M8 24mm framelines

[Guest black_jack]

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Hello,

 

I happen to have the opportunity to buy a 2.8/24mm ASPH for what seems to me is a very good price.

 

Wearing prescription glasses my question is whether I'll be able to see the according framelines in the viewfinder of the M8. Right now, I'm NOT able to see the 28mm framelines in my M6 (0.72).

 

Thanks,

Jack

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[pascal_meheut]

No you will not.

[grober]

No, you won't.

 

I don't wear glasses when I shoot. The 24mm frame is bright and visible but one needs to more your eye from side to side for 100% certainty on critical shots.

 

I'm beginning to think that the 28mm makes more sense for "active" wide shooting and leave the wider stuff to my 21mm where the external v/f is mandatory anyway.

 

-g

[Guest black_jack]

No you will not.

 

OK

 

IIRC Leica does not offer a "32mm" (M6 equiv.) viewfinder. Does this mean I won't be able to use this lens at all?

[wparsonsgisnet]

OK

 

IIRC Leica does not offer a "32mm" (M6 equiv.) viewfinder. Does this mean I won't be able to use this lens at all?

 

The frame lines in the viewfinder of the M8 are set to be about right at the closest focus point (what, 28 inches?). At further distances, the actual image falls outside the M8's frame lines.

 

I suggest you try a 35mm finder and see how well it matches the 32-equiv length of the lens.

 

I am getting along ok intuiting the image size for the 24mm lens.

 

Since you can chimp the image perhaps you can move the camera appropriately after seeing what you are getting on the view screen.

[gravastar]

Bill, A good match for the 24mm ASPH on the M8 is the Voigtlander CV21D viewfinder. It was made for use with 21mm lenses on the Epson R-D1 (1.6x factor). It has a field of view equivalent to a 33mm lens which is close to the 32mm equivalent of the 24mm on the M8.

 

Unfortunately the 21D finder is no longer in production and all the dealers I've contacted have sold out

 

Bob.

[carstenw]

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The frame lines in the viewfinder of the M8 are set to be about right at the closest focus point (what, 28 inches?). At further distances, the actual image falls outside the M8's frame lines.

 

I am not sure if I am reading this the right way, but it *sounds* backwards to me. With the M8, Leica changed the framelines so that the picture is *always* inside the frames, sometimes quite a lot inside them. In other words, although you may not be able to see the 24mm frames themselves, you may be able to see the entire image you are about to shoot, as long as you are not shooting at close distance.

[michael_b_elmer]

There is nothing wrong with the camera and the way it shows the 24 mm framelines. It's only your eyes that have a defect.

 

Leica will gladly help you to overcome that defect by selling you the proper correction lens, so that you can take pictures without your goggles.

 

Another possibility would, of course, be to get contact lenses, which could have other advantages of a more cosmetic nature for you.

 

If you insist on using your goggles, you must probably live with the fact that 35 mm lenses are the widest lenses you can use and still have a firm idea of what's in the picture. On the other hand, you can get the same effect as with a 24 mm lens, if you walk some metres away from your subject while using the 35 mm lens. All in all this might even be the most economical solution and save you a lot of lens changing.

[Guest xxl-user]

but, when testing the m8 i found out that the framelines show less than what you get on the chip. most times i had to crop the pictures and from 10 megapixels only 8 or 9 megapixels remained.

[stunsworth]

Carsen, with the M8 the image isn't always inside the framelines other than at minimum focusing distance. In 'normal' use you'll get more in the picture than the frame led you to believe - just as with the M6.

[carstenw]

Arnold and Steve, can you give an example which I can try? I have the 35/2 Asph, 50/1.4 Asph and 135/2.8 I, and I seem to always get more in my picture than I see in the frame.

[stunsworth]

Sorry Carsten, when you said earlier that the picture was always inside the frames, I thought you meant that the frames showed more than was captured by the sensor. What you've just in your last message matches my experience - there's more in the picture than you'd expect from the frames.

[Guest xxl-user]

carsten, try to take a picture of something in your house, for example a painting on the wall. use a tripod and place the upper frameline to the upper end of the painting. you will see you will get more on your picture than you see in between the framelines!

 

arnold

[Englander]

Carsten,

I think you guys are all saying the same thing: the frame lines represent a smaller field than what you will have on the media. Therefore, since the frame lines of the 24, that are already hard to see, are well inside the area that will show up on the media, a person with 'specs won't be able to see the whole field of what will end up on the media.

 

Joe

[marknorton]

One other option to consider is the 0.85 finder "magnifier" from Hong Kong Supplies. I haven't tried it but for the money, it's worth a try. Their 1.25 magnifier is fine.

[wparsonsgisnet]

I did the same think Arnold is suggesting, except without the tripod. When I started using the 24mm lens and realized that I couldn't see the entire frame (no glasses, either), I positioned the corner of the frame in a particular place, and noted where the other side was.

 

When I looked at the chimp-image, there was more in the image than had been in the frame.

[Woody Campbell]

Love the lens, hate the framelines, which are hard to see even if you don't wear glasses.

 

The solution is to use an external finder. The Vouigtlander metal 28mm works very well with my 24mm lens, but there is some sample variation so you may need to experiment.

 

Here's a link to a thread (started by me) on this topic:

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/15272-frameline-madness.html

[Leicaiste]

Here another thread (started by me) about why the 0,68 finder of the M8 shows a narrower field than the 0,72 M7.

 

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/14682-m8s-0-68-viewfinder-versus-m7s.html

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[c6gowin]

Arnold and Steve, can you give an example which I can try? I have the 35/2 Asph, 50/1.4 Asph and 135/2.8 I, and I seem to always get more in my picture than I see in the frame.

 

Carsten, I agree with your comment quoted above. However, in my way of thinking, that means the picture (capture) is outside the frame lines, not inside as you stated earlier. In other words, frame lines show the "minimum" portion of the capture - the "maximum" or "actual" capture is always more than what the frame lines show. Everything inside the frame lines is guaranteed to be in the capture and objects outside the frame lines may or may not be in the capture depending on the camera to subject distance and distance outside the framelines.

[Woody Campbell]

Arnold and Steve, can you give an example which I can try? I have the 35/2 Asph, 50/1.4 Asph and 135/2.8 I, and I seem to always get more in my picture than I see in the frame.

 

A well known issue - the frame lines are designed to be accurate at closest focus. At longer distances the frame lines include less than what is actually taken. Discussed on page 102 of the m8 manual.