Original and later AUFSU

[anthony_brookes5]

Can some very knowledgeable person kindly explain the difference

between an original and a later AUFSU waistlevel viewfinder.

[jo_l_cahane]

Here

 

http://www.nemeng.com/leica/027b.shtml

[nemeng]

Thanks Joel :?)

 

Thing is if you ever get a chance, don't hesitate to buy one of these beauties. They're

reasonably compact and the extra hotshoe (on the later version) lets you add a small

shoe-mount spirit level, which is really handy for avoiding monkey-cam when working

with the camera well away from your body (shooting from the side etc.)

 

Another cool thing about the AUFSU is that it very rarely flares, so you can use the camera

one-handed (ie. there's no need to cup your other hand around the viewer to keep out the

glare). One less reason for drawing attention to yourself ("Is that guy over there taking our

picture?...")

 

Yes I know good condition AUFSU's can be expensive (I paid - gulp - $US 300 for mine),

but it's the most useful accessory I have. Hell, I even use it on the Hasselblad nowadays :?)

 

I just wish the viewer window was larger and Cosina would make a modern + cheaper

version. Oh well, can't have everything :?)

[jtdnyc]

Very basic question: do accessories designed for the shoe on the Barnack cameras fit the shoe of the M cameras equally well?

[eliot_rosen1]

As Andrew notes the early AUFSU has an accesory shoe (not a hotshoe, these finders were made in the early 1930s, well before hotshoes came into being :-)). There are other varieties of the AUFSU, called the AHOOT and AYOOC. These are variants that have a mask that swings in place to give a frame for 35 mm or 28 mm lenses (I forget which is which). These variants are much less common than the AUFSU and sell for a lot more money. But suffice it to say, the AUFSU is a beautifully made viewfinder in elegant black paint on brass, and a garden variety AUFSU is still relatively cheap (you can get one for about $ 200 or 250, cheap for an elegant old Leitz accessory).

[nemeng]

A note about the accessory shoe - there are v.early versions of the AUFSU which don't

have this. So all you get is the viewer without the shoe. IMO not as useful as the kind with

the shoe (since it lets you mount a spirit level if you want).<p>

 

As for whether the framing is accurate on M bodies, seeing they were originally designed

for LTMs, the answer is "yes". There is a caveat though... the framing will be out for the

taller bodied M6TTL and M7, as the extra 2mm height does muck things up. No problems

though with my "normal height" M4-P or (when I still had it) M3.<p>

 

About half the material in my

<a href="http://unposed.4020.net">Sydney Unposed</a> project was shot with the

AUFSU. As the images show, with a bit of practice you can get the framing v.accurate

indeed.

[jtdnyc]

Andrew, thank you for your answer. I wasn't really asking about the framing, though. I was asking whether the accesories designed for the Barnack accessory shoe fit, mechanically, into the M accessory shoe without jamming, filing, scraping, shimming, etc.

 

From your use of the AUFSU with M cameras, I will take your experience as an implicit "yes."

[nemeng]

Johnathan - yes, all these Barnack things will fit just fine. Not only the AUFSU, but also the

old 35mm, 50mm etc brightline finders or VIDOM, VISAX or SOODL etc.

 

Just keep in mind the framing issues I mentioned for the taller bodied Ms (M6TTL, M7).

[eliot_rosen1]

I believe the SOODL is a very rare 5 cm cradle type finder, if I recall correctly. Only a handful ever made.