Voigtlander Cosina "D" Viewfinders

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ccie8407

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Has anyone try the "D" viewfinders from Cosina? I'm interested in the 21mm one, I appreciate any comments.

Since the 25mm "D" finder has been sold out, any recommendation on a 35mm viewfinder? I'm thinking about Cosina's 35 Metal Brightline Finder.

Howard
 
See my post on the poll of RD-1 users.

I purchased a 15D, and 21D Cosina viewfinder from CameraQuest.

They are really bright, and clear finders. Cost $ 175 each.
Martin
 
I have the 21mm version and it's bright, clear, etc.. I just don't have a 21mm lens at the moment so I can't seem to make any 32mm FOV pictures with just the finder. <G> But it worked great when I was testing the VC and Leica lenses. Certainly worth buying if you need one.

Sean
 
Sean Reid said:
I have the 21mm version and it's bright, clear, etc.. I just don't have a 21mm lens at the moment so I can't seem to make any 32mm FOV pictures with just the finder. <G> But it worked great when I was testing the VC and Leica lenses. Certainly worth buying if you need one.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat as Sean -- I bought the 21mm D finder so I'd have it when I need it, but I haven't decided on a 21mm lens yet!

Two things I'll say about the finder:

-- The view is very bright and the reflected framelines are easily visible, but the lines are a bit blurred toward the edges for me. I suspect this is because I wear glasses -- I think the eyeglasses lens distort the edges of the finder view a bit. It doesn't affect the usability of the finder, and it probably isn't exclusive to the Cosina finder.

-- This has been discussed in another thread and applies to all aux viewfinders on the R-D1, but... if you view through the viewfinder with your right eye, the end of your nose is probably going to go right into the camera's finder eyepiece! The smears of nose grease definitely degrade the view, so you either need to make an effort to keep your nose out of the way, or constantly wipe off the eyepiece.
 
ccie8407 said:
Since the 25mm "D" finder has been sold out, any recommendation on a 35mm viewfinder? I'm thinking about Cosina's 35 Metal Brightline Finder.
Click to expand...

Do you mean a viewfinder for using a lens of 35mm focal length on your R-D1?

If so, Cosina's standard 35mm viewfinder won't work -- it's designed for a 35mm lens on a 35mm film camera.

To use a 35mm camera viewfinder with a 35mm lens on the R-D1, you'd need to find one marked for about 63mm ((35mm x 1.53 crop factor)/0.85 safety factor.) I don't think there's any such animal! Fortunately, you don't need one, because the R-D1 already includes a frameline for 35mm lenses.

A viewfinder for using a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera would work great for using a 19mm lens on an R-D1. If you own such a lens (Canon made one in LTM, although it's rare) then the 35mm Cosina finder probably would be a good choice.
 
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Actually I'm looking to use a 24mm on the R-D1, hence the search for a 35mm finder.

Thanks for the "0.85 safety factor", which I didn't take into consideration. So a 40mm finder would be "safer" than the 35...
 
I'm told that a 40mm matches up pretty well with the 35mm frame lines.

Cheers,

Sean
 
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