External viewfinder for 24mm on Leica M4-P

[j. f.]

What are my best options re an external viewfinder for a 24mm on a

Leica M4-P? I like the idea of seeing a frameline within the finder

window (like when I look through the internal leica finder).

 

Am I best saving up for the present leica 28/24/21mm finder, or

should I try and find the older plastic 24mm leica finder? Might a

25mm voightlander finder work, some say that it is not offset enough

to be over the lense? What about using a 21mm finder (voightlander or

an old leica one) and marking out/guessing the field of view of the

24mm in its frame? Have you hear about the Ikodot finder:

http://www.ikodot.com/ and what do you think?

 

Thanks!

[peter_white2]

The Leica 21-24-28 finder isn't a brightline finder.

[christopher_engeler]

I have the Leica trifocal finder but it is so big I rarely mount it, even though I could use it with both my 21 and 24mm Leica lenses. There is also considerable barrel distortion present. I would recommend a Voigtlander, either 21 or 25mm for your purposes. The Ikodot is perhaps a bit too rudimentary to give you a true wideangle perspective. Looks neat, though and I hope somebody who knows this device will comment. M4-P is a great camera, isn't it!

[jerry_lehrer]

Gavin-- An Ikodot is on it's way to me, according to Fritz. I will be

writing a report on it as soon as I evaluate it.

 

Jerry

[Aoresteen]

I have the Voigtlander 25mm lens & finder that I use on my Contax IIa. I mounted the 25mm finder on my M4-P and I think it should work ok. Just run a few tests and you will soon learn if you need to adjst to the left side a bit.

[jason_b.]

The 25mm CV finder's framelines are way too tight for the coverage of Leica's 24mm. I had to

switch back to the Leica 24mm finder even though the view throught the thing isn't quite as

clear as the CV finder. I don't know if it's because there is a big difference between the

coverage of 24 and 25mm lenses, and the finders show that, or if the CV finder is framed for

closet focus distances and the lines are smaller because of that. It's be interesting to see

where the Zeiss finder falls with this.

[rjm photo]

The 25mm C/V viewfinder works perfect on my M4 with 24mm Elmarit.

[mrivers]

I have both old and new VC external viewfinders in 25mm for use with my 24mm Leica lens. Comparing the two, the optics seem to be exactly the same. The new finder has two differences, one is the addition of brightlines, and the other on offset foot. I had the older finder and bought the newer because I thought I would be more accurate with brightlines. I was wrong, as the brightlines are too tight and makes framing even worse. I have gone back to the older VC external finder, and live with the fact that at 24mm, there is less accuracy than a TTL system.<div></div>

[eliot_rosen1]

I use Leica's 24 mm brightline finder with the 24 mm Elmarit-M (a fabulous lens). It works fine. The image is very bright. There is some barrel distortion at the edge of the field, but that's true of all wide angle finders. It's small and light. The housing is plastic (I prefer metal) but that's life. You can get them used, and in some cases you might even find one new in box because it was only recently discontinued.

[dford]

I use the reverse combo. Leica 24mm viewfinder with the 25mm Zeiss ZM lens. Love the leica 24mm finder.

[david k.]

I use the Leica 24 finder with the 24 ASPH, and think it is excellent optically, unfortunately the plastic housing flexes when attaching or removing it from the camera.

 

Having said that, I have had no problems with the finder, and the lens is outstanding.

[jtk]

Michael Rivers...are you pretty confident in your judgement, old CV Vs new? I've been grumbling about my old one...I'm shooting a CV 25, so I wonder if the "tight" framing might be better than for 24..that a 4% difference (I think) after all..

 

Do the bright lines of the new version more accurately indicate horizontals?

[j. f.]

Thanks for all the comments so far. I'd also be interested to hear if anybody has tried

using a 21mm finder with a 24mm lens, either with the 24mm field of view masked out

somehow, or by making educated guess composition based on experience.

 

I ask this because the leica 21mm finders seem to be more common 2nd hand, and if the

new design voightlander finders do crop too tightly then this might compensate...last but

not least it would allow me to see 'around' the picture a bit more, same as say the 50mm

framelines in the leica internal finder.

 

looking foward to the review of the ikodot!

[jason_b.]

I saw the Zeiss 28/25 finder yesterday. Clearer view, but I think the Leica finder is just as

good somehow, also the lines for the 25 looked bloody close to the 28 lines, so it might be

too tight for the 24mm angle of view.

[j. f.]

Thanks for all the answers! I went for a Leica 24mm finder in the end (Ebay), very good!