28mm on .85 magnification MP

[Guest joewehry]

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Greetings,

Just got a great deal on an MP with an .85 mag viewfinder, but no 28mm frame lines visible. Three questions.

 

1) Can I still focus accurately without the frame lines, ignoring cropping concerns.

 

2) How "off" is the 28mm framing? I am expecting that anything in the viewfinder is going to be in the shot, since it's wider than the 35mm framing.

 

3) All things considered, does it make more sense for accuracy and framing to just get a 35mm and not even try with the 28mm?

 

Cheers,

 

J

[wattsy]

Focussing accuracy isn't related to the presence or otherwise of frame-lines. Your 28 will focus just fine. Changing your lens to suit the camera body strikes me as an odd thing to do. If you are concerned about framing accuracy you might want to consider an external viewfinder.

[JBA]

I use my 21 Elmarit with an external finder on my 0.85 MP. The external finder takes some getting used to but is not nearly as much hassle as some people suggest. Once you get wider than 35, the viewfinder maginification becomes irrelevant in this case.

[Guest joewehry]

Excellent. Thanks for the suggestions. Didn't even think about the external finder. Cheers.

[aesop]

...the framelines on Ms are not exact - they give a very close approximation, but they are not absolute. They are also distance-dependent, parallax correction notwithstanding.

 

Unless your work requires über-critical framing (in which case a rangefinder is perhaps not the best tool), I would not be too bothered. FWIW, I use my 35mm framelines as a guide when using my Summicron-C 40mm lens - it is not exact, but after a while you become "fully trained". I should add that I shoot and print full frame. I guess what I'm trying to say is there is a science behind the art of composing.

 

As mentioned above, focusing is not an issue.

[bill]

I have a .85 on which I occasionally use a 28mm. I wear spectacles. I use the full frame, and get good results.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[peter_n]

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I've also used my 28mm on the 0.85 mag MP with good results. The VF of the 0.85x MP is a bit more generous in terms of coverage than is a 28mm external VF. As stated above Leica framelines are not the most accurate.