R-D1s: 35 or 40 viewfinder with CV25?

[abumac]

Hi, I do not want to spend the money for the Voigtländer 25D Viewfinder. So I wonder what is better. To use a 35 or a 40. The CV25 goes to 38 on the R-D1s.

The same problem with the CV15, 23 on the R-D1s. Does it work with a 25 viewfinder?

Anybody out there with experience on this?

 

[sevres_babylone]

Have you tried it without an external viewfinder, using all of the viewfinder. I set the framelines for 28mm and then try to do this. I have moderate success, but attribute my failures to the fact I wear glasses and cannot see the 28mm framelines that well. I would imagine without glasses, this would work fairly well, while avoiding the hassle of an external viewfinder (realizing it is less hassle since you don't need to go back and forth for focussing, if you are talking about the snapshot skopar.)

 

[Joe Mondello]

I use the CV 21 finder with the 15 lens on the R-D1 and it's "close enuf for jazz" as they say.

 

[David Noble]

I had the same question and ended up buying the CV 35 mm viewfinder today to use with a Zeiss 25mm on the R-D1s. I went back and forth between it and the 25D (which I think is identical to the 40mm CV finder). I decided either would probably work to frame with, but the 35 was much better built (metal instead of plastic, identical to the CV 28mm finder), somewhat smaller, and much nicer in general.

An evening of shooting has lead me to conclude the framelines will work for me for the 25mm. Not an exact match, but close enough. Enough to make me wonder if the 40 wouldn't be too tight...

The only catch is that I paid more for the 35mm finder than I would have for the 25D or the 40....

I wondered about the hassle of using the rangefinder for focusing and the additional viewfinder for framing, but you get used to it pretty fast, and I actually prefer looking through the external viewfinders. They are brighter and easier to see the framelines with if you wear glasses, as I do. It is also pushing me to try more range and hyperfocal focusing, which is not a bad thing to learn.
(I should have mentioned that I have been using the CV 28mm finder with the Color-Skopar 21/4 on the R-D1s for a couple of months and it is a near-perfect match.)

 

[Jim Watts]

I use the VC 28/35 mini finder. The 28mm frame is a good match for my 21mm Avenon and the 35mm works well enough for my 25mm VC Skopar, although I quite often just use the whole of the R-D1 finder for this. This finder has the advantage of being smaller and covering both lenses. I can also use it for my GRD (28mm frame) where it is also a good match.

I have also on occassion used a VC 21mm finder with my friend VC 15mm and this also seems a resonable match.

 

[triplefinger]

I use the 28mm framelines on the R-D1 with my ZM 25 no prob. works fine.

 

[yoshimura]

I just do like triplefinger: I use the 28mm frame with my ZM 25/2.8, it works just grest!

 

[Rob-F]

Most viewfinders show a little less than you are going to get on the negative. The 25mm lens becomes equivalent to a 37.5mm on the R-D1. Assuming that the 35mm finder is like most others, and shows a slightly smaller field than a full-frame 35mm image, then it might do a pretty good job of showing an accurate field of view for the 25mm lens. So if you want that, I would go with the 35mm finder.

But if you are a street shooter, and precise framing is not too important but you have to make sure it will all be on the negative when working fast, then I would get the 40. Make sense?