On frames and ergonomics

[sanmich]

I have, a while ago, bought the beautiful Zeiss 25/28 external VF thinking that it will replace my VC 28mm finder.
Wrong!
the finder is beautifull, but the frames of the 25 and of the 28 are so close that it requires all my attention to frame the 28. With the VC, I can shoot instinctively, there is only one frame and I can see in a fraction of a second what is in and what is out.
I notice that some frame coupling are really not succesful, even in the "new" Leicas.
The 28/90 and 35/135 work great because they are far enough one from the other, but what the hell were they thinking when they coupled the 50 and the 75??

For the Zeiss VF, why not go 25/35, or 21/28, or even 28/50
The Leica could have coupled 28/75, 35/90 and 50/135.

No real question here, just venting 🙄

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Michael,

Historical accident:

M3 = 50-90-135

M2 = 35-50-90

35+135 tellers (on lenses) are therefore a natural pair.

Introduce a 28 finder and 28+90 is natural (excellent separation)

This leaves only 50 to be paired with 75.

Cheers,

R.

 

[sanmich]

Dear Michael,

Historical accident:

M3 = 50-90-135

M2 = 35-50-90

35+135 tellers (on lenses) are therefore a natural pair.

Introduce a 28 finder and 28+90 is natural (excellent separation)

This leaves only 50 to be paired with 75.

Cheers,

R.

Well, at least I learnt something, thanks! 🙂
The Zeiss choice for 25/28 will remain a mystery...
And I guess that the new VC 21/25 is not much better :bang:

 

[ferider]

The Leica 75mm framelines are a pain, in particular with the M4P with which they were introduced. One gets used to them eventually.

I do like using M3 90mm framelines with my Summilux though. Works very well and is accurate at closest focus.

Michael: how is the size of the Zeiss 25mm framelines when compared to the CV 28 ?

 

[sanmich]

Hi Roland
I just had a look through both finders.
the frame size seems very similar.
I say "seems" because it's difficult to compare.
the VC has a crazy distortion, and thicker frame lines.
The ZI finder is much better in terms of distortion, but the frames kept disappearing (inside, bad lighting), and again, are too close to the 25. they are also smaller, in the sens that the 25 on the ZI and the 28 VC form an almost full rectangle (why leave these small open segments 😕). The 28 in the ZI finder is more of the "4 corners" type. Add to that the marks for close up parallax correction, and you get an image that may be correct in theory, but is kind of difficult to "read".
Completely unrelated (but if I am already at it...) the ZI, once mounted on a Leica, will hide the speed in use on the speed dial.
It's a beautiful finder, but has too many quirks for my taste...