Hot Shoe Finders... Slim Pickin's

[agentlossing]

Since getting a Voigtländer Bessa-T, I've come to realize how bare the market is of viewfinders with good eye relief. The 50mm one that came with my camera was high quality but useless with glasses. I have the Voigtländer 35mm plastic one, it works fine, but I kind of wanted a silver one to match the look of the body and lens. Nothing I can find works well with glasses. And heaven forbid you look for more obscure focal lengths!

I'm beginning to think the Bessa-T has an Achilles heel with finders, unless you're willing and able to smash your eye right up into the commonly available ones.

 

[oftheherd]

I can understand wanting a Voigtlander finder, but would not any 28mm finder work?

 

[agentlossing]

I'm using a 35mm lens. I know there are a fair amount of decent 28mm viewfinders thanks to compacts like the Sigma DP1, Ricoh GR, etc. 35mm and 50mm are the ones I'd really like to find more options that are large, bright and have long eye relief for glasses.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I'm using a 35mm lens. I know there are a fair amount of decent 28mm viewfinders thanks to compacts like the Sigma DP1, Ricoh GR, etc. 35mm and 50mm are the ones I'd really like to find more options that are large, bright and have long eye relief for glasses.

Sony made a Zeiss-branded 35mm finder for their fullframe digital cameras that works well on Leica. I have one that I scored cheap on eBay. Unfortunately they cost over $400 new and used ones are usually as much or more than a Leica 35mm finder.

You might look for the Leica SBLOO, a 35mm brightline finder made by Leica. They're about $300 used.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Alternatively, have a look at the type A Voigtlander Zoomfinder 15-35 mm. It's for full frame and 1.3/1.5 cropped cameras, and has a built-in diopter. It is well-built and easy to use, including with eye glasses.