24mm and RD1

[nrj]

Well my R-D1 arrived yesterday and it looks great, I'm really wanting to go out shooting with it. I have a Leica 24/2.8 and I'd be interested in people's experiences with this lens. I would like to know especially what viewfinder you use with the lens and in particular experiences with the 28-35 cosina-voigtlander miniviewfinder such as how easy is it to use and see through. Thanks a lot. Also thanks to all the posters on this forum I've read over the last few weeks before I decided on the R-D1 -great information.🙂

Nik

 

[CDT]

Welcome nrj. I'd can't answer your question but I wondering the same thing. I'd also like to know what field of view does the 35mm finder actually cover. I was thinking about using it with a 21mm (32mm view on R-D1). Is it a wide 35?

 

[Didier]

Well my R-D1 arrived yesterday and it looks great, I'm really wanting to go out shooting with it. I have a Leica 24/2.8 and I'd be interested in people's experiences with this lens. I would like to know especially what viewfinder you use with the lens

Nik
welcome to the club. I would first use the 24mm without external finder - just with the full frame of the inbuilt viewfinder, because this one corresponds roughly to a 25mm field of view. The R-D1 framelines are quite conservative and show the indicated field of view with 15% safety margin. Make a few test shots with all lenses you have to get a feeling about what's in the finder, and what's in the picture.
good light
Didier

 

[sebastel]

hi,

for me, the method didier describes works quite nicely with my 25mm lens, so my recommendation is to just try out ...

cheers,
sebastian

 

[ulrik]

I use the 24mm without externa finder, and I keep both eyes open most of the time. You get used to it. I was acually a bit dissapointed the 24mm, it has slight Barrel distortion, I know its very slight, but for architecture you have to compensate in PS.

 

[peter_n]

I use the 24mm on an M7 with the CV 25mm viewfinder (with brightlines) and I like the CV finder a lot. Whatever you do don't buy a Leica 24mm finder! 😱

 

[yoshimura]

Hi nrj, welcome to the club. I do just like Didier and others described with my R-D1s and ZI 25/2.8: no external viewfinder, the outer limits of the camera's finder pretty well match the lens FOV. It is a good combination.

 

[rvaubel]

I use the 24mm on an M7 with the CV 25mm viewfinder (with brightlines) and I like the CV finder a lot. Whatever you do don't buy a Leica 24mm finder! 😱

I have the CV minifinder also. I second what everyone else says....just try it and get used to it. I leave my minifinder on my RD1 at all times, using it for both my 21mm and 28mm. Sometimes I don't use it at all, just using the main viewfinder...whatever I feel like at the time.

One word of caution. At least with my camera, the finder is loose, very loose. In fact, I have lost it off the camera 5 times!! I have been lucky to backtrack and find it. I finally wedged a piece of matchbook cardboard in the hotshoe which took care of the problem.

Rex

 

[nrj]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to try no finder for a while on the R-D1. At the moment I'm using a v3 Leica 35 pre asph which seems a perfect fit to the camera and gives lovely results. Peter I'm interested in why you wouldn't get the Leica 24 finder. I want to use the 24 lens on my M6 so your recommending the CV 25 finder is making me think.

Nik

 

[peter_n]

Nik the 24/2.8 lens is a marvel, you will love it! But the finder is (a) flimsy, (b) comparatively dark and (c) gives you a very small and tunnel-like view. OTOH the CV 25mm finder is open, clear and bright and has nice thick brightlines that help with the parallax. Chalk and cheese. 🙂

 

[nrj]

Nik the 24/2.8 lens is a marvel, you will love it! But the finder is (a) flimsy, (b) comparatively dark and (c) gives you a very small and tunnel-like view. OTOH the CV 25mm finder is open, clear and bright and has nice thick brightlines that help with the parallax. Chalk and cheese. 🙂

Peter many thanks for the information - just what I needed to hear to make a decision

best, Nik