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Leica 16-28mm viewfinder - comments?


dante

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Guest guy_mancuso

Dante you want distortion free than the leica is not it although very good. I use the Zeiss 25/28 which is the least amount of distortion in the finder. They also have a straight 21mm and 15mm finders and after going through all of them it seems the Zeiss is the best for least amount of distortion. Not cheap though, what else is new. Tony at Popflash has them normally in stock.

 

ZEISS IKON VIEWFINDER

 

ZEISS IKON VIEWFINDER

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Dante you want distortion free than the leica is not it although very good. I use the Zeiss 25/28 which is the least amount of distortion in the finder. They also have a straight 21mm and 15mm finders and after going through all of them it seems the Zeiss is the best for least amount of distortion. Not cheap though, what else is new. Tony at Popflash has them normally in stock.

 

ZEISS IKON VIEWFINDER

 

ZEISS IKON VIEWFINDER

 

Guy:

 

Does the Zeiss design have any field or parallax compensation?

 

On the Leica, do the framelines shrink or grow with distance or just focal length?

 

Thanks

Dante

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Dante, the big kahuna is really a great viewfinder. Once it's on you don't really notice it much. It does everything you need. Accurate lines and parallax adjustment if you do your part. I have used it a lot and wouldn't go back to another if for no reason other than it covers 16-28 mm range. It's there when you need it. You don't have to go looking for another viewfinder to strap on when you swap lenses. Cheers.....

Steve

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Dante,

 

The Zeiss finders do not have field compensation, just parallax compensation in the form of a broken line below the regular bright line. This is the same with the Cosina/Voigtlander finders (except the 12mm and 15mm, which do not have bright lines). With these wide lenses parallax is not such a big issue as with longer lenses unless you shoot at very close distances.

 

The Leica Frankenfinder (16-28) does not compensate for field either but, has a 'dial-in' parallax compensation. Check it on the Leica Camera AG site:

 

Leica Camera AG - Photography - LEICA UNIVERSAL WIDE-ANGLE VIEWFINDER M

 

Best,

 

Jan

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Thanks - how is the spirit level? Does it work only when the camera is horizontal?

 

Dante, the big kahuna is really a great viewfinder. Once it's on you don't really notice it much. It does everything you need. Accurate lines and parallax adjustment if you do your part. I have used it a lot and wouldn't go back to another if for no reason other than it covers 16-28 mm range. It's there when you need it. You don't have to go looking for another viewfinder to strap on when you swap lenses. Cheers.....

Steve

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i find the zeiss finders brighter and image bigger (higher mag ratio), no distortion, and for precision work, i would attach the zeiss finder on the cosina double shoe and fix the cosina spirit level beside it.

 

i have tested the WATE finder, the view is a bit dimmer, lower mag ratio, corners have distortion, the plus points are it has spirit level built in, has more views from 16 to 28.

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To my knowledge, the spirit level only works for the horizontal axis, and actually, my experience is that without a tripod, it's a little bit of a pain. But Stephen is correct -- it's a delightful piece of engineering. Having the adjustment for both the lens and the distance you are shooting is very helpful. It is rather large, but it helps you take great pictures.

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Do the framelines shrink/grow or do they simply switch?

 

The Frankenf. is very useful and above all surpringly precise whatever the field. The spirit level has proven useful...

It can be used with the Voigt. 12 mm (12 x 1,33 = 16 !).

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Has anyone actually used a Leica Universal 16-28mm finder (the big cahuna)? I am looking for something to do 21mm and 28mm with absolutely no distortion, a finder whose framelines could be used to align verticals.

 

Thanks

Dante

 

Dante, I must say that you are in for trouble if you want to align verticals using the viewfinder, be it Leica, Zeiss or CV.

We had that problem with a shot for an architect that just finished a shopping center, and wanted a series of interiors and exteriors, a nightmare. We ended up using a cheap camera bubble level, framing with the LCD and shooting tethered to a MacBook Pro with Leica Camera Control SW, which is quite good for that purpose. Then we did the final adjustments in Photoshop. But it is a pain, compared to a dSLR.

Why did we do it with Leica, when we could have used Nikon or M645 pro back? First, the lenses are just a tad better, including the CV 15mm and the ZM 21 Biogon.

Second, we were able to shoot multiple exposures and combine them in Photoshop enabling a much larger dynamic range and balancing fluorescent, incandescent, windows lighting and other little problems. Those lenses at F5.6/F8 just rock!

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