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Tele Elmarit 90mm and Zeiss 35mm Frustrations with Viewfinder


ianhaynes

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Hi I hope someone can help. I am a new M9 user and am completely baffled when I interchange the lenses. I was told by the shop that the viewfinder will change when you change from 35mm to 90mm but for the life of me I can't see how to achieve this. I live a long long way from the shop...12000 miles so thats pointless.

 

So to summerise the 35mm Zeiss is perfect for the viewfinder but I can't get the viewfinder to change for the 90mm lens and as such keep missing large segments of the image.

 

Ian

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Can you change the viewfinder framelines using the manual lever?

 

The lenses have a notch in the mount to activate the correct framelines. The position of the manual frameline selector also changes position based on the framelines selected by the lens. If you cannot bring up the 90mm framelines either manually or with the lens mounted, sounds like it's time for a clean/lube/adjust. If the lens is not bringing up the correct framelines: it might be dirt or wear on the mount. As you mount the lens and turn it to click into place, you should see the framelines moving through different positions.

Edited by fiftyonepointsix
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Welcome to the forum!

When you switch to the 90mm lens you will see the frame lines covering a smaller area in the viewfinder, showing you the field of view of your 90mm lens. So yes, you will have to compose your picture in a smaller area.

The Leica rangefinder does not zoom. The advantage is the exceptional brightness of the viewfinder.

Some people say the Leica M9 can be used best with lenses of 28, 35 and 50mm and no longer. I personally have no problem to use 75 or 90mm lenses, perhaps that has to do with getting used to. Be patient and enjoy your new camera!

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Well well well. Its a practically new camera but when the lens clicks into position the smaller area which I have just found when i remove the lens so slightly, pings back out to 35mm again. So if i loosen the lens so very slightly the smaller image area returns.

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Note that you will always see two sets of framelines in the same window. For 35 and 90 the view is the same. The outer ones are 35, the inner ones 90. When you start fiddling with the lens you can bring up 50/75 or 135/28.

So your two lenses will use the same set of framelines and nothing will change in the viewfinder when you change lenses. It is up to the user to know which framelines to use.

 

 

It is all perfectly explained in the manual.

Errr,

 

Correct frameline pairs on most film, M9/MM & M240/246 cameras

 

28 & 90

35 & 135

50 & 75

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For test purposes try to block the main viewfinder window in front of the camera. You will now only see the frame lines and the focusing rectangle. When you change your lens (making sure it is well locked) you should see the frame lines pairs changing from

35 and 135 mm with your Zeiss lens to

28 and 90 mm with the Tele-Elmarit

 

It can happen that the little notch hidden in the bayonet left from the frame selector, has become 'super-critical'. The notch is operated by the flange of your lens. Any Leica repair man or woman should be able to fix that. 

But first make sure operator failure has been ruled out!

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Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing here and the original poster doesn't expect things that won't happen with a Leica M9: the viewfinder doesn't change, only the frame lines within the viewfinder do. You'll always see the same amount of reality when looking through the viewfinder, it's only the frame lines within the viewfinder which change depending on the lens you mount. The frame lines indicate what part of reality seen through the viewfinder is going to be projected through your lens onto the film plane / sensor. Reading your post and your wording I'm not sure whether this is clear to you. If you want the VIEWFINDER to change, there are magnifying adapters available.

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