Light Lens Lab 1.4x Magnifier

[AceVentura1986]

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Hello, all. Does an have any experience with this magnifier? Especially on the M10M? I e used the Leica diopters before and have fairly negative experience with them. I found that if I held the viewfinder to my eye too long, the temperature difference would cause the glass to fog. Also, I found that they tend to unscrew and fall off too. I was hoping the LLL mag might be better. Any thoughts? 

[sometimesmaybe]

matt osborne just did a review 

 

[AceVentura1986]

Thanks. 

[Paul Timlett]

Hi

I have just received my Light Lens Lab 1.4x Viewfinder Magnifier. I used it for the first time yesterday. First of all I’d say it screws firmly to the viewfinder and it did not unscrew. I too have lost Leica diopter adjustment rings in the past after they unscrewed. Also it did not fog up.

I wear glasses or contact lenses. I am short sighted. When I put my camera to my eye I take my glasses off which makes things a bit blurred but I’ve kind of got used to it. I don’t often miss focus. But I bought LLL adjuster to help me focus with my 90mm lens. By adjusting the ring I could see the image clearly through the viewfinder as I focused the lens.

However when I downloaded yesterday’s images I noticed that all of those shot with the 90mm lens showed signs of front focusing. They were all out of focus. I am clearly not using the LLL adjuster correctly. There are no instructions so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’m going to run some tests today with the camera on a tripod, with and without my glasses.

[jaapv]

You are likely seeing  one of the drawbacks of a magnifier. They magnify problems as well. it may be that the lens is not calibrated properly but it also may be that your eye condition  does not lend itself to correction by magnification. 
the best thing to do is to use the correct diopter. I am surprised that you managed to lose them. In over forty years of M use I never saw one unscrew itself. Tighten them down properly. Use one of those handy little wrenches if you cannot manager to by hand. 

[newtoleica]

I also just have the LLL 1.4. The magnifier does its job but can't make a 90mm focus perfectly if either your vision of the calibration is out.

[AceVentura1986]

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2 hours ago, jaapv said:

You are likely seeing  one of the drawbacks of a magnifier. They magnify problems as well. it may be that the lens is not calibrated properly but it also may be that your eye condition  does not lend itself to correction by magnification. 
the best thing to do is to use the correct diopter. I am surprised that you managed to lose them. In over forty years of M use I never saw one unscrew itself. Tighten them down properly. Use one of those handy little wrenches if you cannot manager to by hand. 

If only that were my experience. Sadly, they constantly unscrewed and when mounted tended to fog the viewfinder. 

[jaapv]

As I say, it makes me wonder about the cause as I never had that experience on over a dozen of M cameras in more than forty years and only rarely saw this complaint on the forum. As for fogging, I only saw that in extremely adverse conditions, like tropical rain forests and then  it was the viewfinder itself, not the diopter. Somehow they must not have been screwed down completely due to some problem with the thread. 

[mmradman]

On 12/30/2023 at 1:26 AM, AceVentura1986 said:

Hello, all. Does an have any experience with this magnifier? Especially on the M10M? I e used the Leica diopters before and have fairly negative experience with them. I found that if I held the viewfinder to my eye too long, the temperature difference would cause the glass to fog. Also, I found that they tend to unscrew and fall off too. I was hoping the LLL mag might be better. Any thoughts? 

I’ll let you know when it arrives, mind you it will not be M10 but earlier models, seen this thread today and ordered.

I have third party 1.35x magnifier with diopter correction and it is permanently attached to either M240 or M246, works like a charm, never unscrews, to avoid affecting diopter correction I have electrical socket rubber grommet attached, it prevents spinning the adjustment ring it also acts as rubber bump.  I can envisage LLL magnifier to be prone to inadvertent diopter changes, will find out eventually.

[Smudgerer]

I have to say that of all the "improvements" that have been made to the M digital line of cameras over the years from the M8 to the M11 the one thing that's consistently been MIA has been an adjustable diopter eyepiece. Using the fixed screw-in diopters is ok to a degree, but as one's eyesight changes so do the differing diopter strengths required to keep up with one's eyesight requirements and at around €180 a pop with several M cameras that gets stupidly, expensively, annoying..........There has to be a reason of some kind why Leica has never introduced this facility and it's surely not something that's beyond their optical/mechanical abilities, but why has it never been incorporated in the M cameras, anyone know why?

