edwardkaraa Posted May 6, 2014 Share #1 Posted May 6, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Leica offers a la carte bodies with different magnifications in the viewfinder. If memory serves me well, there is 0.58x for wide angles and 0.85x for telephotos. I believe with the 0.58x, the finder can accomodate an extra frame (24?) while with the 0.85x, it becomes easier to focus long lenses. Is it technically possible to make a variable magnification (zoom) Finder? User selectable, or automatic according to lens mounted? What are your thoughts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 6, 2014 Posted May 6, 2014 Hi edwardkaraa, Take a look here Suggestion to Leica: M240P with Variable Magn. Finder. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted May 6, 2014 Share #2 Posted May 6, 2014 That it would likely add a couple of 1000nds of $$ to the price.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardkaraa Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share #3 Posted May 6, 2014 Cheaper than to buy 3 bodies a la carte Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 6, 2014 Share #4 Posted May 6, 2014 Anyway, this seems to be quite difficult to do - even a simple dioptre correction has never been offered. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardkaraa Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted May 6, 2014 Anyway, this seems to be quite difficult to do - even a simple dioptre correction has never been offered. Well, it's just a suggestion. During film days, it wasn't an uncommon feature . The Contax G had a zooming viewfinder and many others. But of course I am not expert. It could be really difficult but worth considering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted May 6, 2014 Share #6 Posted May 6, 2014 Fuji did it with the Xpan. Gordon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted May 6, 2014 Share #7 Posted May 6, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Fuji did it with the Xpan. I had an Xpan. I don't remember it having a zooming VF but my memory is sketchy and I only ever had the 45mm lens. I thought it just switched framelines when you switched between panoramic and 3:2 (or between 45mm and 90mm lenses). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted May 6, 2014 Share #8 Posted May 6, 2014 The Contax G had a zooming viewfinder It did, but that was one of the worst features of what was otherwise a very fine camera indeed. But for the zooming VF I might have bought a G. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardkaraa Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share #9 Posted May 6, 2014 It did, but that was one of the worst features of what was otherwise a very fine camera indeed. But for the zooming VF I might have bought a G. Just curious what is it that you didn't like about the VF, Ian? I had the G2 and it was really fine. Of course it was AF and no RF patch so you only needed the VF for framing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted May 6, 2014 Share #10 Posted May 6, 2014 Anyway, this seems to be quite difficult to do - even a simple dioptre correction has never been offered. Not so much difficult as impossible, if the goal is to add variable magnification or dioptre correction while maintaining the current finder quality, framelines, sharply-edged RF patch and body size. The space between the eyepiece and the front window, where the moving optics for variable magnification would have to do, is almost entirely filled with the big beam splitter prism that makes all those good things possible. No doubt it could be done at the cost of a complete redesign of the range/viewfinder and a somewhat larger body. And maybe it's time: by using a digital sensor to measure the movement of the lens cam, and a stepper motor to drive the rangefinder prism, they could introduce a digital electronic stage that would permit easy RF calibration in the field and save a bomb on couriers to and from Germany. Also they could replace the moving frameline masks with a solid-state setup and adjust the frame size as well as its position with focus distance. And maybe even integrate an EVF into the body, or make it a hybrid finder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted May 7, 2014 Share #11 Posted May 7, 2014 Just curious what is it that you didn't like about the VF, Ian? I like a bit of air around the frame-lines so that you get a sense of what you are leaving out of the frame. With the zooming viewfinder you get the downside of a reflex camera view (no space around 'frame') without any of the upside (parallax free, ability to make precise composition, see the plane of focus, etc.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardkaraa Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share #12 Posted May 7, 2014 I like a bit of air around the frame-lines so that you get a sense of what you are leaving out of the frame. With the zooming viewfinder you get the downside of a reflex camera view (no space around 'frame') without any of the upside (parallax free, ability to make precise composition, see the plane of focus, etc.) Ok, I see your point about the G viewfinder, though to be fair, it was very well corrected for parallax, and the framing for a film camera was not too bad, at least from what I can remember 20 years ago Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted May 7, 2014 Share #13 Posted May 7, 2014 The G viewfinder was also rather small and a bit dingy compared with an M. I always thought the worst feature of the G series was the very fussy single horizontal auto-focus detector, which would not pick up focus on all sorts of things and when you were holding the camera in the portrait position, could refuse to pick up focus at all. It was a bit of a relief to go back to my manual focus M’s. Zeiss obviously learnt their lesson and the VF on the Zeiss ZM Ikon was superb. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted May 7, 2014 Share #14 Posted May 7, 2014 Anyway, this seems to be quite difficult to do - even a simple dioptre correction has never been offered. What is the variable viewing lens on the III about? Is it a dioptre or just to make up for distance errors in the finder? (I may be wrong about the model number.) Picture here: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted May 7, 2014 Share #15 Posted May 7, 2014 What is the variable viewing lens on the III about? Is it a dioptre or just to make up for distance errors in the finder? (I may be wrong about the model number.) It seems to me to fulfil a bit of both functions. It might best be described as a focus control for the RF. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 7, 2014 Share #16 Posted May 7, 2014 It was meant to focus the RF image. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted May 7, 2014 Share #17 Posted May 7, 2014 The Fuji X-Pro 1 does this, but of course that camera has the luxury of not having a rangefinder mechanism to worry about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted May 7, 2014 Share #18 Posted May 7, 2014 The Fuji X-Pro 1 does this, but of course that camera has the luxury of not having a rangefinder mechanism to worry about. On the other hand they have the LCD overlay to worry about – you wouldn’t want a variable magnification eyepiece in a hybrid viewfinder as that would also magnify the LC panel and its pixels. Fuji’s solution avoids this problem, but then there are only two magnification modes (0.37x and 0.60x) available. This did work reasonably well when the X-Pro1 came out and the only lenses available were the 18, 35, and 60 mm primes, but its hybrid viewfinder isn’t such a good match for Fuji’s growing lens portfolio currently ranging from 10 to 230 mm and including 5 zooms. Fuji needs to re-invent the hybrid viewfinder if it is to survive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardkaraa Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share #19 Posted May 7, 2014 Anyone knows what are the construction differences between the 3 viewfinders available for the M? How complex are these things anyway? Voigtlaender offers 3 magnifications as well for its RF cameras. The wider one has frames from 21 to 50. Maybe it would have already been done if it was easy. Or maybe no one thought of it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted May 7, 2014 Share #20 Posted May 7, 2014 Anyone knows what are the construction differences between the 3 viewfinders available for the M? How complex are these things anyway? Complex enough that no one I know offers three different optical magnifications in the camera. Speaking only for myself and for only one application, I use a 1.2 magnifier behind. .72 with a 75mm lens in good light so I can photograph with both eyes open. Sent from my Etcha-sketch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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