Best Rangefinder for glasses wearer?

DCB

DCB

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What is the best all around rangefinder for those of us who wear glasses?

My Canon Canonet QL17 III is fine.

Thanks!

Peace
 
...or the Voigtlander R4M/R4A. The 35mm framelines should be comfortably visible and the 28 will likely work.

Thats all assuming you shoot wide angle more than longer lenses.
 
The modern Zeiss Ikon and Mamiya 7II are the best that I own. The .58 finder is good, but not as easy to use as the two listed. My R4A is great for 21mm, but so is the Zeiss finder.
 
Leica 0,58. But 28mm frame is easy to see completely only not wearing glasses. Ideal also with glasses 35mm frame. 50mm frame a bit small, but Leica MP viewfinder is excellent and you have the advantage of no lens interference (50 summicron also with extended hood).
I like 0,58.
 
What focal length had you in mind? A Voigtlander R3A or R3M goes very well with a 50mm, for instance.

Then again, so does my M3 now that I've stopped its eyepiece eating my specs.
 
I like the wider side of lenses. 24 to 80 is pretty much where I live. Even wider would be fun to play with. I think 35mm is my favorite.

Peace
 
It really depends on what you want to shoot. The M3 and Bessa R3 series are terrific if you like 50 or longer. The Leica .58 and the Bessa R4 are good for wides.

I wear glasses and use the ZI finder all the time but I almost never go wider than 35. But the shutter speed bar can be a bit tough to pick out with the ZI finder and glasses. For that reason alone I would recommend a Leica. However, if you get along with diopter lenses in the objective then the ZI is terrific.
 
I agree with Pioneer. The ZI finder is wonderful but the shutter speed/meter indicator is hard to see in bright light. If you go with the Sunny16 exposure method or use a hand-held meter, that finder is tough to beat. I like it better than the .58 Leicas just because it's a brighter, clearer finder.
 
I wear glasses. If you want one body, it's Zeiss Ikon by a large margin. The VF display is a non issue. Either you are on manual and you look at external indications of shutter speed, or you are on AE, and in that case, it is enough to judge if the shutter is not too slow by the sound it makes.
 
DCB said:
What is the best all around rangefinder for those of us who wear glasses? My Canon Canonet QL17 III is fine. Thanks! Peace
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There's not much to complain about with the Hexar RF VF as an eyeglass wearer. I don't have a 28mm though so can't comment on that.

If you are a left eyed glasses wearer like me, the Hexar RF is most convenient by a country mile.

Most convenient may not equal "best" depending on your requirements (fast long lenses for example).
 
The Zeiss Ikon viewfinder is best with glasses.

With the ZI, the 50mm has lots of space around it, the 35mm even has plenty of space around it, and even the 28mm is usable for me.

One does have to hunt to read the ZI meter with glasses on though. Between hunting for framing or hunting for the meter, I'll take hunting for the meter but YMMV.

In a Leica M2 viewfinder, I can see all the 50mm frame-lines but have to hunt for the 35mm lines. It's the same deal with the M8.2/M240 finder as well with no hope to see its 28mm lines.

I find the CV Bessa R and R2A finder better than Leica with my glasses as well though only very slightly. And I've not had a problem seeing the meter output.
 
I wear glasses for reading so my needs are met by adjusting the diopter on the Barnack Leicas i own as well as the Canon DSLR cameras in my bag and can adjust so as I don't need to wear glasses when making photos.
 
ZI : 35mm+ fine.
R4 : Great for 28mm as plenty of relief and no other frame lines to distract.
0.58 : 28mm+ fine.
0.72 : 35mm+ fine.

In my view the ideal kit is one camera for 28mm & wider and another for 35mm & longer. The ZI shutter speed readout cannot be seen easily but as you set the aperture you can make a guess at it. If you want just one body I would recommend the 0.58 if you need 28mm and provided you don't use lenses longer than 50mm.
 
The Hexar RF is great -- I wear glasses and the 28mm framelines are very easy to see. Of course, I expect any Leica with a .58 magnification would be good too.

No one has mentioned the Minolta CLE, perhaps because it's only got 28, 40 and 90 framelines, but its finder is terrific -- no problems for me with the 28mm framelines.
 
KoNickon said:
The Hexar RF is great -- I wear glasses and the 28mm framelines are very easy to see. Of course, I expect any Leica with a .58 magnification would be good too. No one has mentioned the Minolta CLE, perhaps because it's only got 28, 40 and 90 framelines, but its finder is terrific -- no problems for me with the 28mm framelines.
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True, the CLE VF is on par with the Hexar. Lens choice is important with it because most 28mm lenses will not bring up the 28mm framelines. And most 35s will bring up 28mm framelines. It's a great body for LTM lenses though.
 
I wear progressive glasses, and have been for more than a dozen years. I wore single correction glasses for most of my life prior to that, all the way back to early years in grade school.

The viewfinder in the Leica M4 and first year production run of the M4-2 is the best for my eyes. Simple, clear, just the right magnification and frame line weight. It's easy to see without strain all the frames from 35mm to 135mm.

NONE of the Leica M viewfinders that have them allow me to see 28mm framelines clearly enough to be useful ... that's why I have a clip-on 28mm optical viewfinder for them.

The .68x and .58x viewfinders reduce the accuracy of focusing with a 50mm f/1.4 lens too much, IMO. I keep a 1.25x viewfinder magnifier available to use with the M9 when shooting with the 50, 90 or 135mm lenses because the focusing patch is too small to see the range indication clearly in poor light. No need for it with the M4-2 or M4.

G
 
I wear glasses too. I sold a Bessa R3A because it was too hard to see the 40mm framelines. So I agree with posters who say it depends on the lens you want to use. The Canon P is brilliant for 50, but I had a hard time seeing the 35 framelines. I find a Leica M2 much better in that regard.
 
A point worth thinking about with wide view rangefinders is the increased potential for the lens to intrude into the frame. This for me was the fatal flaw in the R4A I had for a while, really liked that camera a lot but only the CV 25/4 didn't intrude. Both the 21/4 and Leica's tiny 28 Elmarit ASPH with the hood on intruded, the later way more than I would have liked. On that camera its made much worse by the viewfinder being so close to the centre of the camera so I expect the Zeiss to be much better in that regard.

I think I would try the Zeiss as I prefer lighter bodies if possible.

On my M6 I can just about see the 28 framelines with glasses on. The trick is to get glasses which can sit very close on the face then position yourself with the viewfinder to the left real close to the nose and push the camera into the face. Comfort wise I find this only just OK but its worth it to get the view.

Cheers
Neil
 
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