1.25x viewfinder magnifier and 1,4 50mm

[Guest guy_mancuso]

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I use the 1.25 of Leica's and am able to use all the time from 28mm to 90mm, so functionally for me it works great without eye glasses. I was even able to use it withthe 24 but you have to look around so it was not as comfortable. i do use it with the 21mm in and just look at the full frame , not perfect but in a hurry you can at least get a shot. The .85 I have to wonder what effect it would have on the wide side but it seems you would lack on the longer side . Interesting to hear of someone using the .85 and there impression of it visually

[gravastar]

Bob - I am in the UK, this sounds very interesting. What make? Where do you get them? Are they any good?

..................Chris

 

The magnifiers with adjustable diopter are manufactured by a small independent japanese optical workshop and are distributed through Megaperls Webshop - Films and more directly from Japan. Prompt delivery and no language problems. AFAIK the patent is specific to their use on rangefinder cameras and they can be sold to the "forbidden" countries as long as their intended use is for an SLR.

 

It's early days with my M8 so I need a few more Noctilux nights to see how useful the magnifier is, I have the 1.35x one. So far it looks very good, you can just about see past the edges of the 35mm frame for use with the 35mm Summilux and 1.2 Nokton.

 

You can piggyback their 1.35x onto the Leica 1.25x to give an adjustable 1.69x where you can't quite see the 50mm frame but can see the 75mm one. I assume you can do the same with their 1.15x magnifier. The more you stack the dimmer the viewfinder and the greater the abberations though....and you have to keep multiple lens surfaces clean.

 

.........I will put this far more politely than is deserved; it was remiss of Leica not to include a built in diopter correction on the magnifier, the M8, and [as I understand it] the 21/28/35 finder. Unless of course the M line target customer is 18 years old with perfect eyesight.

..................Chris

 

The 21/24/28 viewfinder does not have adjustable correction and requires the same correction lenses as the camera. A big problem I find is that the effective diopter of the viewfinder changes as it zooms and there is no single diopter correction that will work for me for all 3 focal lengths. As you say, it was remiss of Leica not to include adjustments on the magnifier or finder.

 

Bob.

[ChrisC]

The magnifiers with adjustable diopter are manufactured by a small independent japanese optical workshop .............

 

Bob - Many thanks......................Chris

[denniswong]

I have no understanding of these optics so find them confusing, is it that diopter correction is more or less the same as magnification?

 

By the way, some cameras provide a "high eye point" feature which is very convenient to me requiring to wear glasses, I've always wondered, is there such a thing as some add-ons that can give a high eye point feature to the Leica?

 

Dennis

[ho_co]

Dennis--

There is nothing available for the Leica M series to give it a "high eyepoint," due to the optical constraints of the rangefinder-viewfinder system.

 

Don't let diopters and magnificatiers confuse you. They are denoted in similar terms but are quite different.

 

Diopters, simply put, are concerned with adapting the camera viewfinder system to your eyesight.

 

Magnifiers magnify the viewfinder image, making it easier to see details (e.g. the rangefinder patch).

[denniswong]

Dennis--

There is nothing available for the Leica M series to give it a "high eyepoint," due to the optical constraints of the rangefinder-viewfinder system.

 

Don't let diopters and magnificatiers confuse you. They are denoted in similar terms but are quite different.

 

Diopters, simply put, are concerned with adapting the camera viewfinder system to your eyesight.

 

Magnifiers magnify the viewfinder image, making it easier to see details (e.g. the rangefinder patch).

 

Thank you very much for the clarification. I think I now am understanding it.

 

Dennis

[lars_bergquist]

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Barry, as I understand it, reading glasses are merely magnifiers -- just like the Leica magnifier.

 

I would expect that your 1.25 glasses would do exactly what the magnifier does. This means that for the 24 and 28, you may not be able to see the entire frame.

 

-------------------------------

 

Regards,

 

The 1.25 x magnifier is emphatically NOT a magnifier. If you have a sharp view of the finder with framelines, and put a magnifying glass or any other dioptric device between your eye and the eyepiece, your view will be all fuzzy. (Remember those little screw-in dioptric correction lenses? I'm presbyopic and can use a +1.5, and may use it on my new M8 as with this camera, I will not need to read a Leicameter!)

 

The 'magnifier' is actually a small telescope. The barrel wouldn't have to be that deep if it only contained a small magnifying lens, no? If you use dioptric correction lenses, you can actually screw in one of them in the magnifier eyepiece!

 

The old man from the Age of Brilliant Finders

[martinb]

I ordered the HK Supplies 1.25x magnifier today. From what I've heard it's just as good as the Leica so I didn't see a reason to go for the Leica.