people “hunt” birds with a lens like others do with a gun.
0 0Well let’s hope some paparazzi gets shot using one of those.
0 0Can you say that certain videoed military helicopter strike controversy over a lens thingey being mistaken for an RPG?
On top of that, the thing just looks ridiculous.
0 0Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
0 0I doubt anyone is going to think its a gun just cause thats on top. Seems like a good idea to me for the same reason they’re good for guns, quick aiming for what you want to take pictures of.
0 0Ummmm…. Why exactly would one do this?
0 0well…
When I was taking pictures at a riding event last year, I really would have appreceated such a configuration. In fact, I tried to build something like that from a tripod adapter plate and a red dot I had lying around. This thing would have allowed me to observe where the rider was going and to foresee when something interesting would happen without having to zoom away. It is a niche product, but for some applications it really makes sense.
0 0It could be handy for shooting fast moving stuff. Your field of view is pretty limited on an SLR, so tracking a fast object while zoomed in can be a bit tricky, say at a sporting event.
0 0As a photographer I have no idea why the hell I’d attach a reflex sight to my camera.
Is it supposed to aid in shooting without looking through the camera or something? Just dumb.
0 1I very much dislike this trend of attaching telescope parts to guns. It is going to one day end in disaster.
0 1While it would work better with a low-mounted Docter or the new flip-up Hera sight, it is much more effective (and smarter too) to use either the big display on the back of the cameras or the finder so you can actually get pictures that are focused on the stuff that you want to photograph.
0 1So if I stick a 600mm on my camera it will portray what I’ll see? I don’t think so…Maybe if you are using an SLR as a pinhole and need a good idea of what you are shooting it could work. Even still I can’t see what the adjustments are for. Use the viewfinder, thats what it’s there for. And you can shove Live View up your ass too
0 2Using rifle stocks as a means of steadying a camera has been around for a long, long time. It’s not a trend. As for the red dot, I can’t see the point.
0 2seriously, what’s the point of this? This mounts the red dot up so high that the parallax would make it all but useless. And it’s not like every red dot out there has the same FOV and lens shape, so it would be useless as a viewfinder for rangefinders.
0 2
I very much dislike this trend of attaching telescope parts to guns. It is going to one day end in disaster.
Camera shooting flying birds or other fast action with a 1000 mm lens hand held requires both eyes open to track and lead. Even the old Crown Graphic 4X5 cameras had the wire frame for sports action. The red dot sight, properly adjusted makes it easier to track objects that can’t be followed through the viewfinder. It works.
I used the red dot sight when I shot whit my Leica V-lux-1 to keep birds in flight in the frame while shooting continious mode. The EVF can’t keep up.
in the old days (like 1930′s) you would use a sight like this for sporting events. they were large sights about 3″x3″ wire frame. they obviously didnt have a laser but the concept is the same….you could see more of the action with the wire frame compared to looking thru a tiny viewfinder…..journalist also used these a lot for taking images of fast action….
So if I stick a 600mm on my camera it will portray what I’ll see? I don’t think so…Maybe if you are using an SLR as a pinhole and need a good idea of what you are shooting it could work. Even still I can’t see what the adjustments are for. Use the viewfinder, thats what it’s there for. And you can shove Live View up your ass too
Using rifle stocks as a means of steadying a camera has been around for a long, long time. It’s not a trend. As for the red dot, I can’t see the point.
Most digital SLR cameras can’t use the big screen on back as a viewfinder.
The only red-dot sight I own was designed to work as a finder scope for a astronomical telescope. AFAIK, red dots have been used for astronomical purposes for as long or longer than they’ve been used for rifle sights.
I’d imagine that the application in this case is similar: using a low-powered sight to help the camera track or find an object while zoomed in.
Awesome. Now when they outlaw reflex sights because “No civilian should ever have the need to aim a weapon so quickly!”, we can just say our EOTechs are for our cameras!
seriously, what’s the point of this? This mounts the red dot up so high that the parallax would make it all but useless. And it’s not like every red dot out there has the same FOV and lens shape, so it would be useless as a viewfinder for rangefinders.
Supposedly, it’s good for photographing birds in flight.
“Can you say that certain videoed military helicopter strike controversy over a lens thingey being mistaken for an RPG?”
There was a guy actually carrying an RPG there.
It doesn’t surprise me that these two disciplines are converging. We after all “shoot” photos. Camera journalists have long been on the front lines. And people “hunt” birds with a lens like others do with a gun.
This isn’t anything new.
I have a film camera with a fast finder on it for when you can’t get it to your eye. I happen to use mine underwater where often things are zipping around too fast that if you use the regular view finder you miss things.
Often these sorts of hot shoe sights would be used with a shoulder mount and a medium telephoto lens for in two case.
One to shoot fast moving subjects like motor-sports where you just aim at the cars but need to see a wider area of the action to see where they’re going and the framing doesn’t have to be perfect.
Or with a long telephoto so you can have it roughly on target by the time you bring that 600mm f/4 with 1.4x converter to your eye. It’s just too hard to aim after it’s stuck on your face.
Red dots are new, but it’s not really different than the wire sights on older cameras.
While it would work better with a low-mounted Docter or the new flip-up Hera sight, it is much more effective (and smarter too) to use either the big display on the back of the cameras or the finder so you can actually get pictures that are focused on the stuff that you want to photograph.
well…
When I was taking pictures at a riding event last year, I really would have appreceated such a configuration. In fact, I tried to build something like that from a tripod adapter plate and a red dot I had lying around. This thing would have allowed me to observe where the rider was going and to foresee when something interesting would happen without having to zoom away. It is a niche product, but for some applications it really makes sense.
It could be handy for shooting fast moving stuff. Your field of view is pretty limited on an SLR, so tracking a fast object while zoomed in can be a bit tricky, say at a sporting event.
I doubt anyone is going to think its a gun just cause thats on top. Seems like a good idea to me for the same reason they’re good for guns, quick aiming for what you want to take pictures of.
Well let’s hope some paparazzi gets shot using one of those.
Ummmm…. Why exactly would one do this?
Can you say that certain videoed military helicopter strike controversy over a lens thingey being mistaken for an RPG?
On top of that, the thing just looks ridiculous.
Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
As a photographer I have no idea why the hell I’d attach a reflex sight to my camera.
Is it supposed to aid in shooting without looking through the camera or something? Just dumb.
too late to be afraid of that trend: “Fotosnaipers” were already available in the 1940s: http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/fs12/
Better dont go to a war zone as a reporter using a black camera with a pistol grip, trigger and a stock.