Compare Voigtlander 21/25 finders?

[rybolt]

I'm hoping this is the correct forum to ask this question.
I recently picked up a pair of Zeiss lenses along with an M9. The lenses were 21 and 25 Biogons. I bought the stuff to re-sell and sold the finders for the lenses. Now I think I may keep the two lenses and the body when it gets back with a new sensor.
I need a finder. I'm looking at both the plastic, square and metal, round Voigtlander 21/25 finders. The difference in price is only $40. Does anyone have any experience with either or both of them? I owned both the 15 and 25 lenses many years ago and found them easy to use. They were the plastic versions, of course.
Thanks for any data.

 

[Jan Pedersen]

I have used both and now only use the round metal finder which is smaller and a lot nicer to look at.
Optically i think they are very similar.

 

[Ken Ford]

I have a pair of the plastic bodied CV 21/25 finders (one original and one Ricoh branded version from the GV1) and have handled the metal. I concur with Jan - optically they are similar and the metal bodied one feels a little more substantial, but the plastic ones work just fine.

My CV is probably going away since I recently found a good deal on a Leica 21 VF, but the Ricoh one will probably live on my Sigma dp0.

 

[jim_jm]

I have the plastic 21mm and the chrome 21/25mm finders and I almost always use the chrome finder. It's a bit smaller and looks better on chrome bodies. The front element of the 21 finder protrudes more and seems more vulnerable to hits. The brightlines on both are equally good, and optically they seem about the same. The obvious advantage of the 21/25 is having one finder to cover 2 focal lengths.

 

[Huss]

I have both and only use the chrome one. I keep the plastic one in my bag that has my CLEs in case I ever need a spare.

 

[Lou Iaquinto]

+ 1 for chrome

 

[rybolt]

the metal finder comes in either chrome or black. My plan was to order the black one as it's going on a black M9. Comments?
Bear in mind that I'm the guy who cares nothing about 'style'.

 

[Ken Ford]

That's what I would do.

I recently ended up with a Leica 21 that has a foot lock. OVFs without locks always freak me out a little.

 

[jonmanjiro]

I have a black metal 21/25mm CV finder (which I love btw) and it fits very snugly in the hot shoe of my Leica MP. So snugly in fact that its actually a bit of a struggle to remove it. I like it that way though as I can be certain its not going to fall out accidentally.

 

[joeswe]

Seems I am the only one who thinks that the plastic finders have the better image, larger and less distorted. Well, nevermind ... I still prefer the combined metal finder as I don't like to baby my cameras and the flimsy plastic finders always looked like an accident waiting to happen ... 🙂

EDIT: this was written with the single focal length 21 and 25 mm plastic finders in mind, not the combined version, see follow up below

 

[MIkhail]

I am selling the 21/4 Voigtlander with finder right now here in classified, and was offered to buy a lens alone.
So I may have a 21 finder for sale.

 

[Archlich]

A bit off topic but the best 21mm finder I have used is the Sigma VF-51 made for the DP0 camera. It's gigantic - both the view (with minimal distortion) and the size of the thing. Even better than the Zeiss ZM 21mm finder, by quite a margin.

 

[rybolt]

I actually bought a used 21/25 plastic Voigtlander finder on Ebay. Then,I sold the M9 before I ever had the chance to use it. If anyone wants a 21/25 i have it in the classifieds.

 

[joeswe]

I have to correct my statement above a bit, I think I added a bit of confusion to the discussion, as my comment was not meant as a comparison between the combined plastic 21/25 finder and the combined metal finder 21/25, but rather the combined metal 21/25 finder vs. the two single FL plastic finders for 21 and 25mm each. I have never seen or used the combined plastic finder.
I have done a comparison of all three finders today and found that the view of the 25mm plastic finder (the version with brightlines) is superior to that of the combined 21/25 metal finder. Bigger picture and also noticeably less distortion. There also seems to be a slight advantage in both points for the 21mm version of the plastic finder (again the version with brightlines) vs. the combined metal one, but you really have to look hard for it so it's probably not relevant for practical use.