M3 and a 40mm lens

I use this combo a lot- the whole finder trick is about right, and works fine. In practice, though, I just use the 50mm lines and bear in mind that they are only showing me the central three quarters or so of the frame. It's not a great solution for precise framing, but RF shooting never is.
 
From time to time I shoot a 40 on my M3 and the whole finder is very close so I put some silver aluminum tape over the frame line window and have no distractions from the 50 frame line. Works well.
 
Before I sold both my CV Nokton 40mm f1.4 MC and the Leica M3, the lens stayed on the M3 the entire time. The entire VF was a good approximation of the frame, so I loved it. Too bad I couldn't afford to keep the combo...would love to reacquire both again in the near future!
 
This has come up before with the sam e results -- can't remember who posted those other times -- so can't tell if we're casting a larger net or not, but the answer is stable. I bought an M2 because I wanted something wider than the 50 afforded on the M3, then found a 40 1.4 less expensive than a 35 1.4. Still trying to decide whether to keep the M2.
 
From time to time I shoot a 40 on my M3 and the whole finder is very close so I put some silver aluminum tape over the frame line window and have no distractions from the 50 frame line. Works well.

That's what I was told and have done. It works out okay.
 
Well, I might have some anecdotal evidence shortly. Two days back I bought a Rokkor-M 40/F2 (last version) which I am trying out on my M3 and my M6. I found the 35 framelines on the M6 to work quite well--I might just use some gaffer tape to hold the frame selector lever in that position. But my intention is to see if the whole viewfinder on the M3 works as well or better.

I'll try to report back when I've had time to test and analyse the results thoroughly.
 
Just curious for those who actually have shot with this combo (M3 & 40mm), if there are any significant issues with parallax by using the whole finder?
 
At 0.7m focus:

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Roland.
 
Yes, Akiva, M3 on tripod, 40/1.4 Nokton, take frameline photo with iphone, take photo with M3.

Camera is modified, that's why you see the 90mm frameline in the top photo.

1181035829_3CsCo-M.jpg


Roland.
 
I noticed the post by Roland (really appreciate it!) is focused at 0.7m.

I'm guessing the discrepancy of using the entire viewfinder will be reduced when the scene is further, say 1.5m? Any comments?
 
Note that the iPhone doesn't show the entire finder.

The way to think about it is like this: roughly, the width of the 40mm frame is the same size as the diagonal of the 50mm frame.

Roland.
 
Yes, Akiva, M3 on tripod, 40/1.4 Nokton, take frameline photo with iphone, take photo with M3.

Camera is modified, that's why you see the 90mm frameline in the top photo.

1181035829_3CsCo-M.jpg


Roland.
I see, so you actually getting a bit more than the edge of the full sight in the VF.
 
Per everyone else... I shot this combination, framing with the entire VF -just about the easiest M shooting there is!
 
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