M8 framelines for 35mm lens

[BartP]

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Hi,

I’m using the M8 with a 35mm Voigtlander 1,4 lens. As I understand it the 1.33 APS-H sensor makes the 35mm lens actually a 46 mm lens. But the framelines suggested in my M8 are more narrow than the actual photo output.
How to go about this? I guess this may be an old thread and sorry for bothering but I believe the M8 is coming back to life with many new users like myself here. 😉

[dpitt]

Hello!

Welcome to the forum and the world of Leica M.
When you mount any Leica M lens on the M8 it will bring up the correct framelines. But because a rangefinder is not "looking" through the lens the frames are always a little bit off depending on the distance of the subject. Also, because of focusing effects the area covered by the lens changes a little bit.

So I think your M8 is working correctly, Leica made the 35mm frames a bit too narrow to make sure that anything that you see inside the frame will be covered at all times. With some practice, you can learn how much is also covered outside the frame. 
You will also notice that the framelines move a lttle bit when you focus from MFD to infinity to compensate for the parallax error, which is also approximate.

In general any rangefinder is not ideal for exact framing and I see cropping as a necessary part of the PP workflow. 
If you want to learn more about framelines you can find lots of info about it on this forum, all Leica M film and digital bodies since the M3, including the M8, basically use the same mechanism with some minor variants... 

I usually do not mind to much, I know how to frame to cover everything needed for the shot, and cut off a bit if I need accurate framing in PP. In this thread about the M(240) series and frame line accuracy you can find full technical detail. Read this post and following if you want to get to the bottom of it.

 

[lct]

M8 framelines

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[chris_livsey]

Bear in mind the M8 upgrades that were made available included a change in the framelines for parallax correction, yours may or may not have upgrades, they were a menu, choose what you wanted mix and match so having the 4,000 shutter does not mean the framelines were changed for example, that will have an effect particularly at closer ranges. The viewfinder parallax increased from 1 metre to 2 metres this was to match with film M cameras that preceded the M8 and photographers were used to.

Also lenses are rarely of the exact focal length they are named as, this is perfectly normal. A rangefinder is not a precision instrument for framing, neither are SLRs they viewfinder that is 100% is a rare beast, most early SLRs had an "allowance" for the framing crop of a mounted transparency, always better to get a more rather than a bit less. Most "single digit Nikons eg F3,4,5,6 do the F2 is supposed to but there is argument that some metering heads are not 100%

The sensor crop is actually 1.333 recurring  so 46.66 or round to 47mm, given all the variables noted 1.3 is good enough.

My optical theory is weak but I understand a prime lens Field of View FOV is calculated at infinity and that focussing closer will change the FOV but we are getting beyond what you need to know I think, that is not related to rangefinder parallax which is the effect of not looking though the lens itself at the image the lens is seeing.

 

Edited July 8, 2024 by chris_livsey