M2 focusing

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noah b

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Hey all, I was curious if any of you have tried out any of the magnifiers for your M's? I wear glasses and usually shoot 35mm on my M2 and it's hard to see the full frame at times. Would a magnifier of this sort help out at all or should I just wear contacts when I shoot with this?
 
A magnifier will make the problem worse. Do you mean diopters? That way you could shoot corrected without your glasses.
 
The diopter makes more sense, I was wondering if anyone who's been using leicas for awhile had any tricks to see better wearing glasses etc.
 
I wear eye-glasses and tried both, an 1.25x magnifier and an 0.85x de-magnifier (to see the 35mm FL of my M6TTL 0.85x better). These things (at the least the ones from HK supplies) stick ~ 1cm out of the camera and provide some kind of tunnel vision.

The M2 does have the old metal eye-piece, not sure if any of the newer diopter / magnifier will fit. They are designed for the rubber eye-piece equipped M6 and newer Leica cameras.
 
The 1.25 magnifier from HK Supplies will screw into the M2 eyepiece (I use one on my M2), but as Ken has pointed out, doesn't make it easier to see the whole frame. Presumably the 0.85 de-magnifier will also fit; you could ask HK supplies- they are normally quite good at answering eBay messages.
 
noah booshu said:
...... Would a magnifier of this sort help out at all or should I just wear contacts when I shoot with this?
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No it will not help. I recommend contacts. I tried all the eye attachment options; they were all lame, adding extra bulk and/or less clarity to the VF. Bear in mind others do not find them unhelpful, especially when shooting longer FLs.
 
thomasw_ said:
No it will not help. I recommend contacts. I tried all the eye attachment options; they were all lame, adding extra bulk and/or less clarity to the VF. Bear in mind others do not find them unhelpful, especially when shooting longer FLs.
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I have used contacts sinse 1980 and they are the reason I am still taking pictures. They give better vision than glasses. Hjalti
 
If you wear glasses and want to use the M2 to shoot with a 50, then you're in good shape. I actually got myself some contacts specifically for shooting wide with rangefinders...
 
One trick I learned years ago was to forget about trying to align the two images. Instead train yourself to look at the contrast of the image in the rangefinder patch. Most people can notice a sudden jump in the contrast when the two images become one. My right eye is still perfect but in dim light "contrast focussing" is a big help.
 
Another option is to have the rear eyepiece replaced w/that from an M6 or later M body. For reasons unknown to me, Leica decided to put a rectangular mask on the M2 & M4 (perhaps other models, as well) that shrank the rear opening & reduced eye relief. You can see the difference if you compare your M2 w/either an M3 or M6, etc.

When I had an M2, I had DAG perform the switch (can't remember how much it cost) & it noticeably improved my ability to see the 35mm frames. Another side-benefit is that the rubberized eyepiece ring from the modern M bodies doesn't scratch your glasses.
 
Scratched glasses wasn't much of a problem back in the 1950's when the M3 and M2 were introduced. Glasses still had glass lenses, not plastic.

The mask was probably to cut down on glare in the finder, kind of an internal lens hood, back before the days of multi-coating.
 
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I use a +1 diopter on my M's. Even with my glasses, which enable me to see fine, the view through an M finder is a little fuzzy. The +1 diopter sharpens it up really well and doesn't significantly effect the eye relief.
 
I remember having glass eyeglasses through the early '80s (my nose still has the dents from all those years!) . . . & the wonderful feeling of relief when I finally switched to plastic lenses. :p

Your glare explanation makes as much sense as any I've heard or read, though I suspect the change to a lower magnification VF in the M2 also increased its susceptibility to flare.

Al Kaplan said:
Scratched glasses wasn't much of a problem back in the 1950's when the M3 and M2 were introduced. Glasses still had glass lenses, not plastic.

The mask was probably to cut down on glare in the finder, kind of an internal lens hood, back before the days of multi-coating.
Click to expand...
 
My glasses have glass lenses. Widely used in India, and cost less than plastic lenses. However, since having cataract surgery I have not needed any correction for camera viewfinders. Reading glasses hang from my neck for when I need to look at the shutter speed or aperture numerals.
 
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