Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]IMHO, the separate Leica finders that fit in the shoe are problematic, most notably because you can't focus (but only view) through them. They're also not extremely clear, don't really compensate for parallax, prevent you using a small shoe-mount flash, look odd, feel cheap, cost dearly. The 21 and 24 mm finders are optically identical, to boot. The old metal 35mm finders, also the 50s, were a dream in comparison. The folks at Leica will hate me for this, I know, but here goes. Check out what Reinhold Mueller of Toronto does: he'll machine your lens and then fit on a modified 35mm goggles finder (as for an M3 RF lens). This gives you very close to an accurate 21mm view through your regular finder, so you can view/focus/meter through one window. Sure, it adds bulk to the lens in your bag, also looks a bit odd, and changes the lens for ever - BUT IT WORKS VERY NICELY! The price is somewhat more than the separate leica finder, but Ibelieve it's worth it.. I'm saving my pennies now for the conversion. Ask Tom Abrahamson. He knows all about this stuff.