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Two examples with the rangefinder coupled Sankyo Kohki Komura 200mm f= 1:4.5 fully opened on M10 Monochrome with 1.4-magnifier:

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The lens is probably the longest ever made with Leica rangefinder coupling. Of course even with the 1.4-magnifier it's complete hit and miss - though using the EVF is not much better as the lenses low contrast forces you to strong magnifying to see any focussing aids and the image on the EVF-screen is very shaky. 

 

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1 hour ago, Alexander108 said:

They are too busy working on the M11-V at Leica to read this, let alone chuckle. Also the pricing dice are constantly thrown. 

Yes, I wonder if the free world will pay 15% more now, to have retail prices unified with the self inflicted US consumer tax rises tariffs.

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vor 50 Minuten schrieb FrozenInTime:

if the free world will pay 15% more now

Don‘t you know? Raytheon will revive partnership with Leica and ramp up production in the US… 

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On 7/29/2025 at 5:07 PM, UliWer said:

Two examples with the rangefinder coupled Sankyo Kohki Komura 200mm f= 1:4.5 fully opened on M10 Monochrome with 1.4-magnifier:

 

The lens is probably the longest ever made with Leica rangefinder coupling. Of course even with the 1.4-magnifier it's complete hit and miss - though using the EVF is not much better as the lenses low contrast forces you to strong magnifying to see any focussing aids and the image on the EVF-screen is very shaky. 

 

I used a Tele Elmar M 135 and Komura 2x extender. At 8.0 it should be slightly easier. 

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8 hours ago, jaapv said:

I used a Tele Elmar M 135 and Komura 2x extender. At 8.0 it should be slightly easier. 

This day and age, one can (and I do) use a 135mm and crop in LR and use upscaling software. I use Topaz Gigapixel AI to upscale my film scans and it does a fine job - just have to go no to light on the filters (sharpening, etc). Of course, if you're shooting for a client and a billboard, you may want to consider a Nikon or equivalent 300mm and save yourself a lot of grief. Or not, as I've made great work with just the 135. And with a Nikon 300. 

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4 hours ago, charlesphoto99 said:

This day and age, one can (and I do) use a 135mm and crop in LR and use upscaling software. I use Topaz Gigapixel AI to upscale my film scans and it does a fine job - just have to go no to light on the filters (sharpening, etc). Of course, if you're shooting for a client and a billboard, you may want to consider a Nikon or equivalent 300mm and save yourself a lot of grief. Or not, as I've made great work with just the 135. And with a Nikon 300. 

That was not the purpose of the experiment. Nobody in his right mind would go and shoot this way. The purpose was to test whether this vintage accessory actually worked, (which it did) not whether it made sense or was convenient. . For longer lenses on an M camera at that time I was using a Visoflex of course. DSLRs are a wholly different story, let alone AI which was nearly two decades in the future. 

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7 hours ago, jaapv said:

That was not the purpose of the experiment. Nobody in his right mind would go and shoot this way. The purpose was to test whether this vintage accessory actually worked, (which it did) not whether it made sense or was convenient. . For longer lenses on an M camera at that time I was using a Visoflex of course. DSLRs are a wholly different story, let alone AI which was nearly two decades in the future. 

Of course. Why I prefaced it "in THIS day and age." I also think a lot of people obsessed with the mega-megapixels race and who then find their images smeary would do better shooting with less mp and then using software to upscale when needed. 

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Well, even back then the Visoflex system was the better option by far and in retrospect quite practical. I did quite a few safaris using it with good results. 

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7 minutes ago, Olaf_ZG said:

And yet, in the latest mailing, Leica is promoting the visoflex… why would they do that if a Mevf is around the corner?

My guess is that it may be harder to shift the stock when the EVF-M is released so a gentle nudge in our direction now could be a good indicator that we are close to the new release. (Hopefully)

On a separate note, for me, the strongest benefit of the Visoflex is its ability to be raised so you can look down into it and use it as a kind of waist level EVF. This functionality will of course be lost on an EVF-M. 
 

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1 hour ago, sarkleshark said:

I would rather have a larger eyepiece higher rez higher refresh  improved visoflex than an evf M camera with a small old evf..

Well, in that case, you wouldn’t have the option of the eye-relief improved optical range finder that you have with the M10 & M11, with the ability to use the EVF when you needed it …

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+1 but M users cannot have WYSIWYG without that Visoflex bump so far. Unless the M12 gets everyone on board with a hybrid viewfinder but that remains to be seen. When I say everyone, I mean apart from the Real Leica Man and WYSIWYG haters, of course, nobody's perfect :D

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2 hours ago, lct said:

+1 but M users cannot have WYSIWYG without that Visoflex bump so far. Unless the M12 gets everyone on board with a hybrid viewfinder but that remains to be seen. When I say everyone, I mean apart from the Real Leica Man and WYSIWYG haters, of course, nobody's perfect :D

Count me in as a Real Leica Man. Also one who knows in their head without an EVF WYSIWYG because I know what f-stops and shutter speeds do in regards to capturing light. I would actually love to use an EVF camera at times though. Went to the dealer the other day and tried a Nikon ZF, which has a pretty state of the art EVF (better than the Viso at least). Within seconds of looking through the viewfinder I could feel a migraine creeping into the back of my eye. Just a non-starter for me unfortunately. 

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16 minutes ago, charlesphoto99 said:

Count me in as a Real Leica Man. Also one who knows in their head without an EVF WYSIWYG because I know what f-stops and shutter speeds do in regards to capturing light [...]

Good for you. I still cannot do it after half a century of using M gear personally. Now i've been using many SLRs too so my head may have been polluted by viewing things through a lens instead of a window. Also i found HCB's followers around me rather ridiculous TBH. I'm definitely not a Real Leica Man then but i don't mind diversity at all 😎

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Let me clarify,

I would keep the current optical rangefinder and improve the accessory visoflex quality and size ideally placed on top of the optical rangefinder like the hasselblad xpan 30mm accessory optical viewfinder is placed so you have the best of both worlds

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10 minutes ago, sarkleshark said:

Let me clarify,

I would keep the current optical rangefinder and improve the accessory visoflex quality and size ideally placed on top of the optical rangefinder like the hasselblad xpan 30mm accessory optical viewfinder is placed so you have the best of both worlds

I would like to have an OVF camera with a pop-out EVF for cases when the rear LCD is not good enough.

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13 hours ago, costa43 said:

My guess is that it may be harder to shift the stock when the EVF-M is released so a gentle nudge in our direction now could be a good indicator that we are close to the new release. (Hopefully)

On a separate note, for me, the strongest benefit of the Visoflex is its ability to be raised so you can look down into it and use it as a kind of waist level EVF. This functionality will of course be lost on an EVF-M. 
 

It can easily be done like the Panasonic GX8. 

 

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A OLED display is very thin ( unlike a LCD, no backlight needed), it would be possible to place e.g. a 1” unit on the top panel above the optical rangefinder window. What is bulky ( and therefore difficult to embed with the camera body ) are the optics to project the display to eye viewing. The keep it simple hybrid ( optical RF + EVF ) solution is to clip on a 45 degree optical prism or flip up waist level finder; the advantage over a visoflex is reliability, as there are no moving parts and flex cables. A top OLED could also be use as is without additional finder mechanics; a M12-D would delete the rear LCD but keep the top OLED panel.

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15 minutes ago, jaapv said:

It can easily be done like the Panasonic GX8. 

 

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Panasonic desperately need to release a 2025 version of the GX cameras ( smaller than the G and GH lines ) ; so many great compact m43 lenses such as the 15/1.7 and 25/1.4 Summilux

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