21mm Skopar and finder problem.

[M4streetshooter]

Ok, I ordered a 21 and it's an impossible task to find the RD finder for it.
Any suggestions about how do use this lens with the R-D1s?

I thought about a Leica or similiar 35mm finder but not sure....I don't have to take the lens but would like to.....any help appreciated.....

see ya on the streets....don

 

[foto_fool]

Is stephen out of them at cameraquest? They are listed on his price sheet at $175. I'm not sure about this and willing to be corrected by someone who knows better, but it seems that any 35mm external finder should work.

- John

 

[sevres_babylone]

Earlier this week, I noticed that Cameraquest was out of the 21mm D finder.

 

[jlw]

A finder designed for a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera should be just about perfect. This will give you the same 85% "safety factor" that Epson included in the camera's built-in framelines.

Formula: 21mm (lens focal length) x 1.53 (conversion for format size) = 32.13

32.13 * 0.85 (safety factor for effective focal length change) = 27.31


Apologies to those who have sat through this discussion before, but the 85% safety factor is needed to account for the fact that a lens' effective focal length increases as you focus closer -- in effect it "zooms in" slightly at close distances.

Because of this, a viewfinder that perfectly matched the focal length at infinity would actually show too much when the lens is focused close. The result would be that objects you saw at the edges of the frame would be cropped out of the final picture -- annoying, if those objects were important to your photo.

To avoid that, finders are calculated to show a slightly "tighter" crop than the lens sees at infinity (85%, in the case of Epson.) This way, even when you focus close, the finder will always show slightly less than the lens "sees" -- so that everything you saw through the finder will be in the final picture, plus a little extra which you can crop out.

 

[Terao]

I've found the edge of the finder to be a reasonably good approximation in an emergency...

 

[jvr]

Ok, I ordered a 21 and it's an impossible task to find the RD finder for it.
Any suggestions about how do use this lens with the R-D1s?

I thought about a Leica or similiar 35mm finder but not sure....I don't have to take the lens but would like to.....any help appreciated.....

see ya on the streets....don

I use the small 28/35 finder from Cosina for my Zeiss 21/28 Biogon. With glasses, the 21D finder is better, no doubt, but the 28/35 is surprisingly good and much smaller. Framelines from 28 are a bit wider than it should be and 35 narrower. Just take the middle road... 🙂

My 21D finder just fell on the floor (probably the hotshoe from my Epson is a bit loose... :-() and broke the small plastic "spring" that fixes it (more or less...) to the hotshoe, so now it even slips out easier. I don't use it anymore.

I like thw 28/35 finder so much I have one (silver) on my M3 and another (black) on my Ricoh GR-D. Check picture below.

 

[jvr]

A finder designed for a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera should be just about perfect. This will give you the same 85% "safety factor" that Epson included in the camera's built-in framelines.

Formula: 21mm (lens focal length) x 1.53 (conversion for format size) = 32.13

32.13 * 0.85 (safety factor for effective focal length change) = 27.31


Apologies to those who have sat through this discussion before, but the 85% safety factor is needed to account for the fact that a lens' effective focal length increases as you focus closer -- in effect it "zooms in" slightly at close distances.

Because of this, a viewfinder that perfectly matched the focal length at infinity would actually show too much when the lens is focused close. The result would be that objects you saw at the edges of the frame would be cropped out of the final picture -- annoying, if those objects were important to your photo.

To avoid that, finders are calculated to show a slightly "tighter" crop than the lens sees at infinity (85%, in the case of Epson.) This way, even when you focus close, the finder will always show slightly less than the lens "sees" -- so that everything you saw through the finder will be in the final picture, plus a little extra which you can crop out.

From my experience, the 28 finder is a bit too wide for the 21 Biogon and the 35 definitely too narrow.

BTW, on the Epson, it looks like they've made exactly the opposite choice: the 28 frame is probably more a 32, the 35 is definitely more a 40 (it checks very well with my 40/1.4 Nokton) and the 50 is narrower than 50 (can't really say how much, but larger than the FOV from my 75 Color Heliar).

If lenses do "zoom" a bit when focused nearer (and I don't doubt you), then the problem is compounded on the Epson...

 

[0bli0]

i use my turret - more often than not on 28, but 35 is pretty close. if you have a 28 already for your m4, give it a go (if you can't find the 21-d.

 

[Jim Watts]

I second JVR's suggestion of the CV 28/35mm minifinder. Better built and more compact on the the R-D1 than the 'D' finders. With my glasses I have no problems seeing the 28mm framelines with this finder which are a pretty good match for my 21mm Avenon.

The added bonus (as also noted by JVR) is that its an ideal match for my GRD. Much better than the Ricoh finder.

 

[M4streetshooter]

Well, the deed is done, I ordered the lens, mount ring and the 28/35 finder. The lens is beautifully small actually sexi small...good things come in small packages. The finder seems to me that it will be able to compensate for the fov with the formula that jlw presented. at 85% as epson uses, the 28 should be close....with a higher accuracy figure, the 35 maybe close to...I;m kinda thinking that on the streets, it should be a winning combination.....Friday is the day of arrival and Saturday is the first important shoot with it. Then next weekend...it's off to Washington and the Rolling Thunder event that I'll shoot for the Patriot Gaurd....how's that for confidence....if I'm missing something....now's a good time to point it out.....thanks all....you people are better than anyone could ever hope for.....

funny tho...I hate the 28m on my M's.....go figure......don