I figured out a simple technique for creating dreamy, surreal photographs using two cameras. It’s pretty simple, really, but it will require some specific tools. What you’ll achieve with this technique is something Lomo-looking—perhaps toy camera or even instant-film-like. If you are drawn to a soft, analog-esque aesthetic, this is something you’ll want to try!

Let’s dive in!

Note: This was originally a Creative Collective article, but now is available to everyone.

First, you’ll need two cameras, and one needs to have an optical viewfinder, because we’ll be shooting through the optical viewfinder. I chose an X-Pro1. More on this in a moment.

For the capturing camera, you can use any camera and any recipe. I chose a Fujifilm X-E4 loaded with the Fujicolor Superia 1600 film simulation recipe because I especially like the film-like-look of this recipe. I attached my Fujinon 90mm f/2 lens to the X-E4. You’ll need a telephoto lens. I found that 50mm is the minimum, and that only works marginally with a lot of vignetting—you’ll probably need to crop. The 90mm focal-length worked really well, and probably the longer the focal-length the better.

I tried three different cameras with optical viewfinders to shoot through: Fujifilm X-Pro1, Fujifilm X100V, and Fed 5c (a vintage Russian rangefinder). The X-Pro1 and X100V worked similarly well, but I felt like the X100V produced slightly softer results (yet with less vignetting). The FED 5c was fine other than a bright spot that’s in the viewfinder. Below are examples captured through an X100V and a Fed 5c. I went with the X-Pro1 for most of my pictures, but I think almost any camera with an optical viewfinder will work. Also, just as a note, the optical viewfinder cameras were not powered on, as there’s no need for them to be operating, we’re simply using their glass (I assume it’s glass).

So we have our capturing camera, lens, film simulation recipe, and optical viewfinder camera picked out. Now What?

I found the hardest part of this was getting the lens to line up with the viewfinder. You could rig something to attach the lens to the viewfinder (maybe using electrical tape?), but I didn’t—I simply put the lens (or really, a UV filter attached to the lens) against the viewfinder, holding one camera in one hand, and the other camera in the other hand. If you’re off by just a little left, right, up, or down, it won’t work, so take care to make sure the lens is centered on the viewfinder. I think how centered and flush the lens is on the viewfinder will affect the vignetting and sharpness (or should I say softness?) of the picture. It will probably take some practice to get proficient at this.

Another note is that the lens will become less telephoto. I’m not certain what the 90mm focal-length became, but it was definitely not 90mm! Maybe closer to 50mm? It was noticeably less telephoto.

Also, there’s a lot less light that reaches the sensor. I calculated four-stops less! So you’ll need to take that into consideration, and make sure there’s plenty of light when you’re doing this technique.

Beyond that, my only suggestion is to give this two-camera technique a try and see what happens. Maybe you’ll like the results, maybe you won’t. But if you are looking for something different to try, this might be just the thing! I wouldn’t want to do this with every picture, but it might make for an interesting photo series.