.58 or .72 finder?

[Rogier]

I am looking into buying my first Leica M4
My preference are wide angle lenses. Should I go for a .58 or .72 finder?

Or not bother at all and get a M3 or M2 and use a external viewfinder?

Its the disadvantage of buying from the internet, its hard to imagine what its like in real life...

 

[palec]

M4 has only 0.72x viewfinder, same as M2. M3 is even larger 0.9x.
Only M6TTL, M7 and MP have option of having 0.58x viewfinder.

 

[Rogier]

Hmm ok still the question remains .58 or .72 if I am going to use a 28mm lens ?

 

[steveyork]

Do you wear eyeglasses?
What focal lengths will you likely use?
Do you want a new camera?

 

[Rogier]

No I don't wear glasses

28 / 35mm

Unfortunately used only...

 

[steveyork]

I would stick with the 0.72. I wear glasses and owned a 0.58 for a period of time, but didn't like it, because it made the image in the viewfinder very small and that much more difficult to focus. And w/o glasses, a user should have no problems seeing the 35mm and 28mm frame lines.

 

[Matt(1pt4)]

I'm left eye dominant and I wear glasses. On a .72 M even the 35mm framelines aren't entirely comfortable. The 28 are just plain hopeless. The .6 on the Hexar was much easier to use with a 35. All that space around the edges of the frame make for easier compositions.

 

[sanmich]

I wear glasses and shoot extensively the 35mm FL.
My main camera is a .58 and I love it for 35mm and 28mm.
on my M2 (excellent camera BTW) the 35 frame lines is very hard to see with glasses.

I kind of adapted my c ameras to my lenses:
M6 TTL .58 for 28-35-50
M2 mainly for 50
M3 for 50 and 90

One thing I do dislike with newer cameras (M6 and later) is the lousy frame accuracy.
on the .58, the frames of the wides are quite good though.

 

[mervynyan]

M4 only has 72.

 

[Graham Line]

No I don't wear glasses

28 / 35mm

Unfortunately used only...

If you are a confirmed 28/35 user and don't see much need of a 50, the .58 finder gives you a better view. I use a Minolta CLE (.58 finder) and an M4-P (.72 finder) and the wides are much easier to handle on the Minolta. You can go down to a 24/25mm lens with the .58 and won't have to have an auxiliary finder.

 

[Nugard]

One thing I do dislike with newer cameras (M6 and later) is the lousy frame accuracy.
on the .58, the frames of the wides are quite good though.

What do you meen?..

 

[Rogier]

Sorry for my silly questions but can I put a lets say 28MM on a M2 and still use the rangefinder to focus correctly or do I have to use the scale?

 

[Beemermark]

I shoot with a 28mm a lot ( have two) and I like the 0.72x magnification and use an external VF for framing. For quick street type shooting I don't worry a lot about precise framing so I may or may not use the external VF.

 

[sanmich]

What do you meen?..

Since M4-P, 2nd version, the frames has been adjusted / shrinked.

I love modern leicas for the 0.58 finder but the accuracy of the framing is lousy. you grab too much around...

the frames on my 0.58 are ok for 35 and 28 but the 50 frame is really too small

 

[Damaso]

I wear glasses and use the .58 for my 35. I think if you want more room around the framelines the .58 is the way to go. I use my lenses wide open and haven't noticed a lot of frames where the focus is off because of the magnification factor.

The downside is that Leica hasn't made a lot of these and you will pay a premium...

 

[Pablito]

The chart Mervyn posted above in post #10 may be scientifically accurate but perceptually the experince of using the finders of those magnifications is quite different, IMO. The chart assumes you have a clear corner to conner view of the whole finder. Depending on how you hold the camera or if you're wearing glasses your view may differ.

 

[35mmdelux]

If your into wide angle, then .58 is definitely something to consider -- especially with 28mm. I shoot both 28/35, but 35 mostly and my cameras are .72 mag.

A couple years ago I had a camera with an effective .62 mag and a 28mm. I really liked that combo. With a 72 mag its hard to see the complete 28mm framelines.