25 Biogon on Zeiss Ikon body

[Sorted]

I might be picking up a 'bundled' ikon body/lens plus an additional lens. Ideally, I'd get a bundled RF w/ 35/2 and a 25/2.8 as a second lens.
I am not a huge fan of acc. viewfinders and would like to know if anyone has tried the 25 alone on the Zeiss Ikon. Is there enough room left over surrounding the 28 frames on the Zeiss body to approximate the 25's angle of view?. I can just about do something similar with a 28mm on my M4.
Many thanks

 

[Keith]

I just had a look through the viewfinder of my Ikon and with my eye pressed hard up against the eyepiece it's difficult to see the small amount of space there actually is around the 28mm framelines ... and there's not much!

I wouldn't bother personally! I got an R4A body to use with the wider lenses ... not the cheapest option but the 25mm Biogon is perfect on the Bessa. 🙂

 

[back alley]

easy to use the 25 on a zi without a finder. it's a great combo.

 

[mfogiel]

Beware, that this can be true only if you do not wear the glasses...

 

[back alley]

i wear glasses, tri focals to boot!

you get used to it and adjust.

 

[notturtle]

I'm the same. Went over to the 0.58 for 28mm use as I found the regular framelines in the 0.72 less intuitive with their cramped feel.

 

[sojournerphoto]

I wear galsses and my Ikon is perfect for 35mm or 50mm, but I would really want a finder for 28 or wider. Hence I wil eventually get a 25 ratehr than a 28 as I prefer it and it will work in the same way for me.

Mike

 

[Doug]

The drawback of using the whole finder window with the 25mm is that you cannot see outside the frame, it may not even show all of what is captured, and you lose parallax correction. The drawback of the external finder is the extra losable piece to carry, switching from RF to VF to compose, increased parallax error and loss of parallax correction. Pick your poison!

Using the Voigtlander Bessa 4A/4M is the better solution for wide angle lenses. It's great with the 25mm... easy to see some "air" outside the parallax corrected framelines. True even for the 21mm framelines! Less parallax than the ZI body because the VF window is closer to the lens centerline, but the tradeoff is more lens/hood intrusion into the view.

 

[willie_901]

I am really impressed with all the RFFers who can obtain a precise degree of framing with any rangefinder camera.

I can't imagine the issues discussed in this thread involve anything but subtitles easily remediated by trivial cropping ... especially with a 25mm angle-of-view.

I enjoy precise framing for interior/architectural photography with my D300 (100% finder), but I would never use any RF when I require exact framing.

As Back Alley said a longtime ago, just use the entire ZM viewfinder to approximate the 25mm frame.

 

[sojournerphoto]

I am really impressed with all the RFFers who can obtain a precise degree of framing with any rangefinder camera. no, it's never precise🙂 but some do seem closer than others

I can't imagine the issues discussed in this thread involve anything but subtitles easily remediated by trivial cropping ... especially with a 25mm angle-of-view. and seeing outside the lines

I enjoy precise framing for interior/architectural photography with my D300 (100% finder), but I would never use any RF when I require exact framing. agree - though my poison is made by 'the other manufacturer'

As Back Alley said a longtime ago, just use the entire ZM viewfinder to approximate the 25mm frame. fine, if you can see the entire vf. I can't when wearing glasses. Actualy I have to peer around quite a lot to see the 28's.



Mike

 

[back alley]

mike, i can't see edge to edge either. i think what's being said is to look at the image in the finder as best as possible, relax, remember what the real world scene looks like and shoot.
i hope i'm not making it sound too mystical but i only ever look at the main subject in the finder and let the rest just be.
rangefinders have their strengths but precision framing is not one of them so why drive yourself crazy trying to frame precisely?

 

[notturtle]

The above technique works from a practical perspective if you are concentrating on main subjects, but I find it a pain in the butt when trying to shoot looser more chaotic scenes. Lately I have been shooting more frenetic activity with people entering the frame in one place, action elsewhere, people leaving the frame etc. I have been trying to caputure very dynamic frames that show socialising etc. For this, seeing the full framelines and having space around them is essential. The camera of choice for me has been a 0.58 MP with a 28mm lens which I can see around. Using the same lens on a 0.72 is much, much tougher as the frame lines are so tight. I find it works well using my CV 21 finder with my 21mm lens through, as once again you can see what is happening outside the frame.

Personally, I would not want to be without a 25mm finder if the camera's viewfinder does not stretch that wide. I often focus and shoot using the internal viewfinder as the above have said and switch to the external finder when I need better awareness of what is going on around the periphery. You can learn to use external finders to great effect, with zone focusing and very fast shooting.

 

[binky]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum--this is great, lots of information...

Anyway, I too just got the 25mm to go with the ZI after having owned for many years the G2 with various lenses. My question is, is it normal for the 25mm to bring up the 35 frameline in the ZI? Should the frameline be 28? Just wondering.

John

 

[Doug]

...My question is, is it normal for the 25mm to bring up the 35 frameline in the ZI? Should the frameline be 28?

Hi John, and welcome. As to your question, there is some variation, and it's reasonable. At first, the 25 Biogon flange was cut to bring up the 28/90mm framelines in M cameras... Since 28 was the widest available frame, you might then use it as a guide to imagine the wider view of the 25.

Then, the Leica M8 came with frameline pairs of 24/35, 28/90, and 50/75. Now for the M8 it made more sense for the 25 Biogon to bring up the 24/35 frame set. Responding to customer wishes, some vendors like PopFlash obtained their Zeiss lenses with mounting flanges appropriate for the M8 lens coding, consistent with Leica practice.

Sounds like you may have one of these latter, while I had to have my 25 converted from 28/90 to the 24/35 framelines for correct M8 coding.

 

[binky]

Thanks Doug.

Supposedly, Zeiss can change the mount for me. But I think I'll just keep it as is, in case I win the lottery to buy an M8 😉 That said, I'm growing very fond of the ZI

 

[binky]

thanks...I've read through some of the comments in the forum before going with the 25. I thought I would start with the 28, but the 25 would really *open* the perspective a bit more 😉 ...why be conventional? ha

convention-wise, I also got the 2/35 at the same time...and I'm finding that this actually stays on the camera more...for now anyway

 

[George S.]

I have the same advice/experience for you as Joe gave. While not really easy, it worked fine for me without an accessory finder.

What I have more difficulty with that lens is making sure to hold the camera absolutely level, for if I am a tiny bit off, the results aren't pretty. Strange, because I usually only have that trouble when using lenses 21mm or wider.