Do you use accessory viewfinders?

Do you use accessory viewfinders?

  • Yes - I frame carefully and make each shot count.

    Votes: 159 43.8%

  • No - I'm trigger happy, guess the framesize, and fire away!

    Votes: 42 11.6%

  • Sometimes - It all depends on the application.

    Votes: 162 44.6%
  • Total voters
    363
Pherdinand said:
i hate the damn things.
In my oppinion,they kill the whole idea of a rangefinder.
On a large format camera, or a scale focus camera, fine. But on a rangefinder??

They do look cool, though :D
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Totally agree!

I am in the very small minority that rarely ventures wider than 35mm (unless it's a Hasselblad SWC, whose 38mm Biogon is an equivalent 23mm in 135 format).

The only Leica M lenses I have are 35, 50, 90, and 135. That's all I need or want. I rarely feel the need for anything wider than 35mm. So with my M3's and M6's and these lenses, no need for an external finder.
 
Yokosuka_Mike said:
DSCF0402.JPG


All the best,
Mike
Click to expand...

That's a cool hood on the 21!

is is the ƒ/1,4?
 
I use them on my screwmount Leicas for all lenses, because the built-in 50mm finder sucks even for 50mm lenses and is useless for any other focal length.


For my M3, I use them for wideangle lenses, but not for 50, 90 and 135mm since the M3's excellent viewfinder covers those.
 
I'm partial to the Leitz bright-line finders:

I have a SBOOI (5cm) on each IIIf, and use the SGVOO (9cm) and SHOOC (13.4cm) occasionally.
 
I have the Zeiss 21 finder. Bright and big. There are some issues that arise from the location of the hot shoe on Leica cameras as opposed to the Ikons causing a “rotational error.” IIRC.
I haven’t noticed issues perhaps because my photography tend to be less technical in nature.
 
I am a SBOOI man myself for the 50mm lens on the Barnacks...the Rostock 35mm finders on the Zorkis and Kievs work great with the J-12 lens.
 
I use 21mm and 25mm viewfinders on my R4M with a 21-35 Hexanon and 25mm Zeiss, even though the camera has framelines for both. Never hurts.
 
Using the 21/25mm Voigtländer VF quite a bit on the Monochrom (M9M) for the 21mm Ultron. Just as often I guess with the camera VF as well.
 
I have the R4M to avoid viewfinders but then the Leica and 21-35 Hexanon blocked a quarter of the frame. So I bought the tiny Voigtlander wides so it made sense. A constant battle. :)
 
I bought cameras that can be used with my wide angle (CV 25/4) without needing accessory VFs as I very much dislike them.

Bessa R4A with its 25mm framelines and Minolta CLE using the whole VF. Both cameras work splendidly with my main lens as well, the CV 40/1.4
 
SBOOI glued to my IIIf.
I find the SBLOO too big and don’t use it.
SHOOC makes all the difference ‘seeing’ the 135 shots.
I’ll even use the SVGOO for the 90 in a long session like in a theatre or auditorium.
Below 50 it’s the Zeiss finders, 18, 21, 25/8 although I’ll often shoot digital without them. At 21 especially and for architecture I find the RF patch is crucial for the final horizontal alignment. Nothing in the accessories to help with that.
 
No option for me either - I don't need an accessory finder because for all of my rangefinders, I use only those lenses for which frame lines exist.

It also helps that I never go wider than 35mm nor longer than 135mm with a rangefinder.
 
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