[AceVentura1986]

18 hours ago, mmradman said:

I’ll let you know when it arrives, mind you it will not be M10 but earlier models, seen this thread today and ordered.

I have third party 1.35x magnifier with diopter correction and it is permanently attached to either M240 or M246, works like a charm, never unscrews, to avoid affecting diopter correction I have electrical socket rubber grommet attached, it prevents spinning the adjustment ring it also acts as rubber bump.  I can envisage LLL magnifier to be prone to inadvertent diopter changes, will find out eventually.

Yes, I’d def be interested in your experience. 

[mmradman]

On 2/1/2024 at 12:30 PM, AceVentura1986 said:

Yes, I’d def be interested in your experience. 

That was quick, ordered last Wednesday and it arrived this morning, it is still Tuesday here in UK.

Package is Chinese but shipping origin seem to be Canada.

Checked it on my M240P and M246 with 50, 75 and 90mm lens, RF focus is spot on with both cameras. I feel cameras got new lease of life as suddenly I can see what I am doing, always thought that I was the weakest link in RF process.

About the magnifier, it comes with extra adapter for presumably M10 and later, native screw fitting is older M cameras. Comes with spare rubber cup, diopter adjustment works great at least it work fine for my eyesight for now (born 1960). 
I don’t see any issues with screwing it into the camera RF window, feels solid.

Only shortcoming perhaps is lack of magnifier pouch as one gets with Leica magnifier, that small item exceeds serious brand premium. Instead the LLL magnifier comes with metal screw cap, nice touch but not really necessary.

In conclusion, best spent £100 for Leica system.

[AceVentura1986]

8 hours ago, mmradman said:

That was quick, ordered last Wednesday and it arrived this morning, it is still Tuesday here in UK.

Package is Chinese but shipping origin seem to be Canada.

Checked it on my M240P and M246 with 50, 75 and 90mm lens, RF focus is spot on with both cameras. I feel cameras got new lease of life as suddenly I can see what I am doing, always thought that I was the weakest link in RF process.

About the magnifier, it comes with extra adapter for presumably M10 and later, native screw fitting is older M cameras. Comes with spare rubber cup, diopter adjustment works great at least it work fine for my eyesight for now (born 1960). 
I don’t see any issues with screwing it into the camera RF window, feels solid.

Only shortcoming perhaps is lack of magnifier pouch as one gets with Leica magnifier, that small item exceeds serious brand premium. Instead the LLL magnifier comes with metal screw cap, nice touch but not really necessary.

In conclusion, best spent £100 for Leica system.

Thanks. I’ll probably order tomorrow AM. I’m thinking this could really help me, esp the diopter. 

[mmradman]

15 hours ago, AceVentura1986 said:

Thanks. I’ll probably order tomorrow AM. I’m thinking this could really help me, esp the diopter. 

The magnifier doesn’t come with any paperwork, from memory and LLL website it is +/-3, feels very pronounced in how it brings RF patch in sharp focus.

[AceVentura1986]

18 hours ago, mmradman said:

The magnifier doesn’t come with any paperwork, from memory and LLL website it is +/-3, feels very pronounced in how it brings RF patch in sharp focus.

Ordered it yesterday. I’ll post my thoughts once I’ve used it. Thanks to all who’ve contributed to this thread. 

[dante]

I would suggest some loctite to keep the diopter screwed down. I'd also put aligned dots of gold paint on the camera and the diopter (both) so you can see when they are starting to unscrew.

As to fog, for people who claim never to have experienced it, yes, it's real. It's just condensation that happens when the glass is colder and dryer than the environment (or the eye pressed up against it). Is this happening by bringing a camera out of an dry, air-conditioned environment into the Florida air?

D

 

[High_n_Dry]

20 minutes ago, dante said:

I would suggest some loctite to keep the diopter screwed down. I'd also put aligned dots of gold paint on the camera and the diopter (both) so you can see when they are starting to unscrew.

As to fog, for people who claim never to have experienced it, yes, it's real. It's just condensation that happens when the glass is colder and dryer than the environment (or the eye pressed up against it). Is this happening by bringing a camera out of an dry, air-conditioned environment into the Florida air?

D

 

If you put a rubber gasket around the magnifier it prevents the diopter adjustment from moving around.

