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Magnifier for 90mm on M8


satya

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I read a number of posts on the use of a magnifier and some colleagues here have also advised me to use the M8 before until I try one.

 

I'm supposed to wear glasses to see far which I rarely do. Either I wear to watch films or wear contacts. Problem is that I don't need glasses for reading- so have never used contacts or glasses when using previously R4 and the Nex 7 evf (which I kinda miss :rolleyes:).

 

So in low light the focusing square is harder to see using the 90. Seen some posts saying that the 1.25 is good for that and even the 1.4. How is the in between of 1.35 of Japan Exposures? I think th store has them or Tom's E-clypse mag 1.25x. I suppose a lower one of 1.25 could be useful for under 50 as well? I'm only going to use a 40mm that should be no problem, perhaps a 35 or 50 and the 90. I can use the 90 just that I want to focus faster- in daylight not so bad. But some settings hard to make out the square. Trying to use remaining money just for lenses - so minimizing other items. But seems to be a larger number that are using magnifiers for 75 and 90 and even 50s.

 

From personal experiences can anyone recommend one magnifier? I guess I should go to shop and try what they have out. But wanted some advise so I know what to look at and if not great then I can order them online and wait. My 40mm summicron seller was on holiday so hopefully my new lens will come next week! :D

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Consider that by magnifying the viewfinder image a magnifier will reduce brightness by the same amount - if it were lossless. Which it isn't. It will even reduce the brightness slightly more. Optically the Leica magnifiers are considerably better than the Japan Exposures ones. However for users with good eyesight the latter are quite adequate.

Reading your post I would suggest you get a viewfinder dioptre of the correct strength first.

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Thanks Jaap.

 

I forgot about the loss of brightness. :p

 

But I guess best would be for me to go to the shop and try out a magnifier and see how it feels and looks. :rolleyes: The leica shop guys are gonna love me- been there daily now.

 

The standard viewfinder of the M8 is 0.68? Which explains why my friends M9 seemed easier on the eye at 0.72. :D

 

Think this should be my last accessory for the M8- although they had some nice leather half cases...:p

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I got a 1.25 and a 1.4 magnifier for my 90mm lens but the biggest improvement was getting the right diopter. (Now I don't even carry the magnifiers.) Don't try to figure out the diopter on your own. Work with a good optometrist. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. :o

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I got a 1.25 and a 1.4 magnifier for my 90mm lens but the biggest improvement was getting the right diopter. (Now I don't even carry the magnifiers.) Don't try to figure out the diopter on your own. Work with a good optometrist. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. :o

 

Thanks for the info.

 

So the diopter helps the focusing square easier to see- or bigger? I think the E-Cylpse has a built in diop. When you used the magnifier with the lens did it make the square bigger in sense square was zoomed in more? I was looking for overall improvement for ease of use of the focusing in speed- thought bigger closer box easy to focus faster.

 

Didn't get to the store- it's pouring here and wanted to go when bright so could see it.

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If you want to focus your 90/2 at f/2 with a decent hit rate you will need a magnifier on your M8 camera. 1.25x is enough in my experience provided both camera and lens are well calibrated. I have no experience with 1.35x or 1.40x magnifiers though.

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Thanks for the info.

 

So the diopter helps the focusing square easier to see- or bigger? I think the E-Cylpse has a built in diop. When you used the magnifier with the lens did it make the square bigger in sense square was zoomed in more? I was looking for overall improvement for ease of use of the focusing in speed- thought bigger closer box easy to focus faster.

 

Didn't get to the store- it's pouring here and wanted to go when bright so could see it.

Think of magnifiers as a magnifying glass. Think of diopters as glasses.

 

The magnifiers make the small 90mm square appear bigger.

 

The diopters correct your vision. They help you to see the viewfinder better if you need an eyeglass prescription. If you wear glasses and you keep your glasses on when you shoot, then your eyeglass prescription needs to be taken into account to get the right prescription in the diopter. If you wear glasses and take them off to shoot then the diopter will have an entirely different prescription. There are people who wear glasses and don't need diopters. It's complicated. :o

 

I wear glasses. I can't see all of the information on the viewfinder screen when I wear glasses. When I know that I am going to use my Leica I wear my glasses on a chord around my neck. I take off my glasses and focus.

 

If you use a diopter and a magnifier you have to remove the diopter, screw on the magnifier and screw the diopter on top of the magnifier.

 

Diopters are expensive so make sure you get the right one. Magnifiers are more expensive so make absolutely sure that you need one.

 

Life is complicated when you don't have 20/20 vision. :(

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I tried the 1.44 magnifier and it was nice and fast but a bit dimm and the 1.25 was perfect. Was brighter and easy to focus very fast. Only thing is the shop only had the e cup with 42mm and were out of 34mm e cup model. Any got it anyway- couldn't wait anymore! Will order a 34mm cup later. Didn't try the Leica magnifier though. The store was out of em.

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  • 3 months later...

I just posted few images on the same issue. I used 1.25X for few and then got 1.4x. I would say go for 1.4x it really helped me nail down the focus with 75mm 2.5F. Now I use it for ally lenses. The close up view of object helps me a lot to focus and track my focus if object is moving. My focusing improved 80 per cent. And not much pressure on ur eye too. I kind of know my frames so I don't pay attention that much to frame line it's very rare I slip my object out of frame. Now I use it with all my lenses 12mm Voightlander, 35mm 2.5, 50mm 1.5 and 75mm 2.5. Also attached some samples here. These photos were walk in a park after fixing 1.4X neqy2uba.jpga8uqeju5.jpgepedehym.jpgqavegu5a.jpguqagagu6.jpge6ytazaq.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I opted for the Leica 1.4x attachment which solved all problems and increased focusing accuracy on my M8 when using 75mm, 90mm and 135mm lenses. Brightness has never been an issue for me. I always wear spectacles, thus negating the need for on-camera diopter correction lenses.

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The standard viewfinder of the M8 is 0.68? Which explains why my friends M9 seemed easier on the eye at 0.72.

 

The M9 as far as I know also has a 0.68 finder magnification, so does the new M and the Monochrom...

 

The only ones that have 0.72 are the analog models as far as I know.

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