RF Window Smudge

mountainrivera

mountainrivera

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Love my M8 but one of the nits is I am constantly smudging the rangefinder windows. Any tips/tools to prevent this? We take great care with the glass on our lenses and am concerned that wiping these windows frequently may have long term affects, i.e., cleaning marks.
 
Not a problem. TRY to keep your fingers off; clean it when you can't; and slowly, via aversion therapy, you'll smudge them less.

Also, if worse came to worst, and the cleaning marks were bad enough to detract significantly from viewfinder contrast (I've never heard of it yet). the glasses are not difficult/expensive to replace.

Cheers,

R.

Cheers,

R.
 
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This is one of the minor annoyances brought about by the flush viewfinder and rangefinder windows on Leica Ms from late M4-P to the M8. Previous Ms had either recessed windows (Early M4-P, M4-2-M4, M2) or had raised edges such as the M3. Again, only a minor annoyance. But one brought about by changes meant for aesthetic reasons only.
 
Consider getting a Leica grip or grip case like a Luigi. For the RF window on the right side I find that these two solutions help me avoid smudging the little RF window. The bigger RF glass is more problematic. I either keep one of those Nikon cloths hangs off the strap in it's own pocket, or I carry a lens cloth for when the inevitable smudge occurs.

You'll soon train yourself to avoid putting your fingers on the VF glass. It's just a matter of time & muscle memory.
 
visiondr said:
This is one of the minor annoyances brought about by the flush viewfinder and rangefinder windows on Leica Ms from late M4-P to the M8. Previous Ms had either recessed windows (Early M4-P, M4-2-M4, M2) or had raised edges such as the M3. Again, only a minor annoyance. But one brought about by changes meant for aesthetic reasons only.
Click to expand...

I agree. If Leica would come out with an a la cart M8 they would give us the risers around the windows ala M2 3, and top deck engraving, instead of a slower shutter or sapphire LCD, or even new leather, I would be all over it.
 
visiondr said:
This is one of the minor annoyances brought about by the flush viewfinder and rangefinder windows on Leica Ms from late M4-P to the M8. Previous Ms had either recessed windows (Early M4-P, M4-2-M4, M2) or had raised edges such as the M3. Again, only a minor annoyance. But one brought about by changes meant for aesthetic reasons only.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm thinking that I'm going to put together something together to mimic the beveling of the windows.

Unfortunately, I'm not the "who cares" type, and want things like this just right, so it may take me quite a bit of time to do it right.

It does teach you to be a bit more careful. When I lend it for a minute, though, I know to have my cleaning cloth ready :eek:
 
Leica, in their wisdom, of course already provide the ideal solution... :D Notice that it needs to be washed... :(

wipe.jpg
 
No-no. That red smudge is the Leica dot... :p Blood- forsooth.. We all know the M8 has no moisture protection ;)
 
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