Through the Viewfinder photography

Depending on the model of TLR, the resulting image may have an old-fashioned feel to it, often with vignetting, blurred edges, distortion and dust.

TLR models popular among TtV photographers have a brilliant type ('bubble glass') viewfinder.

While waist-level viewfinders have been common in box cameras since the beginning of the 20th century, large viewfinders of the sort that are suitable for TtV photography became popular in the late 1920s and 1930s with medium format TLR and pseudo TLR cameras such as the Rolleiflex and the Voigtländer Brillant.

Before the advent of digital photography it was necessary to use extension tubes to photograph a close-up object such as a viewfinder, and it was difficult to judge focusing precisely.

The following equipment is required: The contraption may be a simple cardboard tube, or an open ended box that fits around the bottom camera.

The cropping is necessary because in most cases the (normally square) viewfinder image covers only about 25- 50% of the area of the (normally rectangular) digital picture.

Set-up for through the viewfinder photography. The photograph is taken by a digital camera, top, through the viewfinder of a Kodak Duaflex box camera. The two cameras are linked by a cardboard tube to block out extraneous light and avoid reflections from the Duaflex glass.
Public exhibit on through the viewfinder videography , by S. Mann, LVAC (List Visual Arts Center), October 1997. The video is taken by EyeTap Generation-2 Glass (shown here worn by the mannequin) through the viewfinder of a hand-held video camera. The wearer of the EyeTap records what is seen while looking into the eyecup of the hand-held camera, resulting in what Mann refers to as a "Meta Documentary" (a documentary about making a documentary).
A photographer demonstrating the TtV technique (left); resultant photograph (right). Note mirrored image and post processing color adjustments in the TtV photo. Shot with a Nikon D90 through a Kodak Brownie Relfex Synchro .