karmaspapa said:
I am trying to decide on the viewfinder I need for a 35mm lens. I belive the M7 (.72) couples the 35 with the 135, and the ZM couples the 35 with the 85. What I would like to know is which viewfinder makes it easier for eyeglasses folks like myself to see the 35 frame lines? Which finder forces my eye to move less when shooting with the 35 summicron? TIA...karmaspapa 😎
On the Z-I (Zeiss-Ikon), the 35mm frame stands alone, not combined with any other. Same for the 50mm frame. The 28 & 85 show together.
With the M7 .72x you see these pairs: 28/90, 35/135, and 50/75. This is the Leica standard pairings, and these are also the way screw-to-bayonet mount adapters pair. The Z-I follows this pattern too; they just omit the 75 and 135 frames, and run 85 instead of 90, nearly the same thing anyway.
The Zeiss-Ikon camera has a magnificent view/rangefinder, perhaps the best one ever made in a 35mm RF camera. It has .74x magnification but has a field large enough to easily see the full 28mm frame at a glance. The longer RF baseline makes the focusing patch pop, so focusing is quick and accurate.
I have never used a Leica M other than my M2, which has framelines showing more of what will appear on film than M6 and later (IOW, larger frames). So I can't say more than that the M2's 35mm frame is impossible for me to see in its entirety with glasses (kind of a peripheral-vision matter even without glasses), while the Z-I is pretty easy.
I think you'd find it interesting to visit a dealer with a Z-I on hand and an M6 or M7 also, and compare the view.
