Leica LTM Adjust VIDOM copy?

[tvrguy]

Hi folks. I have a "SIGHTON" copy of a VIDOM viewfinder I got off ebay. I didn't know what I was getting myself into.... while I think I could live with the mirrored image, and I could live with how small the image is in the viewfinder, what I can't live with is the eyestrain/pain I get just looking through it.

I wear contacts and generall have no problem looking through viewfinders. But this... this just doesn't work for me.

Is it possible to adjust the focus on these? It looks EXACTLY like a VIDOM.

Note: I'm using this with a IIf.

Thanks

 

[Mr_Flibble]

I've never heard of the ability to adjust the actual focus on the VIDOM.
There's also no way to correct the left/right mirrored image, you'd need a VIOOH-style accessory finder, that has an extra prism.

 

[Nitroplait]

If you use contacts, I don’t really think there should be a need for changing focus - that is, if you by “focus” mean diopter value.
If the image is actually unsharp it is either a bad VIDOM copy or it is defective.
I just checked my IIf finder, my VIDOM and VIOOH finders all on 50mm.
They frankly all seem to have the same (lack of) eye relief. I wear glasses and have an equally hard time looking comfortably through all of them - and the magnification of the images in all these finders looks about the same at 50mm.
That is BTW why I normally use a SBOOI for 50mm and only look through the Barnack rangefinders to focus.

 

[Cascadilla]

I've never seen one of these, but does the eyepiece turn at all? On my Zeiss 440 turret finder for my Contax IIa, the eyepiece is knurled like yours and it turns for diopter changing. I can get enough correction on this so that I don't need to use my glasses to see through it clearly. You might try to see if the eyepiece will move and perhaps give you the correction the you need.

 

[Nitroplait]

but does the eyepiece turn at all?

If this is an exact VIDOM copy, it turns, but only to change the orientation of the finder image - no diopter adjustments.

 

[tvrguy]

If this is an exact VIDOM copy, it turns, but only to change the orientation of the finder image - no diopter adjustments.

Correct. The eyepiece does in fact rotate, but it is for changing orientation.

It really looks like an EXACT copy of a VIDOM.

 

[tvrguy]

If you use contacts, I don’t really think there should be a need for changing focus - that is, if you by “focus” mean diopter value.
If the image is actually unsharp it is either a bad VIDOM copy or it is defective.
I just checked my IIf finder, my VIDOM and VIOOH finders all on 50mm.
They frankly all seem to have the same (lack of) eye relief. I wear glasses and have an equally hard time looking comfortably through all of them - and the magnification of the images in all these finders looks about the same at 50mm.
That is BTW why I normally use a SBOOI for 50mm and only look through the Barnack rangefinders to focus.

Thanks. Interesting what you are saying about eye relief. While I've never had a problem with any of the other viewfinders (including the built in ones on my Barnack and M's) I wonder if this one is just different and requires me to give a little more distance when viewing it. I am bringing my eye in close to see the edges of the 35mm frame, and maybe that's where it's causing me eyestrain. I'll try to give it a litlte more space and see if that helps.

 

[Malcolm M]

while I think I could live with the mirrored image

Unless you're only shooting extremely static subjects, I'll bet you find you can't, and end up buying a VIOOH, which has no dioptre adjustment either.

 

[Dralowid]

I would classify your viewfinder as an interesting and unusual (because it is a copy) relic destined for the shelf.

I had one many years ago, it was no fun.

 

[tvrguy]

I would classify your viewfinder as an interesting and unusual (because it is a copy) relic destined for the shelf.

I had one many years ago, it was no fun.

Sounds like I learned a lesson! I can see why people like the brightline finders better.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Brightline finders are awesome, sure....offset by the need for a different one for every focal length 😉

The VIDOM/VIOOHs aren't "zoom finders". And the VIOOH, while showing the image the right way round due to the additional prism, can have a worse image quality in view.

KMZ / Zeiss turret finders offer a better view, but they also do not have dioptre correction.

 

[Cascadilla]

Brightline finders are awesome, sure....offset by the need for a different one for every focal length 😉

The VIDOM/VIOOHs aren't "zoom finders". And the VIOOH, while showing the image the right way round due to the additional prism, can have a worse image quality in view.

KMZ / Zeiss turret finders offer a better view, but they also do not have dioptre correction.

The post war Zeiss #440 turret finder does have diopter correction, one reason why I use it regularly with my Contax II and IIIa. I have one pre war Zeiss turret finder where I unscrewed the eyepiece a bit and secured it with an O ring and also got some diopter correction. I haven't tried a KMZ equivalent, so I don't know if this is possible with a KMZ finder.

 

[mdarnton]

For whatever reason, the tiny-hole finders really seem to want to maximize the tendencies of your own eyes, where the large-eyepiece ones don't. I use a VIOOH and it took me some time to realize that it just emphasizes the fact that my viewing eye's best natural focus distance is about 18" and anything farther is problematic. But the VIOOH at that distance is really perfect for me. With glasses it's perfect at a distance, but with no rubber ring on the back I won't be using it with my glasses. Maybe I will go look at O-rings....

 

[Coldkennels]

With glasses it's perfect at a distance, but with no rubber ring on the back I won't be using it with my glasses. Maybe I will go look at O-rings....

I couldn't get an O-ring to stay in place on the VIOOH, no matter what glue I used. I ended up wrapping a single layer of hockey stick tape around the edge of the viewfinder, which has now stayed in place for years without issue.

I actually quite like the VIOOH. It's handy when you're using something without a multi-frame finder, want a couple of focal lengths, and don't want to be fussing around with multiple finders. I often use it on a Canon IIIa instead of dealing with the frankly awful built-in finder, too. But I do agree with everyone else about the VIDOM... trying to use it literally makes me feel ill. I just can't deal with the mirrored view at all!