Bright Lines and Lenses

[whatmicah]

Hi,
I am pretty new to the site and was wondering if any of you could explain to me how the bright lines work. When it says bright lines for 24 and 35 mm/28 and 90 mm/50 and 75 mm, are they talking about the equivalent? I mean, if I put on a 24mm lens, is the bright line showing the 1.33 cropped version?

Also, on the topic of lenses, what can you recomend for the equivalent of a fast 24 or 28 equivalent... like say a 1.4 or 2.0...

-micah

 

[Joe Mondello]

Yes, they are corrected for the cropping factor.

Check out Sean Reid's terrific reviews of rangefinder gear.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22632

I have a Voigtlander 28mm 1.9 Ultron which is a terrific lens for a fraction the cost of a Leica lens.

Of course on the M8 it is a 35mm equivalent.

 

[whatmicah]

Cool, thanks for the links. So, for a 28mm equivalent, you would be looking for a 21mm. Most of what I have seen for 21mm are in the 2.8 range. Is there anything faster out there? And so, using a 21mm on the M8, I would need a viewfinder, correct? - Is there a small one out there for just 28mm?

 

[rxmd]

No, there is no faster 21 than 2,8.

The Voigtländer Minifinder is about the smallest 28mm viewfinder there is.

 

[Joe Mondello]

Yeah fast and wide don't really go together.

Check out Sean's wide lenses on R-D1 here

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/rd-1-lens.shtml

I have the wonderful 15mm CV Super Heliar which is certainly NOT fast at 4.5 but it is a gem. Get a 21mm CV finder for it tho.

 

[Philinflash]

Hi,

When it says bright lines for 24 and 35 mm/28 and 90 mm/50 and 75 mm, are they talking about the equivalent? I mean, if I put on a 24mm lens, is the bright line showing the 1.33 cropped version?


-micah

No. Forget the 1.33 cropping.

If you put a 24 mm lens on, the bright lines show what the approximate frame is that you are capturing. It is what the camera "sees." This is actually much clearer in the longer lenses. As an experiment, you can take a photo of a window frame (or any other clear rectangle shape with similar aspect ratios) and compare what you got with what you saw. It should be pretty close.

It is clearly not indicating that if you were using an M7 with a 24 mm lens, this is what you would be capturing. Or, for that matter, what a 36 mm lens on an M7 would be capturing. It is just showing you what this lens (24 mm in your example)on this camera (M8 in your example) can be expected to capture.

Philip