best finder

Are you talking exclusively about Leicas? If so, the IIIg is the tops. I don't know if there is much difference between the others.

Outside of Leica there are plenty of options. Bessa rangefinders are very nice. The late Canon LTMs are as well.
 
I think the easy answer might be the IIIg, It is bigger and it has paralex corrected frame lines. However I owned one briefly and it didnt work for me so well with my glasses. Also, mine was tinted gold as the uv glue degraded. I now have a Standard, a III and a IIIc, they look the same except the IIIc finder is slightly dimmer than the other two, maybe it needs a clean.
 
Yes Leicas only. I thought if I picked up another LTM it would be worth it to get one with a better finder. Do the ones with a better finder fetch more money and how much should I set aside to get one?
 
I've have a iiia, iiic, iiif and a iiic (k) and I can't see any significant difference. Prices are driven more by condition with scarcity having some influence. To me the iiic was always the best choice (cheapest) since they made more of those than any other model and the frame is one piece.....meaning the finder is one piece with the body.
 
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There's no doubt the IIIG has by far the most user-friendly viewfinder.
It's bigger and has frame lines for 50 and 90 lenses, with auto parallax correction too.
The IIIG is also the most expensive LTM ( excluding exotica and rarities ), typically costing 2 to 3 times the price of comparable condition IIIC's and IIIF's here in the UK.
However, all LTM's are equalised to a large extent if one uses clip on individual viewfinders or a universal finder, and just uses the squinty camera eyepiece for focussing.
 
As an eyeglasses wearer, I thought the IIIg would be the answer to my prayers, but it didn't quite work out that way. I couldn't see all the brightlines without shifting my eye around, and found that the IIIf worked better for me.

Just a consideration if you wear glasses.
 
The finders of the screw-mount Leicas are not bad, but they seem to be designed for use in bright daylight when the iris of the eye is small. When there is not enough light the iris becomes bigger and the finder is far less accurate.

Erik.
 
Have you ever considered getting an SBOOI external finder? http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1130/1091859144_9e2dac4690.jpg

You can probably get one at around 50$ from ebay. 1:1 view, crystal clear, just great. It transformed my IIIf from a shelf-sitter to my take-everywhere camera. It doesn't add much bulk and you have to focus in a seperate window anyway on the LTM Leicas.
 
NeeZee said:
Have you ever considered getting an SBOOI external finder? http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1130/1091859144_9e2dac4690.jpg

You can probably get one at around 50$ from ebay. 1:1 view, crystal clear, just great. It transformed my IIIf from a shelf-sitter to my take-everywhere camera. It doesn't add much bulk and you have to focus in a seperate window anyway on the LTM Leicas.
Click to expand...

It doesn't suit everyone, though. I tried that route and for me it completely wrecked the pocketability of the camera.

Cheers,

R.
 
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