nickd Posted February 3, 2015 Share #1 Posted February 3, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I bought an Olympus VF-2 electronic viewfinder to use on my Leica M 240, but when I installed the viewfinder, I had a bright purplish band across the entire left-hand side of the viewfinder. Everything else seemed to be working just fine. I removed & re-installed the viewfinder and turned the camera off & on a few times, adjusted the dioptre setting, but all to no avail - I can't seem to get rid of the purplish band! Is there something I'm missing, or do I have a defective VF-2? Has anyone else had this issue? Any advice would be appreciated. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Hi nickd, Take a look here Leica M 240 & Olympus VF-2. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Joshua Lowe Posted February 3, 2015 Share #2 Posted February 3, 2015 Definitely sounds like a defect... hopefully just with the EVF and not your camera... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrh68uk Posted February 3, 2015 Share #3 Posted February 3, 2015 Doesn't sound good. Have you checked the connection pins to make sure nothing is bent or otherwise damaged? Presumably you bought the VF-2 used...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickd Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted February 3, 2015 The VF-2 I bought is a store demo model, in mint condition, supposedly "never" used. There are no issues with the M 240, that I'm aware of. I will re-check all the viewfinder connections when I get home tonight. Has anybody else seen this issue (purple banding)? Any suggestions how to get rid of the purple banding? Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted February 4, 2015 Share #5 Posted February 4, 2015 I bought 2 of them (used) when I still had an M9, "just in case" I ever got an M240. Now I have 2 M240's and both of the EVF's work perfectly on them so far. For as infrequently as I use them that is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rscheffler Posted February 4, 2015 Share #6 Posted February 4, 2015 There is a problem somewhere. I also use a VF-2 on the M240 and it generally works fine. The closest experience I've had to yours was with the Ricoh GXR and its EVF. In my situation the entire image had a magenta cast and eventually deteriorated to a strongly posterized look, then to barely anything discernible. It wasn't until I was able to find someone else with a GXR EVF and try theirs that I came to the conclusion it was a problem with the body (though the main LCD display works normally). Does the store have another VF-2 or anything that works with a VF-2? Try another one with your M240 or try it on an Olympus camera, to figure out where the problem lies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bideford Posted February 4, 2015 Share #7 Posted February 4, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just a thought but are you using a CV 12/15 or 21mm lens? I'm not at home now so cannot test but I presume the magenta edges from using these lenses show up on the viewfinder? Just a thought.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted February 4, 2015 Share #8 Posted February 4, 2015 The electrical contacts on the camera shoe do need to be clean with complete engagement when fitting. Otherwise I get occasional signal disturbance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickd Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share #9 Posted February 4, 2015 I checked & cleaned all the electrical connections, and everything is fine. Also, I'm using a 50mm Summicron, so any wide-angle issues do not come into effect. I noticed that when I set the Film Mode to B&W, I get the purple band across the left-hand side of the viewfinder. When I cancel the Film Mode, I still get the purple band, as well as purplish "jittering" across the entire screen!! In all modes, the Live View screen is fine. Unfortunately, I don't have easy access to a second Leica M 240, so I can't easily determine whether it's an issue with my camera or the electronic viewfinder. Either way, I'm happy with the performance of my M 240, so I'll be trying to return the viewfinder. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel Posted February 5, 2015 Share #10 Posted February 5, 2015 If you can have access to an Olympus camera at the shop which takes this design you could also try it Unlikely to be the M240 Rgds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberti Posted February 12, 2015 Share #11 Posted February 12, 2015 I tend to agree with Bidefords' analysis: with some wide angles, where the color correction is not done good you get such a purple band, in the image in the EVF, on the back and in a picture. It is interesting to note that with the live view you can immediately see the effects of manually selecting another lens. Example: I tried various codes for my Zeiss 28/2.8, and I now use a different coding from what I used in my M8. The effect of course does not appear with my lenses upwards from 35mm. So in my opinion: the purple banding is quite normal, nothing to do with the EVF, only with a wrong lens coding: the M240 I find is much less forgiving for changes in a specific selection of the 6-bit code than the previous Leica's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted February 12, 2015 Share #12 Posted February 12, 2015 I checked & cleaned all the electrical connections, and everything is fine. Also, I'm using a 50mm Summicron,...Nick Is the lens coded? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted February 12, 2015 Share #13 Posted February 12, 2015 I think you have a faulty EVF if the checks that David suggests have been made. Don't blame Olympus as the EVF is the same that is made for both Leica and Olympus by Epson and the quality is the same. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
indergaard Posted February 13, 2015 Share #14 Posted February 13, 2015 My Olympus VF-2 has been working perfectly on my M240 for almost 1 1/2 year now, with both initial v1 firmware, v2 firmware and the latest firmware. I've even lost the VF-2 a few times on the ground and it still keeps on working as it should. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plewislambert Posted March 2, 2015 Share #15 Posted March 2, 2015 "Just a thought but are you using a CV 12/15 or 21mm lens?I'm not at home now so cannot test but I presume the magenta edges from using these lenses show up on the viewfinder?" I use an M240 with those 3 Voigtlander lenses and can see something of the dark corners and coloured edges through the VFD2. As an aside, the 12mm CV gives excellent results on the M240 with a little post-processing. There's nothing like it. A Nikon 28mm PC (Shift) lens works well with the VF2, ditto with any Leica lens I try. I am now awaiting a Voigtlander 20mm f3.5 in Nikon mount to try on the camera; I don't expect any corner problems when it arrives. Of course, it's bigger including the adapter than a 21mm f4 CV. My bag is getting heavier. Philip Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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