skinnfell Posted November 17, 2011 Share #1 Â Posted November 17, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have a 24 elmarit, and voigtlander 25mm viewfinder. Love the lens, but the viewfinder is a piece of sh!t. I use glasses, and even without, I have to literally squeeze my eyeball into the finder to see all the frames. As a result my nosetip ends up smack in the middle of the cameras own VF. I know this comes with the territory, but there HAS to be better choices.... Â There are several other options. - CV 21/25 - CV 15-35 - Zeiss 25 - Leica 24 plastic - Leica 24 metal (current) - Leica 16-28 - Leica 21-28 am I missing some? Â I know both stephen gandy and ken rockwell have writeups on these but I am none the wiser for 24mm since neither writeup includes all VFs. Â I am not looking for exact framing, but I am a photojournalist so quick shooting is the name of the game. Super-exact framing isnt critical but I do need to see whats going on in the entire frame. Also, I would rather steer away from leica zoom finders unless they are the absolutely last resort, too bulky and too expensive. I have no plans of getting a wider lens than 24 any time in the foreseeable future. Â Thanks to anyone who can provide input on this matter :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Hi skinnfell, Take a look here Best viewfinder for 24?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
NZDavid Posted November 17, 2011 Share #2  Posted November 17, 2011 I have both the Leica 24mm plastic finder and the Voigtländer 25. The Voigtländer is more robust and clear; the Leica is not noticeably better. I also have a Zeiss 21 which is superb. I haven't seen the Zeiss 25 but my expectation would be that this is the best finder for the excellent Elmarit 24-ASPH which is one of my favorite lenses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 18, 2011 Share #3 Â Posted November 18, 2011 I have the Leica plastic, the Voigtlander, the Zeiss 25/28 and the Leica 21-24-28 The Leica 24 is the most practical to carry as it is the smallest, the Voigtlander broke its shoe within two weeks because of low-grade plastic and the Zeiss is very good but the framelines are inaccurate (too small). The best one is the Leica vario, but it has no framelines. It is a bit larger, but not that much, certainly less than two Zeiss finders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicaPassion Posted November 18, 2011 Share #4 Â Posted November 18, 2011 I use the metal bright line finder. With glasses, I can easily see the entire field. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
algrove Posted November 18, 2011 Share #5 Â Posted November 18, 2011 I like and use the Zeiss 25 finder which is very bright and gives a very good feel for the situation you are photographing. Just could not justify the Leica finder price compared to the Zeiss, even though I pay high prices for Leica glass. Â As an aside, I also have the Zeiss 18 and 21 finders which I also use for the same reasons as above. For me, all are superb VF's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted November 18, 2011 Share #6 Â Posted November 18, 2011 I also use the Elmarit and have three finders for some reason. The poorest and most expensive is the current all-metal Leica one. In the middle is a plastic CV 25mm which is OK, at least it's better than the Leica. The best and cheapest one is the 24mm all-metal Panasonic DMW-VF1 made for their Lumix camera. Less barrel distortion than the Leica, almost as bright as the CV. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted November 18, 2011 Share #7  Posted November 18, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I like and use the Zeiss 25 finder which is very bright and gives a very good feel for the situation you are photographing. Just could not justify the Leica finder price compared to the Zeiss, even though I pay high prices for Leica glass. As an aside, I also have the Zeiss 18 and 21 finders which I also use for the same reasons as above. For me, all are superb VF's.  +1, same three finders for the same reasons. Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Blaster Posted November 19, 2011 Share #8 Â Posted November 19, 2011 I have the 24mm Elmar and use the new Leica 24mm finder and find it wonderful, the only issue I have is the additional frame lines for the M8/8.2 which are superfluous for me and only add clutter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicaPassion Posted November 19, 2011 Share #9 Â Posted November 19, 2011 Others have written that some non-Leica viewfinders do not show the correct FOV due to an offset issue. You may wish to search the forum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted November 19, 2011 Share #10 Â Posted November 19, 2011 The offset of my Zeiss finders, designed for the Ikon as they are may very well be slightly inaccurate. Though in my experience a rangefinder is by design slightly inaccurate. I always give a little extra when framing with a stick-on finder regardless of make and I have not killed any shots after I swapped my Leica keyhole 24mm finder for the Zeiss. I don't need nor expect a super accurate finder when using 24/21/18mm lenses and the advantage of the Zeiss with a bright image and lots of eye relief outweighs the disadvantage of a slightly incorrect offset by miles. Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamiji Posted November 19, 2011 Share #11 Â Posted November 19, 2011 I am a frankenfinder fan. It covers 16-28 and has parallax correction for different distances, and a bubble float to help keep the camera level. Â The down side is its large size, but I only need one for all the different focal lengths. I just dial in what is on my camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted November 20, 2011 Share #12  Posted November 20, 2011 I am using the old Leica plastic finder – with a 25mm Biogon! So what? Accessory finders are not that accurate (and the 24mm Elmar ASPH is close to 25mm, in fact). I use the new metal finder for my 21mm Super-Elmar, and a Zeiss finder for my 18mm Distagon. All are good and useful.  The over-sighted old man Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gberger Posted November 20, 2011 Share #13 Â Posted November 20, 2011 Another vote for the Zeiss 25/28 finder. If you're shooting handheld, the offset and exact framing won't be an issue. If you're using a tripod for deliberate shots, just use the outer edges of the 25 lines for reference As explained above, at distance, the 24/2.8 is closer to 25mm. IMO, you'll be hard-pressed to discern the difference - - and the eyestrain incurred by the other finders isn/t there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinnfell Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #14 Â Posted November 20, 2011 Thanks for all replies. Looks like I am going to have to order me a Zeiss 25. Slight inaccuracies in framing would be offset by the smaller frame. Rather have too much in the picture than too little! Â I do do some architecture but mostly on a tripod at f11 for DOF. Then, accurate framing is by lcd display anyways. Â Thanks to everybody who replied :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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