What's the angle of view of the M9's viewfinder?

[Chazphoto]

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Hi,

 

It struck me using the M9 and my DSLR (I'm a newbie to rangefinders) that the angle of view of the viewfinder doesn't change with the M9 with the lens. I knew that in theory, but it was interesting to see that the perspective shown with my DSLR 35mm lens was more 35mm ish than with the M9. It led me to wonder what the field of view is with the M9's viewfinder and a quick search online left me none the wiser. So I thought I'd ask the dedicated user community on here....

 

Thanks

 

Chazphoto

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[M9reno]

The widest framelines on the M9 are for 28mm lenses, and these reach practically to the edges of the viewfinder. So the angle is a tiny bit more than that of a 28mm lens.

[UliWer]

The angle of view for 28mm gives you an approximate idea of the whole viewfinder's angle, a little bit more, so I'd say 78 degree horizontal.

 

Though this does not say much for the angle of view the frame for 35mm gives you. The frames in the M9-viewfinder are calibrated for a distance of 1m. So if your motive is farther away, the frame's angle is narrower than what you get on your picture, the other way round if it is closer than 1m.

 

With some practice you get used to "think a little bit bigger" than the frames indicate for most situations.

[tobey bilek]

Perspective does not change depend on the focal length of the lens. It only depends on where you stand, ie camera position. Perspective is the size difference between near and far objects by definition. The only way to change it is to move closer or further from foreground objects

 

The viewfinder total image size will be larger with a reflex camera depending if it is APSC or full frame or if you have an older film reflex which were life size. My FF Digital Nikons are what used to be called high eyepoint which had reduced viewfinder magnification. It is around .7 compared to life size like a Nikon F.

 

If you want to change the magnification of the Leica viewfinder, add a magnifier which are sold by Leica in 1.25 and 1.4 x. Unfortunately 35 mm frame lines with the magnifier will become difficult to see in the corners. They are focusing aids with faster or longer lenses.

 

You can purchase an auxiliary viewfinder for 35 focal and you will get a larger image. Picture will not change no matter what you do.

 

All said and done, what you are seeing is only reduced image size, not a perspective change.