[Leica] The Zeiss Choice

[bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen)]

Oh, NO!!!! Part of the image is obscured by the lens when using wide
angles on the new Zeiss!!! Damn, that piece of crap has the same problem
the M6 does when using the 35 Summilux ASPH, the 28 Summicron, the 24,
and the 21 ASPH. Those Zeiss bastards!!! But, wait, it's obviously not a
problem with the Leicas - so why would it be a major issue with the
Zeiss, especially given the fact that the Zeiss will allow photographers
to move in tight and still focus with wide angles, as they can with many
SLRs? Oh, right, never mind. No red dot. ;-)

(NOTE - I have NO idea whether the new Zeiss lenses and bodies are, in
terms of quality and function, vaguely competitive with Leica products.
But then neither does anyone else. ;-) )

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Bill Marshall
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 10:47 AM
To: lug@leica-users.org
Subject: [Leica] The Zeiss Choice


On Thursday, Frank Fillippone wrote:
>"The issue of focusing a RF lens to.5m has 2 components . . . the 
>movement
>of the lens focusing helix to .5m, and the parallax so that the 2
images 
>line up at .5m. Given that no one has ever done this before, I suspect
that 
>the parallax adjustment in the rangefinder is the problematic part. The

>third issue is what part of the image area is obscured by the lens when
you 
>look through the viewfinder at .5m."

Frank, starting with your last point first, I did not see a significant 
problem with any wide angle lenses obscuring the viewfinder at any focal

length when I looked at the prototype in New York, although I wasn't 
specifically looking for this issue. Some thought was given to this
camera 
when it was designed. In order to create a longer base line, the
viewfiner 
was moved about as close to the edge of the body as is physically
possible. 
This was accomplished by moving the rewind lever to the bottom of the
body - 
a move that is unpopular with some people. Having the viewfinder moved 
farther from the lens would minimize any problems with obstruction of
the VF 
window, I expect.

Agreed that parallax is an issue. Leica seemed to be able to focus the
50 DR 
down to 18", so I assume that RF focus is possible, but someone will
correct 
me if I'm wrong. However, I would think that parallax adjustment for 
framelines is a bigger problem. All of these close focusing lenses
except 
the 28 require accessory viewfinders, so I assume that the problem is 
handled there. It will be interesting to see how parallax compensation
for 
the 28 is handled, once the camera is available. The literature
indicates 
that the accessory viewfinder for the 25 doubles as a VF for the 28.
Since 
framelines for the 28 are built into the VF, it's possible that the 
accessory finder provides better framelines for close-up focus - unless
it 
is just an alternative finder for folks with glasses.


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