smoody Posted December 9, 2009 Share #1 Posted December 9, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just received the new Voigtlander zoom viewfinder from CameraQuest and thought someone might be interested in seeing it on the M9 to get a sense of the size. My thoughts: - I love the look -- especially compared to the Leica 16-17-21 adjustable viewfinder. It has a great vintage look to it. The front lens element is almost as big as my 35mm f/2 lens. It looks and feels like a second tiny lens is attached to the camera. - The view through the finder is very clear and it's easy to see the edges (for me anyway -- I don't wear glasses). It's also very bright in my opinion. It distorts a bit at the wider end, but not much relative to some other viewfinders I've looked through. - It is continuous zoom but has click-points at 15,18,21,25,28, and 35mm. If you get really close to one of those points, it'll click into place. I recently purchase the Tri-Elmar WATE and this viewfinder is a perfect companion. - It comes with a small pouch. I wasn't expecting it as their lenses don't come with any pouches (but they should!). - To my eyes, the black paint finish on the viewfinder perfectly matches the color/texture of the black M9 top plate, which is another unexpected bonus. - It feels very solid. It's brand new and I just unpacked it but I think I'm going to like it quite a bit. At $529, it cost $300 or so less than the frankenfinder. Photos [note: I have the ThumbsUp attached to the camera hot shoe and the view finder is attached to its hot (or cold as the case may be) shoe, so it is riding a fair amount higher than it would without it]: [ My apologies for the picture quality. I just wanted to post something really quick ] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 9, 2009 Posted December 9, 2009 Hi smoody, Take a look here [pics] Voightlander 15-35mm Zoom Finder mounted on M9. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
mmk60 Posted December 9, 2009 Share #2 Posted December 9, 2009 Thank you so much for posting the photos. It looks very nice on your M9! Would you tell me how accurate the frame lines are, especially 35mm? Thank you. Enjoy the new tool!! mashu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoody Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted December 9, 2009 I've taken a few shots -- one at around 2.5 meters and one at infinity. The finder view is a bit wider than the click point for 35mm, but the beauty of continuous zoom is that I can find the zoom level on the finder where the framing is very accurate, mark the point on the finder and make that my 35mm point. The most accurate point for a shot at infinity, for me, is about 2/3rds of the distance between the 28mm click point and the 35mm click point. It's also worth noting that there is a dashed line at the top of finder view that is, according to the CameraQuest page, the vertical cropping line at 1 meter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted December 9, 2009 Share #4 Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for posting, and congratulations. I have been curious about this finder but in the end couldn't wait and settled for Leica's 18mm finder. May I be the first to say that it seems rather large. Of course it seems to offer lots of nice features. Does it extend when changing zoom? How much space is there outside of the framelines? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted December 9, 2009 Share #5 Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for the info. It would be great to know how easy it is to see the whole field when wearing glasses. If you have sunglasses, please could you give it a try? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viramati Posted December 9, 2009 Share #6 Posted December 9, 2009 personally I think this looks worse than the frankenfinder so I'll be sticking with that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted December 9, 2009 Share #7 Posted December 9, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) What's the point of using an external finder with a 35mm lens? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delander † Posted December 9, 2009 Share #8 Posted December 9, 2009 Actually it looks ridiculous, It will scare away anyone it is pointed at. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJP Posted December 9, 2009 Share #9 Posted December 9, 2009 Even Heath Robinson would not like this at all. Use the range finder for focussing and your mind's eye for framing, or crop/rotate afterwards on the computer. Bin it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjphoto Posted December 10, 2009 Share #10 Posted December 10, 2009 Somehow it makes the franken finder look elegant. I wouldn't put that on M anything. It costs how much? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted December 10, 2009 Share #11 Posted December 10, 2009 Ugh! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljclark Posted December 11, 2009 Share #12 Posted December 11, 2009 Ugh! My initial reaction to the finder in the photos was "Ugh" too...And my finder is in the mail. I was ready to send the box back unopened. Then I looked at the pictures on Stephen Gandy's site -- where the finder doesn't look so bad. The real problem here is that the OP's photos are quite poor and appear to be shot with a wide angle lens and/or the shooting camera too close to the subject. This makes the finder appear larger than it may actually be...not a situation that helps to support any decision. I'm still undecided, but I'm leaning towards giving it a fair trial -- and run the risk of having to lose a little money if I end up selling it on eBay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brill64 Posted December 11, 2009 Share #13 Posted December 11, 2009 ..is it mounted the right way round? you couldn't do worse with the frankenfinder Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcg Posted December 11, 2009 Share #14 Posted December 11, 2009 ..is it mounted the right way round? you couldn't do worse with the frankenfinder It is actually mounted the wrong way round - for lenses up to 50mm inc. You then have to turn it round for longer lenses and zoom backwards to go from 50+ to 135. That is the orientation it is mounted in in the picture Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noah_addis Posted December 11, 2009 Share #15 Posted December 11, 2009 I didn't want to be the first to say it but wow, this thing is ugly. With this thing, a grip, etc., it's not much smaller than an SLR. Hope it works better than it looks:D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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