Leica R9/DMR viewfinder magnifier

I have been working with Jim at Brightscreen for some products for the R9

and/or the DMR first Jim has made a great 13mm microsprism only focusing

screen for the R9 that is really good , I been testing some of these things

for him and now have 2 of these screens and they really do a great job with

aiding manual focusing.

 

Also he has been working on a Viewfinder magnifier for the R9 and/or DMR which

has a 1.7 magnification and I just recieved the first prototype today and here

is my e-mail to Jim for your benefit, if interested in this product.

 

To Jim at Brightscreen in regard to Magnifer for the DMR/R9 combo

 

Jim just got it looks really nice. It is about a 3/16 of an inch further out

which is good, just barely past the LCD but not in the way. The one area is it

covers the diopter to make adjustments and for me I need to back off the 3

clicks from the plus side going to the negative side. Which seems to me to be

a normal thing because you are adding more magnification. Distortion looks

well controlled, I can see everything in the viewfinder very well including

outside the crops and it certainly does help with focusing, it does bring

things in more and if you went any further it may start to look weird, so

looks like a good magnification. Also since I am going to post this e-mail to

you. I should point out on the right side Jim put a screw down in that will

hold it in place and it is very secure. So far very positive results, hate to

say it but I think my issues with the 80mm maybe gone. I will test this more

for sure. So for those that will ask the question (first let me get my second

order in. ) I think we have a winner, the 2 small area�s though is with the

diopter you need to readjust before putting the magnifier on , so this will

just take a little guess work and just try every click until you find your

spot. You can�t pull out the diopter when the magnifier is on because it get�s

in the way. Also a little hard to get to the viewfinder shade, which I know no

one ever uses.

But it is easy to take off and on and just sticks out just barely past the LCD

which really may help keep some nose grease off the LCD. IT may take a day or

two to get used to it but it does magnify the image and is from memory about

smack in the middle of the settings of the angle finder, which is a good place

to be. Jim great job. Okay will post this entire e-mail for all. If you want

one please see Jim�s site at www.brightscreen.com

 

www.guymancusophoto.com

 

 

 

Second e-mail

I just noticed Jim did put in a screw down hole on the left side , so if you

do use the viewfinder shade a lot now the screw is out of the way. Great idea

Obviously these products are made for the R8 and R9 camera's, so if you are still shooting film only these also apply. The DMR is a modular back that attaches to the R8/9 camera's so these products have no direct effect with it but with the combination of a R8/9 and DMR combo. Just wanted to make that clear.

"Jim has made a great 13mm microsprism only focusing screen for the R9 that is really good , I been testing some of these things for him and now have 2 of these screens and they really do a great job with aiding manual focusing."

 

The R8/R9 needs an aftermarket screen to aid manual focusing??? I thought that was the big gripe about Nikon and Canon AF bodies, first I ever heard anyone gripe about the R8/R9 screen. Well, ok, I've heard a few people gripe about it, this is the first time from someone with a serious crush on Leica R.

The standard microprism screen from leica is 7mm and the Proscreen is 13mm which gives you a more usable area in the frame for focusing outside the center area plus a touch brighter also and better with the F4 lenses. These are just some added acessories that you can use with your R9 and John I only have a crush on my wife , these are just tools.

 

He also makes magnifiers and screns for Nikon and Canon and is installing a Proscreen in my Nikon D200 also which he will be announcing soon if not already done so.

Guy, what about the apparent distance to the screen?

Jan if i understand you correctly , if you mean does there seem to be a visual space between the eyepiece and the screen than no it seems very close to normal in that respect. It is not like a huge difference like the Angle finder at 2x, it is very comfortable just takes a little getting used too. I have Nikons on my D200 and it seems very normal too me maybe a touch of distortion , Jim's seems better here in that regard

I'm interested Guy. How do I get my hands on the screen and the magnifier?

Guy,

You da bomb, bradda!

 

Thanks for your tireless efforts in educating the rest of us DMR owners. I ordered two of the

viewfinder magnifiers as soon as I heard about them early this morning. Critical focus is

imperative when one prints as large as I do, so thank you again for helping to improve the

system.

 

Lawrence

Marc contact Jim at brightscreen@mindspring.com

 

He is a really nice guy and puts out some nice product. I think you will like what he has to offer. he also sells camera's Nikon, Canon and leica all with his Proscreen installed. His website is a far cry from perfect and he will be the first to tell you that but his products are good. He is friendly and willing to help anyway he can. Nice to have vendors out there that go out of there way to make good product.

Guy - "Also he has been working on a Viewfinder magnifier for the R9 and/or DMR which has a 1.7 magnification"

 

I think you mean 1.17 magnification. 1.7x is too much for a 1.37x crop DSLR like DMR. It would reduce the eye relief considerably (and I already find DMR to be near unusable in respect to eye relief), cut off the corners of the screen, and reduce viewfinder brightness by 1.5 stops. Common finder magnifiers range from 1.17x (Nikon DK-21m, which is probably what Jim has modified for Leica R use), 1.2x (Nikon DK-17m), to 1.25X (Leica 12004).

 

The diopter adjustment you mention is not "a normal things". Viewfinder magnifiers are afocal systems (small Galilean telescopes). If you have to adjust the diopter that much, it sounds like the prototype has an incorrect element spacing to achieve true afocal operation.

Thanks Joe for the correction on the magnification. I will have to see why that happened to my vision with the diopter adjustment. I am normally far sighted so when I first put it on it seemed out of adjustment for me. Than went to the negative side and seemed okay but i will look into that . At first i thought it should be the same but adding the extra magnification made me think different. I will pose that question to Jim , may have a answer for it.

Joe i sent your whole message and mine to Jim and hopefully have a e-mail in the morning on it. I will update his thoughts on that. Thanks Guy

 

Also thanks Lawerence hopefully it will help.

I spoke with Jim this morning and he stated that the magnification is closer to 1.75. This is

from Jim, not me. I don't know how this will impact the finder, but Jim assures me that it

results in a significant improvement across the board. I'll know more in 2-3 weeks when

mine arrive.

Sorry should have posted this earlier it is 1.75 x

 

http://www.brightscreen.com/eyepiecemagnifier.html