external viewfinder for 28mm lens

[swatch]

cannot see the frame line with my M ( 0.72 ) .... which external viewfinder for 28mm lens would you recommend?

what about Voigtlander Viewfinder with Brightlines for 28mm Lens, Metal - Silver ( moreover price is not cheap ) ?

 

[kbg32]

Get the CV minifinder. Small, unobtrusive, wonderful view.

 

[35mmdelux]

I sold off my 28's because of this reason. Eventually I bought a .58 magnification M to assist with the framelines and use the .72 magnification for my 50mm/90mm's.

 

[martin s]

Just out of curiosity, would it matter if you take the viewfinder off every time you put the camera in your bag?

martin

 

[Pablito]

the regular Voigtlander metal 28mm finder is very good. Do you use glasses? Without glasses I can see the 28mm framelines pretty well on my .72 M6. The external vf is easier though and a bit more accurate, sort of, in an RF sort of way.

 

[payasam]

Waste of time, Martin. I had an M3 for 17 years with a 35mm finder that was removed only when I wanted to use flash and had no bracket.

 

[Photog9001]

cv mini is quite ok, not much eye relief though, and quite a bit of barrel distortion.
the small size more than makes up for it though

 

[Ronald M]

Original Leitz metal one with a metal foot. I know they are up to $400 now.

 

[Papercut]

they aren't cheap and they're not particularly small, but the Zeiss viewfinder is simply stunning to look through -- after looking through a friend's 28 vf, I wish Zeiss made my eyeglasses!

 

[sepiareverb]

I'll second the Zeiss 25/28. You get more view around the frame with this so it is more 'M like'.

 

[mr_phillip]

Haven't used the Zeiss, but I find my regular metal CV finder to be great quality.

 

[hiromu]

CV mini is good enough, but CV 28 metal is a step up in terms of the view. Probably Zeiss is another step up, but have never tried. When I had the Zeiss 21mm finder, it was fantastic and a lot better than the CV 21mm (which works good enough, though).

 

[johnny.moped]

the regular Voigtlander metal 28mm finder is very good.

just got one (yesterday) and i must say it's fantastic. it's very (!!!) clear (almost brighter than reality) and very sharp. a bit of distortion but that's normal for a wide-angel-viewfinder.
the bad thing about this is: you don't wanna look through your regular finder anymore.

go and get it! about 140 bucks and worth every cent! it's a total different 28mm-experience because you can see everything at once and no need to move your eye around to check the borders.

 

[sanmich]

the vc 28 is very good.
the 0.58x finder is even better since it's simpler to use.

 

[johnny.moped]

the vc 28 is very good.
the 0.58x finder is even better since it's simpler to use.

but by far not as bright as the vc 28. 🙂

 

[TJV]

I liked my old CV 28mm metal finder but prefer a clean and clear Leica SLOOZ. Not cheap but it has less distortion and if it's a good example - which are increasingly rare these days - very bright. The Zeiss 18mm finder I looked through nearly made me cry it was so bright and I guess the 25/28mm would be just as good. I just don't like multiple markings in a finder, I find it seems too cluttered.

After all of that, though, the metal CV 28 is best value for money.

 

[januaryman]

I'm the odd man out, I guess. I use the FSU turret finder I got specifically for my Fed 2 but began using on my M when I picked up a Canon 28/3.5 - I like the retro look and it fits in my camera bag when I bother to carry one.

I now have people stopping me to ask about both my Leica ("ooooooo!") and the finder ("what's THAT?")

 

[Beemermark]

I always find the discussion on pro and cons of VF interesting. I just look thru the d_mn thing to frame the picture and shoot. I don't spend a lot of time studying the optics of the VF.

Right now I have three 28mm viewfinders. My original Leitz metal that I bought in the 80's, the black plastic CV and a the newer metal CV 28mm. I dropped the Leitz VF a long time ago and put a big vertical crack in the glass, I continued using it that way for years. Guess I'm not to picky but the crack never bothered me to much. I then (in a GAS attack) bought the two CV finders. If you wear glasses (I don't) I think the plastic CV VF has more eye relief, otherwise the metal one looks way cooler. Since I almost never use flash the VF stays attached to the M7.

IMHO buy the cheapest one you can.

 

[jja]

Black plastic CV 28mm finder works great for me, and I wear glasses. I have not tried the metal version to compare, but I find the plastic version very bright. Makes composing a breeze.

 

[palec]

I had old Leitz one, it was not so bright and loosed element inside caused framelines to move as the camera had been tilted. I currently use plastic Leitz one, it's much better than 0.72x camera viewfinder - giving true 28mm perspective, but you still don't see outside framelines. And it stays on the camera when I'm putting it into bag. The top one I've ever looked through was Zeiss 25/28 - I thought it's brighter than reality - but for the price you can buy a used voigtlander 28/2 lens.