0.58 Viewfinder Question

I'm new to the Leica platform, so please pardon my ignorance.

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I am a wide angle freak, and I'm close to purchasing a used M6 with the 0.58 viewfinder. My

question is, what lens fills the frame completely? I know that 28mm will fill the widest

framelines, but there is extra frame outside those lines. Is the 24mm Leica, or perhaps the

25mm Zeiss the appropriate to fill the frame without overlap?

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Thank you for your time,<br>

Aaron Buckley

The borders of the 0.58 viewfinder care close to either a 24 or 25. However, it is hard to see the borders unless you jam your eye into the eyepiece. Forget it if you wear glasses.

As an owner of the 24 asph, I can tell you that the M6 0.58 viewfinder frame crops the actual picture frame - you need to have a vivid imagination or use an auxiliary finder to accurately use the outside boundaries of this lens. I think the answer to your question, therefore, is that the 28 is it.

I've had an 0.58 M6 TTL for a number of years and find that the 28mm FOV is the widest that

the internal viewfinder will show. That having been said, I prefer to use the external BLF for

all lenses wider than 35mm, as I wear glasses. I think the BLFs for 21, 24 and 28mm lenses

are a very good investment, if you are ocularly-challenged like I am!

Leica stealth is what I'm seeking. The external viewfider adds a conspicuous step that I

would like to avoid. So, if 28mm is the widest that I can go and keep accurate framing, then I

think the 0.72 would be better, as it would give me a larger 28mm image to work with.

 

Now it is time to start assembling my ultimate kit of a 28mm f2 summicron, 35mm f1.2

Nokton (voigtlander), and 50mm f1.0 Noctilux.

 

Thank you all for your advice!

Aaron

Aaron, consider, can you focus a noctilux with a .58 finder? You'll really be a secret agent

packing a nocti!

The nokton and the nocti are virtual hand cannons. Think about the 35mm and 50 luxes.

Aaron, it doesn't matter. All of the M6 framelines are quite inaccurate, showing less than 81% of the image which your lens will actually cover.

I can accurately focus my 1.0 Nocti with the 0.58 finder. The Puts book also says the 0.58 is accurate enough for the job.

Aaron, one advantage of a viewfinder is to be able to see outside the framelines. I like the .58 with the 28mm and don't like it with the .72 because unless you jam your eye right up you can't see any framelines. The .58 is definitely better in my view, this isn't a close call.

I wear glasses with a .72 M6, and use the 28 quite a bit. My choice for many years has been

a Leica diopter. It allows me to see everything quite clearly.

I find it difficult to see the 28mm and 35mm framelines through the Leica M6 viewfinder because I wear glasses. I now have external viewfinders for my 21, 28 and 35mm lenses. They make it so much easier to use wide angle lenses with Leicas!

Thank you gentlemen, for your responses.

 

My eyesight is pretty good, so I think I can focus the noctilux with the .58. It is such a

beauty, it deserves a dedicated body to wear with a .85 finder (black of course). It is a hand

cannon too! Secret Agent Man! Like I said though, I'm a wide angle freak, so the 50mm is

going to wait until I have some fast wides.

 

Aaron