Stephanie Brim said:
I do have one question though. THere's another Canon rangefinder that changes magnification based on the lens you're using? Which was that? A VI?
Here's the short course on Canon viewfinderology:
The 7-series is the
only Canon RF line that has a
projected-frame viewfinder -- the kind with a frosted window on the front that projects sharply-defined luminous framelines into the finder field. The 7 cameras have framelines for 35, 50, 85/100, and 135mm lenses, and all these framelines move diagonally to compensate for parallax. However, the finder's magnification does not change.
Before they got their act together with projected frames, Canon made two camera types that had
reflected-frame viewfinders. These use a semi-transparent mirror inside the finder system to bounce back silvered framelines etched inside the eyepiece -- useful, but not as clear, well-defined, or easy to see under tricky lighting conditions as the projected-frame system (which is why Canon dumped reflected frames and brought out the 7.) The cameras with reflected framelines were:
-- The P, which has frames for 35, 50 and 100mm lenses, all shown together in a finder with a lifesize 1:1 image and all moving for parallax compensation. Again, though, the viewfinder magnification does
not change based on the lens in use.
-- The VI-series cameras, which were identical except for the winding mechanism: the VI-L had a conventional thumb lever, and the VI-T had a trigger in the baseplate plus an auxiliary winding knob on top (for use during loading or with the camera mounting on a tripod.) These cameras
did have switchable finder magnification. There was a position that showed parallax-compensated, reflected framelines for 50mm and 100mm lenses within a 1:1-magnified field; a reduced-magnification position showing the field of view for a 35mm lens, but with
no framelines (and no parallax compensation); and a magnifying position that doesn't show the full field of any lens, but is useful for more accurate focusing with long and/or high-speed lenses.
The VI cameras were the
only Canons which had both framelines and selectable finder magnification.
Before that, though, Canon made a whole slew of cameras that had no finder framelines of any kind, but did offer selectable finder magnification. The V-series and L-series cameras had unframed finders with selectable 35mm, 50mm, or magnifying positions. And their predecessors, the Leica-sorta-lookalike II, III and IV series, had had switchable finders covering a 50mm position; a "1x" position for more accurate focusing and a fairly good approximation of the field of view of a 100mm lens; and a 1.5x position for critical focusing. This system had made its debut on the Canon IIB of 1949, where it was a patented world's-first feature.
