24mm lens and M9 viewfinder.

[greggebhardt]

I know the brightlines only go to 28mm, but I am adding a 24mm to my bag and wanted to know if the entire view through the view finder represents close to the 24mm focal length.😕

I know they make external finders but I am not fond of them and wanted to know if I could just get by using the entire finder.🙄

 

[jaapv]

I shoot it regularly without finder, but the framing is in my mind in that case, not in the viewfinder. If you really move your eye around, you can arrive at some reasonable guesstimate, but it is not comfortable. Which 24?

 

[greggebhardt]

24mm Elmarit, Black, 6bit new USA

Many of the shots will be interior on a tripod, which will help, but sometimes I will really enjoy off the tripod.

Would you say the 24mm field is slightly larger or small than the entire M9 viewfinder?

 

[Turtle]

you'll need a finder for anything like accurate 'easy viewing' composition. I use a 0.58 MP and think the entire finder is close to a 24. With the 0.68 of the M9 you are not far off 0.72 which is just 28 with no wiggle at all as the lines are right up against the black as you look through.

If you want a cost effective solution, get the CV 25 finder and just compose a little tight to take into account the slightly different FL and also the tendency of such finders to be quite conservative esp approaching infinity. For $128 it is a much better bet than the $770 or so of the insane Leica finder. I find the CV 21 pretty decent.

 

[jaapv]

24mm Elmarit, Black, 6bit new USA

Many of the shots will be interior on a tripod, which will help, but sometimes I will really enjoy off the tripod.

Would you say the 24mm field is slightly larger or small than the entire M9 viewfinder?

The 24 mm FOV is clearly larger. You really have to look through skewed to get an impression. But if you are on a tripod surely you can take a chimp shot to check your framing?

 

[yanidel]

Though I do own a 24mm finder, I use the M9 viewfinder when shooting with the 24mm Elmarit. By looking to the far edges of the finder, it is a pretty good approximation of the FOV. And as Jaap said, after a while you just visualize. Having a level horizon is more my issue than framing currently, the patch and frameline in the viewfinder provide a good help too.

 

[greggebhardt]

Thanks to all who have responded. I need to do some more homework. I am kind of leaning towards the view finder purchase as i will be using this lens a good bit and in the end the finder would be the best option.

 

[jaapv]

I use the CV 25 mm viewfinder. By far the best price/quality ratio imo. And alternative is the DLux4 finder, but it is a bit on the small side. The Leica 24 finder is crazily expensive, and the Zeiss finder optically the best of the lot, but bulky and still not cheap. An alternative is the 21-24-28 Leica variofinder, but it has no framelines and distorts at least as badly as the CV one. And there is the Frankenfinder, of course.

 

[greggebhardt]

I received a PM from a great member of this forum who had an extra Leica 24 finder at a price I could not refuse!

It is done!