Leica 21mm Finder vs Zeiss 21mm Finder

[RichardB]

My Leica 21mm ASPH came with the Leitz 21mm plastic finder with locking lever. The finder is plastic and I judged that sooner than later the finder would break off. I queried this Forum about other finders and the results indicated that the Zeiss was the best. I purchased the Zeiss and noticed in pictures with this finder a horizontal offset or rotation about a vertical axis.
I took the following pictures of my garage door as it had the approxemet proportions of a 35mm image.
The first image is with the Leitz finder and the second with the Zeiss Finder, both on an M7.
The Leica finder is offset to account for the M flash mount not being over the centerline of the lens. The Zeiss is not offset I assume because there is no offset on a Zeiss camera.
I am back to using the Leitz finder with my M cameras.-Dick

 

[peter_n]

Leica recently released an all metal 21mm finder in both silver and black. They are indecently expensive but the foot will not break off.

 

[Turtle]

It would not be the offset that would account for this as the offset is a matter of a cm or less! This would be a product of it not pointing straight ahead but at an angle to one side. The offset only comes into play close in. Think about it.... your RF viewfinder is WAY offset from the lens! Its the angle that matters.

 

[RichardB]

If you graphically draw out the angle of of view that the lens captures and for the Leica finder, that view is the same because the finder is offset to sit over the centerline of the lens. Now move the angle of view to the right as the Zeiss finder would view without any offset. In order to capture the same view as the Leica lens/viewfinder views, you must rotate the camera to the left or counter clockwise which is what I see on my photos and test shots. I thought I did a very good job and I took multiple shots with each finder and the results are consistent. In the field the results are consistent also, whether shots of buildings, sculpture or vehicles, the same offset is readily observed in the final product using the Zeiss finder.
Any other ideas would sure be appreciated.-Dick

 

[notturtle]

there may be a fault with your finder, because moving a finder 1cm of axis moves the frame a miniscule, undetectable amount, as far as the scene goes. The impact is greatest up close and non existant at distance. This is the basis for paralax, which all shooters will likely be familar with. It is also the basis for rangefinders!

In theory, the lack of an offset on the Zeiss finder should have ZERO impact on the scene you shot (that you would be able to detect) Shoot at min distance and you may just be able to see it. The photos you have presented illustrate an error elsewhere and most certainly not the offset. Think about it. How could a 1cm offset, if the lens and finder point perfectly straight ahead, cause more than a 1cm deviation on the final scene. To cause such a huge deviation in the two views you showed - the finder and lens - must somehow be diverging.

 

[uhligfd]

Did you take these two pics from a tripod? If so, and only if you did, can these pics show anything real.

But if from a tripod, your tripod is quite flimsy and utterly useless: How can the horizon tilt on the tripod (right pic)? Besides, how about vertical alignment here: did you intentionally cut the top of the door almost off (left pic)? How come the camera did not do the same in the second pic?

Is the flash shoe loose? do the VFs wiggle? did you wiggle them? ..

As it stands, your test is unfortunately meaningless for reaching any conclusion, other than something is wrong, and this may possibly be an operator error.

Ah, science is not everyone's friend, neither is logic and geometry etc. Try again!

 

[glchua]

I had never used a Zeiss finder. But I had physically seen 3 CV 21mm finders with the framelines slanted due to loose mounting of the glass element. Maybe that should be checked first.

I don't think the lack of offset of the Zeiss would affect much except at close distances.