Ulanzi Waist-Level Viewfinder Sorta Delivers Mirrorless Framing with a Retro Vibe

You’ll need the “perfect storm” of a camera/lens combination for obtaining a functional use case for the Ulanzi Waist-Level Viewfinder VF01. This well-made flip-up accessory casts a twin-lens reflex (TLR) appearance onto any modern mirrorless camera provided you have three very distinct operational requirements.

First, and foremost, your camera shouldn’t have an on-board viewfinder of its own. Frankly, what’s the point of occupying your camera’s accessory shoe with a redundant viewing system? Furthermore, this viewfinder add-on is incapable of focusing your lens.

Therein, this lack of focusing capability drives home another mandatory requirement for adding the Ulanzi viewfinder to any camera. Your selected lens should, ideally, be a fixed focus variety. This type of lens selection raises the framing function of the viewfinder to its ideal intended use case.

Framing your subject with a waist-level viewfinder brings up the third, and final, operational requirement for adding the Ulanzi accessory to your mirrorless camera. The on-board LCD of your camera should be OFF while using the viewfinder.

Even better, a flip-screen LCD should be rotated towards the camera body. Why? Holding the camera at or near your belt line could cause accidental touchscreen selections. Even worse, rubbing your LCD around a buckle or zipper could scratch the screen.

Seeing is Believing

On the other hand, if you feel that these three operational requirements are trivial, then the Ulanzi Wait-Level Viewfinder could be a worthwhile investment.

Priced at $39.99, this is a helpful viewfinder option that delivers framing viewpoints for 28mm, 35mm, and 50mm lenses. Only the 35mm and 50mm lens’ fields of view are marked by lines, the 28mm lens coverage is depicted by using the entire screen.

All of these frame lines are constantly visible on the screen of the Ulanzi viewfinder. There is no selection button for changing your viewpoint.

After sliding the Ulanzi Waist-Level Viewfinder into place on your camera’s accessory shoe (either a cold or hot shoe works), you’re greeted with a reassuringly solid snap into place by the magnetically secured hood. Unfortunately, this execution helps to expose the one big glaring defect with this product. The three-sided black plastic sun shields that are supposed to pop into place as the hood is raised…sometimes they do work and other times they get stuck.

Likewise, when you try to collapse the hood, these same plastic shields can get misaligned and refuse to tuck underneath the metal hood. In fact, securing these shields is a crazy three-fingered affair where you use your index and middle fingers to flex the shield’s sides, while your thumb pushes the rear portion against the back of the hood.

If all goes right, the viewfinder hood will magnetically snap closed. If you misalign one or more of the shields, you’ll have to start over and be more precise with your closing process.

In the grand scheme of this viewfinder, however, this problem is more of an annoyance, than a critical construction/design flaw. Because the bottomline is that the Ulanzi Waist-Level Viewfinder is a beautiful, clear window to framing any 28mm, 35mm, and 50mm fixed-focus lens. This clarity is even more valuable when bright sunlight blinds your camera’s LCD.

Enjoy.

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