I wear glasses - M3 or M2 best for 50mm?

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alexnotalex

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Dear bespectacled M3-50mm-shooters
Do you find you have to bob your head around and change your eye position to see all the framelines? or can you see all edges comfortably?

Dear bespectacled M2/4-50mm-shooters
Do you find the 50mm view a bit small, and fiddly, or are you delighted all round?

(I know the answer is "go to a decent leica shop" but I've hurt my knee and can't go running around London like usual. Also, I'm not really interested in shooting wider YMMV.)

Many thanks for any advice or tales,
best,

Alex
 
Both are quite nice. Obviously it is easier to see the 50 lines on the M2/M4, but both are viewable with glasses. That said, my glasses are very close to my eyes.
 
I can't see the 50mm frame lines on a M3 when wearing my glasses. I don't have a M2 but the 50mm framelines on my M6 are perfectly placed for people glasses. I would imagine that the M2 is the same?
 
I wear glasses and the M2 is the camera to use with them. I can see the entire 50 frame if I really push my glasses against the finder with the M3, but it's not comfortable. The M2 is perfect.
 
If you want to slide your eyes/glasses around to see the edges, you will appreciate the M3.

So will your eye doctor as he will sell you countless new pairs to replace the scratched ones.

M2 and get some protection for the metal ring. I recommend replacing it with an M6 or later rubber padded one.

There are other half assed ways to protect also.
 
I've used M6, MP, M7, and M4 -- and I've dropped a 1.25 x mag on a 0.72 to give the effective viewfinder mag of an M3 (in store demo only). I can't see the entire framelines of a 50mm at 0.91. But that was with the 1.25x mag, and those things push your eyeball back a bit.

Remember, the 50mm framelines of the M4/M2 are a bit different then later models. I got an M4 just for the bigger framelines (honestly, it's not that big of a difference).

But you really don't need to see all of the 50mm framelines. This focal length along with the 21mm and 90mm are the easiest to estimate. Just the field of vision as if wearing blinders. Only my opinion.

I wouldn't get an m3 unless try it first. Another one of my beliefs is that the "best" M for 50mm for eyeglass wearers may be the 0.85.
 
The M2 is easy to use with a 50mm. I personally prefer the M3 - it's lovely with a 50mm - but the eyepiece will eat spectacles if one is careless.

(Also, if you're anywhere near Aldgate during the week then I can always let you try them both)
 
I wear glasses and have no problem seeing the 50mm framelines of my M3 DS. I do, however, have scuffed glasses. Fortunately the scuffs are in an area that seldom bothers me in general wear (certainly more through good luck than good management). I do have a "special" set of glasses I wear when I'm using the M3, though, for just this reason.

...Mike
 
Don't like the M3 corners, the one time I looked through one. Saw the whole field easy enough. Prefer M2, especially with children or other fast moving objects. Latest glasses sit further from my eye. Still no problem with M2. Focus a C Sonnar at 1.5 with no problem.
 
IMHO, who cares? Just concentrate on your subject not the framelines, they are an estimate anyway. I wear glasses and I usually use a 35mm lens anyway on my M3. If 50mm is your thing why not get the best? Get an M3 period.
 
No M2 here, but I love my M3, and I wear glasses. What I did was to buy the appropriate diopter Leica screw-in lens for the rangefinder. I just flip my glasses up and can still see perfectly through the M3 viewfinder, which is, of course, appropriately corrected by the diopter lens. If you are not shooting wider than 50mm, the M3 viewfinder's brightness and .92x magnification cannot be beaten.

BTW, I also shoot 21mm, 28mm and 35mm with detachable viewfinders in the accessory shoe, and it's not that much of a pain to switch back and forth, unless you are trying to capture something that is pretty fast moving. Frankly, I don't think I do much better in capturing moving things through the built-in viewfinder.

The M3 is truly a thing of beauty. They don't make them like that anymore.
 
+1 for the correcting eyepiece. You won't scratch your glasses either,'cos they'll be on top of your head.

Disclaimer: I don't wear glasses, although I will need to in the future when I get my "new" corneas :-(
 
kshapero said:
IMHO, who cares? Just concentrate on your subject not the framelines, they are an estimate anyway. I wear glasses and I usually use a 35mm lens anyway on my M3. If 50mm is your thing why not get the best? Get an M3 period.
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The framelines are accurate enough to care about watching your framelines. Jeez, what works for you may not work for everyone else. I compose edge to edge... not just vaguely.
 
I am able to see the 50mm frameline in my M3, even with my glasses on. My prescription is a strong negative, about -4.25 spherical and around -2 cylinder, in case it helps to compare with your own. It is not as extreme as the 35mm framelines in the M2. I don't mind using a 50 on the M2. It's quite comfortable, and eliminates all doubt. A 50 on the M3 somehow seems like "more of a view." Nothing objective about that, as they both cover the same view. It just seems "more" on the M3.
 
I wear glasses & have no problem seeing the 50mm frames on the M3, no bobbing or weaving required. The M2 obviously offers more space around the 50mm frames, but @ the cost of a finder w/less eye relief (smaller eyepiece opening, though you can pay a tech to remove it). Also, it's easier to keep your left eye open when using the M3 (assuming you customarily use your right-eye to focus).

alexnotalex said:
Dear bespectacled M3-50mm-shooters
Do you find you have to bob your head around and change your eye position to see all the framelines? or can you see all edges comfortably?

Dear bespectacled M2/4-50mm-shooters
Do you find the 50mm view a bit small, and fiddly, or are you delighted all round?

(I know the answer is "go to a decent leica shop" but I've hurt my knee and can't go running around London like usual. Also, I'm not really interested in shooting wider YMMV.)

Many thanks for any advice or tales,
best,

Alex
Click to expand...
 
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