Five Viewfinders for the Panasonic Lumix S9
Jan 30, 2026
David Prochnow
Our resident “how-to” project editor, David Prochnow, lives on the Gulf Coast of the United States in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He brings his expertise at making our photography projects accessible to everyone, from a lengthy stint acting as the Contributing How-To Editor with Popular Science magazine. While you don’t have to actually build each of his projects, reading about these adventures will contribute to your continued overall appreciation of do-it-yourself photography. A collection of David’s best Popular Science projects can be found in the book, “The Big Book of Hacks,” Edited by Doug Cantor.
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Maybe you’re one of those Panasonic Lumix S9 owners who laments the absence of a viewfinder on your camera? That is, after all, one of the chief complaints that has been leveled at the S9.
Alternatively, maybe you’d like to be able to eschew the dependence on the LCD and exercise a more casual photography style? Taking a quick exposure has never been the long suit of LCD photography.
An Eye into Any World
Enter the viewfinder. While some photographers have a distaste for “clip-on” accessories, there’s more than just cold shoe add-ons when it comes to viewfinders. In fact, one of these viewfinders might give you the eyepiece into your dreams.
21mm
All of the following optical viewfinders are a useful, low-cost method for adding an eye-level or waist-level viewpoint to the Panasonic Lumix S9 camera. There is one drawback, however. The lack of a focusing linkage between the viewfinder and camera makes these viewfinders applicable to only three types of lenses: focus-free, pan focus, and autofocus.
Case in point, the TTartisan 21mm Viewfinder is a viable option when used with a wide-angle, pan focusing lens like the 7Artisans 18mm f/5.6 lens. Yes, the viewfinder isn’t a “perfect” fit for the 98.7-degreee angle of view from this lens, but it does cover the bulk of your intended subject.
28mm
Just like the 21mm viewfinder, the TTartisan 28mm Viewfinder is a suitable eye-level viewing candidate for fixed focus, pan focus, and autofocus lenses. In fact, this viewfinder is an ideal fit with the Panasonic Lumix S 26mm f/8 lens.
Oddly enough, if it’s any consolation to you, the bulk of the low-cost Kodak film cameras’ viewfinders only offer about 70% field of coverage.
35mm
We introduced this viewfinder in our “Poor (Financially-Challenged) Photographer’s Leica Q3 43” article. The Waist Level Viewfinder includes both 35mm and 50mm frame lines within its 28mm overall view.
Once again, this viewfinder is best suited for lenses that don’t require precise focusing like the 7Artisans 35mm f/5.6 manual focusing lens.
50mm
If you’re looking for a viewfinder to use with a 50mm lens, the quirky OM Systems EE-1 Dot Sight provides a high-tech take on the traditional optical viewfinder. From its “pop-up” activation to a positionable red laser “dot,” this viewfinder can help you quickly locate and center your lens on any subject.
Macro
Leaving those questionable optical viewfinder “band-aids” behind, a true focusing aid that shares many similarities with a traditional coupled lens + viewfinder system can be added to the S9 LCD. The Hoodman line of LCD viewing aids, known as HoodLoupe, can be held against the LCD for shading and magnifying the image.
Taking this concept one step further, the Hoodman Custom Finder Base Plate is a hands-free assembly for holding the HoodLoupe against the LCD for painless focusing. This fully adjustable, aluminum camera base appliance enables the HoodLoupe to be precisely engaged with the Lumix S9 LCD without using any tape, masks, or rigid frames.
After attaching the base to the S9’s tripod mount and adjusting the HoodLoupe’s positioning on the LCD with the threaded adjustment knob, you’re ready to achieve accurate focusing via the ±3 diopter glass lens…no focus peaking, required.
Once you’ve installed this LCD loupe viewfinder on your beloved S9, you can make a paradigm shift in your future lens purchases. How? You can save a fortune in purchase cost by being able to use inexpensive manual focusing lenses rather than more costly autofocus L Mount lenses.
Enjoy.
David Prochnow
Our resident “how-to” project editor, David Prochnow, lives on the Gulf Coast of the United States in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He brings his expertise at making our photography projects accessible to everyone, from a lengthy stint acting as the Contributing How-To Editor with Popular Science magazine. While you don’t have to actually build each of his projects, reading about these adventures will contribute to your continued overall appreciation of do-it-yourself photography. A collection of David’s best Popular Science projects can be found in the book, “The Big Book of Hacks,” Edited by Doug Cantor.
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One response to “Five Viewfinders for the Panasonic Lumix S9”
As a big Lumix fan, I have never understood the cluster f…well…, the absence of an EVF on the S9.
Personally I found it to be the reason not to buy the S9, even though it checked all of the (other) boxes. I just tried it once, immediately regretting putting my eye on the left blind corner: oops, that a no go for me, back to my ol’ Fujifilm X-E3.
So in spite of all the great efforts of suppliers of external view finders, it really looks funny on the camera (not in a good sense), so I suppose I’ll have to wait for an S9 Pro, or Mark2 or whatever, before Panasonic can take my money. For realizing an external EVF is not what I want, this is still a very interesting article, though. Well done!