Re: [Leica] Glasses and viewfinder (was: Question: wich M6TTL to choose?)

[Dennis Painter <dpainter@bigfoot.com>]

Rick Dykstra wrote:
> 
> Jean-Claude Berger is thinking about 0.72 and 0.85 viewfinders.
> 
> My thoughts:
> 
> The 0.72 is more versatile but the 0.85 is better for 90mm lenses.  For
> 50mm and below, the 0.72 is the way to go, and it's still fine with a 90.
> 
> I do notice flare differences between the two finders.  The 0.72 has a
> more immediate onset of flare once your eye moves off centre.  The 0.85
> has a more gradual flare effect and I therefore find it more difficult
> to be aware of when my eye is off centre with this body.  And I feel
> that this might cause occasional focus errors on my behalf,


This is NOT true of the M rangefinder. The eye CAN be off center and
there is NO effect on accuracy. Basically this is because the light rays
from both windows of the rangefinder are collimated to infinity. (I am
sure Erwin can explain this far better than I)

In the case of the LTM Leicas it is true that if the eye is off center
focus accuracy can be affected, slightly. 

IMO this flare of the M6 finder as compared to the M2 finder is the most
serious flaw in the M6 design. Well, maybe the eye cannot be off center,
if it's flaring, since that makes the M6 impossible to focus.


Dennis (yea, you touched a raw flaring point)

> thereby
> reducing its higher magnification advantage to some extent.  With the
> 0.85 some of the advantage of seeing what's going on around the picture
> area is lost.  I particularly notice this when using a 50mm.
> 
> I wear glasses, but put a dioptre lens on the viewfinder for heavy duty
> picture taking events.  It's fun seeing the world become clear again
> through my Leica.
> 
> But both work well.  They have different personalities and you get to
> know them with consistent use.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Rick Dykstra