Eyeglass wearers and the RD-1 viewfinder

[JonasYip]

Any of you RD-1 users wear glasses?

I haven't had the opportunity to handle an RD-1 in person, and am curious whether I'd be able to see the 28mm framelines. I think the 28mm 'cron would be my most used lens on an RD-1...

As a point of reference, I can just barely see the 50mm framelines on my M6 0.85, so I'm thinking "42mm"@1.0x might be a problem...

thanks,
j

 

[Doug]

Welcome to RFF, Jonas! We've been having recent discussion over the Voigtlander Bessa R3a viewfinder, which some speculate is the same 1:1 viewfinder as the RD-1, with the 40mm R3a framelines closely corresponding to the 28mm RD-1 framelines.

As I recall, most have said the 40mm frames come very close to the edges of the viewfinder, and may be a bit of a struggle to see with glasses.

One new member just recently reported having trouble seeing the R3a's 50mm frame in its entirety while wearing his wide and strongly corrected glasses, but this appears unusual.

There are a few RD-1 cameras represented by RFF members, so you might use the forum's Google search feature to hunt down previous comments.

 

[jlw]

I have an R-D1 and I wear glasses. Basically, I can't see the 28mm frame at all, except by shifting my eye around to view a bit of it at a time.

I don't currently have a 28mm lens... if I did, I probably would just go on the assumption that if I could see something through the viewfinder, it would be within a 28mm field of view. But if you're a heavy 28mm user, that might not be good enough for you.

I didn't even know until this post that there was a 28mm Summicron... sounds nice!

 

[jlw]

One option: I've been told that the R-D1 (and presumably R3a) eyepiece is the same as used on some Nikon SLR models, so the diopter correction eyepieces made for the Nikons could be used on the RD/R3 as well. This should solve the problem by eliminating the need to wear your glasses... assuming that you can see well enough without them to operate the camera and navigate in general.

I haven't tried this solution yet, but am going to look into it. My vision correction is pretty light -- I can get around without glasses without bumping into things etc.

 

[JonasYip]

Thanks for the responses.

I can't function without my glasses so I can't use the diopter solution, unfortunately.

I guess if I can see the 28mm framelines with just a little shifting it's OK, though not ideal. I do think the 28 would be my default lens on an RD-1.

Personally, I wouldn't mind a <1.0x viewfinder with 21,28,35,50, and 75 frames....

j

 

[rover]

I have handled, but do not own the RD-1. My experience was the same as jlw's, I could not see the entire 28mm frameline when wearing my glasses.

 

[jlw]

Maybe if they ever get around to an "R-D 2"* they'll use the lower-magnification Bessa R2a viewfinder.

I'm not a big wide-angle shooter and I love the 1x viewfinder, but I can see how the nearly-invisible 28mm frameline issue is a real bummer for those who prefer the wide view. (Me, I still don't see why they couldn't have sneaked a 75mm frame into the middle of that nearly-useless 28mm field.)


*If they really used this model designation, George Lucas probably would demand royalties! But ya get the idea...