[AceVentura1986]

22 hours ago, dante said:

I would suggest some loctite to keep the diopter screwed down. I'd also put aligned dots of gold paint on the camera and the diopter (both) so you can see when they are starting to unscrew.

As to fog, for people who claim never to have experienced it, yes, it's real. It's just condensation that happens when the glass is colder and dryer than the environment (or the eye pressed up against it). Is this happening by bringing a camera out of an dry, air-conditioned environment into the Florida air?

D

 

With the Leica diopters, it would happen when I held the viewfinder to my eye for more than a few seconds. As I recall, this would happen in all circumstances, indoors or out. As for ambient humidity, well, I do live in Miami. Even on cool days the humidity never drops below 60 and is usually much higher. 

[AceVentura1986]

Well, just took delivery and am writing up a brief review. I had to order from Pop Flash Photo because, for some reason, LLL won’t deliver to my address. FWIW, I live in Miami, Florida. This isn’t exactly the edge of civilization here. Anyway, Pop Flash Came thru.   Maybe they have the franchise in this area. 

The magnifier came in a smallish box inside a larger box stuffed w styrofoam popcorn. There was no receipt or other documents inside. 

The mag box is smallish and held the mag snugly in form fitting foam. Again, no documentation. 

The mag came w an attached rubber eyepiece and a replacement one in a small baggie. The baggie also held the adapter for the M10 viewfinder. Really, no instructions are necessary as I easily mounted the mag to my M10.

Pros: the mag is very well constructed with tight tolerances. The glass is clear and without any smudges or particulate matter. The diopter is excellent and appears to have a wide range. It is clickless so it can be adjusted to each individual’s needs. Very nice, as far as it goes. 

Con: there’s really only one: the magnification too great. Using a 50mm, I found that the framelines lie outside my field of view even after I removed the rubber eyepiece. I was hoping it would be similar to my M3 w it’s .9 magnification but 1.4 x .72 = 1.0, just large enough that the framelines extend just outside the viewfinder.  FWIW, it’s perfect for 75mm framelines. Still, not sure I can or even want to get used to the new framelines. 1.25 would’ve been perfect. 

So, what am I going to do? Use it thru the weekend and then decide whether to keep it or return it. I really like the diopter but don’t k ow if I can deal w the framelines. 
 

 

Edited February 14, 2024 by AceVentura1986

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Stevejack]

4 hours ago, AceVentura1986 said:

Well, just took delivery and am writing up a brief review. I had to order from Pop Flash Photo because, for some reason, LLL won’t deliver to my address. FWIW, I live in Miami, Florida. This isn’t exactly the edge of civilization here. Anyway, Pop Flash Came thru.   Maybe they have the franchise in this area. 

The magnifier came in a smallish box inside a larger box stuffed w styrofoam popcorn. There was no receipt or other documents inside. 

The mag box is smallish and held the mag snugly in form fitting foam. Again, no documentation. 

The mag came w an attached rubber eyepiece and a replacement one in a small baggie. The baggie also held the adapter for the M10 viewfinder. Really, no instructions are necessary as I easily mounted the mag to my M10.

Pros: the mag is very well constructed with tight tolerances. The glass is clear and without any smudges or particulate matter. The diopter is excellent and appears to have a wide range. It is clickless so it can be adjusted to each individual’s needs. Very nice, as far as it goes. 

Con: there’s really only one: the magnification too great. Using a 50mm, I found that the framelines lie outside my field of view even after I removed the rubber eyepiece. I was hoping it would be similar to my M3 w it’s .9 magnification but 1.4 x .72 = 1.0, just large enough that the framelines extend just outside the viewfinder.  FWIW, it’s perfect for 75mm framelines. Still, not sure I can or even want to get used to the new framelines. 1.25 would’ve been perfect. 

So, what am I going to do? Use it thru the weekend and then decide whether to keep it or return it. I really like the diopter but don’t k ow if I can deal w the framelines. 
 

 

Same experience here - the 50mm framelines are too close to the edge with the 1.4x

I was also trying to replicate the m3 finder as much as possible. I'm considering pickup up a 1.25x but the external 5cm Leica finder is quite nice, and very bright, although again the framelines are very close to the edge for me. I have deep set eyes though. 

Let me know how you get on if you go for a 1.25x, you and I seem to share the same issues so would really appreciate your feedback on it if you go down that road.