E LEITZ WETZLAR VIEWFINDER FULL
E LEITZ WETZLAR VIEWFINDER SERIES

The 50 frame is used for 35mm with goggles, and either the 135mm or 90mm frames are used for 135mm, depending on if you have a lens with goggles or not.

The M4-P's finder is very messy, since the M system only supports three automatically selected sets of frame lines.

The M4-P also added a frameline for a new 75mm lens. In 1980, the LEICA M4-P's 0.72x finder tried to cover even a 28mm lens. Sadly, 0.72x has been Leica's standard magnification since the end of the Great Era of the M3, although cameras other than the M2 do have tiny 135mm frames.Ġ.72 is the only available magnification on today's newest M9. Sadly, the lower 0.72x magnification also reduced the camera's focusing precision for all lenses other than 35mm, and made every finder frame smaller. This lower magnification finder also allowed the M2's finder to cover 35mm without the expensive finder-optimization optics used by 35mm lenses for the M3. Putting price ahead of performance, the LEICA M2 (1958-1967) had a less expensive, lower magnification finder with only 0.72x magnification. Everything remains compatible, especially with today's M9, M7 and MP. These goggled lenses work perfectly on newer Leicas. If you use a 28mm lens or 35mm lens without the additional optics on the M3, you use an external finder. 21mm and 24mm lenses always use external finders anyway, so there is nothing lost with the M3's high-magnification finder.

E LEITZ WETZLAR VIEWFINDER FULL

The 35mm lenses used the full 50mm finder frame, and some 135mm lenses had a bigger-than life finder image. With the ELMARIT 135mm f/2.8 on the M3, the finder magnifies the image at 1.5x x 0.91x = 1.365 times life size, making focusing and composing easy.Įverything is perfect on the M3: you have a huge finder for 50mm, 90mm and 135mm lenses. The 135mm f/2.8 lens has 1.5x finder magnifiers on it, so the 135mm image fills the large 90mm frame. These additional lenses squeezed the 35mm field-of-view into the big, full-frame 50mm finder frame of the M3. The M3 was so brilliant that even though its finder couldn't zoom to optimize itself for different lenses, some lenses for the M3 came with special permanently-attached viewfinder adapters, also called goggles, eyes or auxiliary viewfinder optics, that optimized the finder magnification for these lenses.ģ5mm lenses for the M3 came with these two additional 0.7x reducing lenses. It's large finder also allows the best viewing for 50mm, 90mm and 135mm lenses. The M3 is magnificent because this higher magnification allows the most precise rangefinder focusing of any Leica M, which begets the sharpest images. (0.91x is a little less than life size, so it's actually reduction, not magnification, but we're calling it magnification anyway.) Leica's best camera, the original M3 shown above, has the highest 0.91x magnification. Depending on the lenses you shoot, you might want to pick a different camera or finder to suit your needs better. WIth Leica, you're stuck with just one magnification that has to serve you for every lens. Higher magnifications give greater rangefinder precision and a bigger finder image, but are not good for wide-angle lenses, whose viewfinder frames get too big to see.īetter cameras, like the Contax G system, have finders which change magnification to optimize themselves to any lens which is mounted.

E LEITZ WETZLAR VIEWFINDER SERIES

Leica has made M series cameras with four different viewfinder magnifications, three of which are still made today. Leica was so proud of this advancement that they named these cameras 'M,' which stands for Messsucher, meaning 'combined range-measuring viewfinder.' All rangefinder cameras are made this way today. The LEICA M3 of 1954 was their first camera to incorporate the rangefinder spot in the middle of the viewfinder, so you could focus and compose without moving your eye. Leica's first cameras used a separate peephole for the rangefinder, through which one focused, and a second peephole near it for the viewfinder, for framing your photo.

E leitz wetzlar viewfinder