Leica 21ASPH with eyes

Did anyone else see the latest, I believe, KEH catalog? It had a

picture of a Leica 21ASPH with eyes, for only $1799. Looks like it

has been sold.

 

Anyone know the history on such conversions?

Tom A. of RapidWinder fame designed the conversion with Reinhold Mueller.

Unfortunately it does not focus accurately close up so you have to scale focus.

Chip, the last time I looked into it, they were doing it with 21mm f/3.4 Super-Angulon. You send them the SA, and they come up with the eyes, scavenged from a 35mm Summaron, or Summicron. I guess they recycle the donor lens as a non-eyed one. Otherwise, it would be cost prohibitive.

Thanks so far guys. I guess I was just curious. John's comments probably indicate why Leica never did it from the get go, particularly in light all the different viewfinders now.

If the lens cam could be easily remachined then it adjusted to focus. Unfortunately it

would increase the cost significantly. Every so often rumors start of a focus fix that is

soon to appear. So far no luck.

There is one other fly in the ointment doing this surgery with a 21ASPH or worse, the 21 pre-ASPH: those lenses, especially with their hoods, block a huge portion of the (de-magnified) 28mm framelines. The 21 S/A does this much less; however it blocks the metering cell. Add that to the fact the M's finder doesn't even resemble the look of a 28mm, let alone a 21, I think the entire process is an exercise in ingenuity with a less than ideal result. The accessory 21 finder is less of a PITA than a goggled 21 that obscures a big chunk of the 50mm-perspective finder.