Does the later 020 Visoflex work on the M240?

[wlaidlaw]

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Does anyone know if the later and higher 2.4MP count Visoflex 020 will work on the M240? I am guessing with the side diopter adjustment knob, this is based on the VF4 Olympus viewfinder, which I have on my Olympus EP-5. This is a much better VF than the original 1.1MP Visoflex supplied for the M240. The diopter adjusts on the original by twisting the eyepiece. 

 

Wilson

Edited July 16, 2018 by wlaidlaw

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[cp995]

No, they both have completly different interfaces.

[tritentrue]

I just tried it, and it doesn't even seem to fit all the way into the shoe.

 

One plus for the EVF2 is that the Olympus EP-9 eye cup fits it perfectly and is notched on the inside so that the diopter can be adjusted.  The diopter adjustment also seems to stay in place a bit better when the eye cup is affixed.  For me, the eye cup makes the EVF2 much easier to use in bright light, and its availability is one of the reasons I chose the M240 over the SL.

[wlaidlaw]

I just tried it, and it doesn't even seem to fit all the way into the shoe.

 

One plus for the EVF2 is that the Olympus EP-9 eye cup fits it perfectly and is notched on the inside so that the diopter can be adjusted.  The diopter adjustment also seems to stay in place a bit better when the eye cup is affixed.  For me, the eye cup makes the EVF2 much easier to use in bright light, and its availability is one of the reasons I chose the M240 over the SL.

 

I am already using an Olympus big eye-cup on my Olympus VF-2 on my M240. I already had one of these VF's with my Olympus EP-2 and when I upgraded to an EP-5, with VF-4, I had a spare EP-2 which I moved over to my M240. Sadly, althought the far better VF-4 Olympus does fit into the M240 socket. it does not say Hello. Strangely it does work on the older Olympus, cameras after a firmware update and it does make me wonder if with a bit of work, Leica could have got the VF-4 working on the M240. 

 

Wilson

[Gregm61]

The Olympus VF4 would be a huge upgrade for sure, but I'm betting the fact they haven't done so before now (and never offered a "Leica" variant of it) that'll never happen.

 

The VF-2 was "old" technology when the M240 came out in 2012. It's too bad that model wasn't held up several more months so Leica could have used the VF4 technology initially instead of the VF2.

[ramarren]

In fairness, it should be noted that the reason Leica never updated the M firmware for compatibility with an updated EVF using the Olympus (nee Seiko) VF4 display unit is that the hardware in the M typ 240 series cameras was designed long before (not "a few months before"!) the VF4 EVF hardware was available to design for, and thus could never take advantage of the higher resolution and refresh rate. 

 

Olympus offered a firmware update that allowed older models in their range to use the VF4 BUT when you install the update and then fit VF4 to them, you get exactly the same EVF performance offered by the VF2 ... because that's all the older hardware can do. 

 

Leica decided, when that new EVF hardware was available, to improve upon the rather hokey plug connection of the previous generation Visoflex EVF and incorporated the connection into the hot shoe in a manner that is sturdier and cleaner, and incorporated the GPS capabilities into the viewfinder housing. Doing so made the Visoflex 020 physically incompatible with the M typ 240 generation cameras ... but they couldn't support any of its new functionality anyway, so the question is moot. 

[wlaidlaw]

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In fairness, it should be noted that the reason Leica never updated the M firmware for compatibility with an updated EVF using the Olympus (nee Seiko) VF4 display unit is that the hardware in the M typ 240 series cameras was designed long before (not "a few months before"!) the VF4 EVF hardware was available to design for, and thus could never take advantage of the higher resolution and refresh rate. 

 

Olympus offered a firmware update that allowed older models in their range to use the VF4 BUT when you install the update and then fit VF4 to them, you get exactly the same EVF performance offered by the VF2 ... because that's all the older hardware can do. 

 

Leica decided, when that new EVF hardware was available, to improve upon the rather hokey plug connection of the previous generation Visoflex EVF and incorporated the connection into the hot shoe in a manner that is sturdier and cleaner, and incorporated the GPS capabilities into the viewfinder housing. Doing so made the Visoflex 020 physically incompatible with the M typ 240 generation cameras ... but they couldn't support any of its new functionality anyway, so the question is moot. 

 

Although you get the same 1.1MP resolution on the VF-4 when you upgrade the firmware on an older Olympus, you do still have the benefit of the 40% larger screen, which would have been worth having. 

 

Wilson

[jaapv]

The solution is simple, Wilson - get an M10... And Visoflex 020, of course.

[wlaidlaw]

The solution is simple, Wilson - get an M10... And Visoflex 020, of course.

 

I probably don't use my M240 enough now to warrant the cost and I felt the M10 was not a big enough advance also to warrant an upgrade. My standard travel outfit now is the CL, 18-56, 11-23, 80-200 Vario Elmar R, 18mm SEM and either 50mm Noctilux 0.95 or 50mm Summliux III on my M7. My rangefinder use now is almost wholly confined to film, mostly with M7 for colour reversal and black and white in my M4-P or M3. 

 

Wilson

[jaapv]

Similar here. The M10 does not appeal; my CL with 18-56. 55-135, Summilux 24 and sometimes other M lenses - the Summilux 50 asph is a marvellous lens on the CL- combined with the MM1/Zeiss lenses and M9 - SE18 and GX8 for specialized photography have taken over.