External viefinder?

[Fabian]

Hello together.

The next few months I am going to get a 35mm lens ( I don't know which one yet) and an elmar 9cm for my IIf.
As I don't want to invest more money in the viewfinders than in the lenses, which easily is possible, I am wondering which viewfinders to get?
At the moment I am using the Leitz 5cm finder and just love it.
As the original Leitz finders for 35 and 90 mm cost a fortune and here in Germany you only get the ugly plastic voigtländer finders, I thought about a 35-135 finder.
I would like to hear how they compare to the 5cm finder and the built in finder?
Are glasses a problem?
Which of the 35-135 is the best?

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for your help.

Fabian

 

[Ronald M]

The 13/135 immerect is not pretty to look thru, but very accurate. They are about 1/2 life view as opposed to the 1:1 you now have so the image is small. All the inside glass is uncoated so the image is dull. The internal optics are usually found coated with dirt and fungus making a bad situation worse.

All that said, I occasionally use mine when I don`t want to be swapping finders with lenses.

 

[Tim]

You have to remember that the VIOOH/IMARECT works by masking down the view. So while it's fine for a 35mm FOV, the view gets progressively smaller as you go up in focal lengths. That said, a good VIOOH is nice to use, has parallex adjustment (not automatic), and is not particularly expensive. It will definately not match the view through a brightline finder, but it is a universal finder. Later ones are coated, dunno which serial # from.

It's actually pretty easy to open up a VIOOH/IMARECT and clean it, leading to a vastly improved and clear image. I couldn't believe the difference it made on mine, with just a few cotton buds (q-tips for americans) and some iso-propyl alchohol.

The russian turret finders can be a good buy, IF you can find a good one. I've seen some nice and some very bad examples. But then, the same could be said for VIOOH's.....

The earlier Leitz finder, the VIDOM, has a view that is reversed left to right, making it harder to use, is always uncoated, and is usually more expensive. But it does look prettier........

 

[SteveM(PA)]

The Imarects also have shoes on top, which is where my vc meter goes.

 

[FPjohn]

Canon or CV

Canon or CV

Hello:

I find that a dedicated 35mm finder works fine-a 35mm Canon comes with distance correction that is almost correct on my 111b while the CV 35mm brightline is a joy in that you can see around the fov - no distance correction though.

A Tewe, see the atavar to the left, is a bit squinty but versatile.

Yours
Frank

 

[venchka]

I own and use Canon 35mm/2.8 (early) & 135mm/3.5 (late black) lenses with the Canon finders for each. Both finders work well. I especially like the black brightline finder for the 135mm lens for two reasons: it works and I got it for $10.

 

[je2a3]

How about dedicated Russian 35mm and 85mm [very close to a 90mm] VFs? Cheap and very bright albeit no parallax compensation.

Joseph

 

[FrankS]

Look into finding a varifocal zoom viewfinder such as those made by Nikon and Tewe. There are also ext viewfinders made by various companies (Yashica is one, I thinK) that show 35 and 90mm framelines. These can be had relatively inexpensively. The CV brightline viewfinders are very nice, and cheaper than the Leitz ones.