Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]John Collier <jbcollier@home.com> wrote: >The major redesign of the viewfinder was to incorporate the M6's metering diodes. No, the redesign came earlier. The M5 viewfinder/rangefinder closely resembles that used in the M6 >Most people complaining about flaring seem to talk about the M6 only. Apparently the design was slightly simplified (Stephen Gandy reports optical elements removed) during the M4-2 run In the M5, there was a plano-convex element was cemented to the beam-splitter prism. On the M6, this has been deleted, but the face of the prism where it used to be is no longer flat, but convex, a modification presumably to achieve the effect of the deleted component. >The rangefinder patch on my M2 and M4-2 will both flare out , both under the same conditions and to the same degree. I’d guess that any optical system can be made to flare under the wrong circumstances - the question is, is the M6 more prone to this problem than the earlier designs? When I get some spare time, I’ll try my M6 and M2 in different lighting conditions to see how the rangefinder behaves. Frank Dernie <FrankDernie@compuserve.com> wrote: >Doug, sorry to not be able to help in your dilemma but the M3 has the unique viewfinder. The device was simplified and cheapened for the M2 (originally the "budget" model)... Fascinating! I’ve heard this before, but have never seen any evidence that the M2 finder differed in optical configuration from that of the M3. Can you point me at any publication or diagram which documents this change? >all subsequent M have the M2 type layout - which IS surprisingly different. In what way? In what I think of as the classic M finder, the optical paths run either from front to back or at right angles (i.e, across the length of the body). In the M4-P, M5, and M6, the optical path runs diagonally from just behind the eyepiece to reach the prism behind the small rangefinder window. When faced with a chore which had to be done, my old Scots mother used to say "Some silly soul had better...." Looking at the pile of viewfinder/rangefinder diagrams I’ve already gathered, I guess it’s time some silly soul wrote an article on the evolution of the Leica rangefinder, and that silly soul is likely to be me. If any luggers who collect Leica books and brochures have any which show diagrams of the rangefinder and viewfinder systems, I’d be grateful if they’d contact me off-list and let me know what they have. Regards, Doug Richardson