Range finder magnification definition ?

[pridbor]

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Could some gentle soul please take time to explain to this simpleminded person what that really means.

 

What I'm really after is how I should understand the 0.72 and the other 2 magnifications mentioned in the Manual,

and preferably in simple terms like if you see a 1 meter device through the Viewfinder then it only shows like it was 72 cm,

or something like that.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Preben

 

[spydrxx]

You pretty well have it. Assuming 1=what your eye sees as life size. For instance if you are using a .91 magnification viewfinder and looking thru it with your right eye, and viewing the object with your left eye....the image you see with your right eye will be almost full sized....91% to be exact. And so on for the other "magnifications".

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[250swb]

Take .72 as 'standard' for the amount of the scene you see in front of you through the viewfinder, then you see more of the scene with a .58 viewfinder, and less of the scene with a .85 viewfinder. So to exaggerate wildly you'll see the whole mountain looking through the .58 viewfinder, but only the tree on the top with the .85. Remember this isn't about the frames for composing with each lens, but the whole field of view 'beyond' the frames.

 

The knock-on effect of having 'more or less' of the scene showing in the viewfinder is that while a .58 magnification is good for using with wide angle lenses it also means the rangefinder patch is needing to focus using details that appear to be further away, so focus becomes generally speaking less accurate, but still ok for a wide angle lens with greater DOF. The problems begin though when you start to use longer focal length lenses where critical focus is important. With a .85 magnification viewfinder everything looks closer, so it's great with mid to tele lenses, but hopeless for wide angle lenses. But the focus gets even easier because the rangefinder patch will now be magnifying (in comparison to the 'standard' .72) the details you want to focus on. That is the duffers guide to rangefinder magnification.

Edited June 24, 2018 by 250swb

[jaapv]

What your eye sees is only the mathematical approach, albeit correct as such,  as your brain will see things differently. It will compare sizes against known objects, it will zoom in on matters of interest, discard uninteresting content, etc.

This is the main reason for missing the branch growing out of the subject's head and ]the deer that you saw clearly and prominently in the meadow through the viewfinder turning out to be a disappointing minuscule dot in the landscape in the image.

So Jeff's knock-on effect is, in fact, the main consideration for a choice in viewfinder magnifications.