Zeiss 18mm zm on Leica M8.2

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Rendy

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I just got a Zeiss 18mm zm for my M8.2. Because the equivalent focal length is about 24mm (18*1.33), I thought I would need a 24mm viewfinder. Since I already have a Zeiss 21mm viewfinder, I thought I could just use it to estimate the 24mm view. I took several pictures 5 meters out and compare the view with LCD screen. Guess what....it is right on. :)
 
Interesting! I have the 18SE and use the Zeiss 25/28 finder on the M8.2. The 25mm framelines is a little tight but it works fine once you get a hang of how much wider the actual frame is.
 
Well,

I'm no expert at this but.. as far as I understand the accuracy of the frames very much depends on focusing distance. The frames have been optimized to certain 1 focusing distance and anywhere else they're off by more or less.. That makes these statements only interesting for the stated focus distance (5 meters in this case).

The same applies also for built-in VF, but even more so to the external ones since the external ones have no means to provide any kind of parallax compensation.

Just my two eurocents,

Juha
 
I also tested the viewfinder for 50 meters out (it is almost infinity for a 18mm). It is also very close. I will try one picture at infinity tomorrow.
 
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You could get a Voigtlander dual-shoe adapter to fit both a 21mm finder for 5m & out, plus a 25mm finder for 1-2m shooting! :D

I got my 18 Distagon for the same purpose, and I'm delighted with it, as I expect you will be.
 
As per Doug's answer, the parallax error is more of a problem at close range.. minimum focus distance to 2-3 meters area. Which is where wide angles tend to get used most often.

At least to my understanding the "proper" way to use wide angles isn't so much so as to get more stuff in the picture but rather get up, close & personal with the subject.

Not knowing your work or style of photography, your use & mileage may vary so please don't take any of this personally :)

//Juha
 
Here is the result of my finding. At 3 meters and beyond, Zeiss 21mm viewfinder works great. At 3 meters and closer, viewfinder over estimated the coverage, but not that much.
 
Rogier, the Zeiss 18 is a vastly superior lens in every way. People have had mixed results with the CV 15 on their M8s/M9s.
 
kbg32 said:
Rogier, the Zeiss 18 is a vastly superior lens in every way. People have had mixed results with the CV 15 on their M8s/M9s.
Click to expand...

I disagree that the ZM 18 is "vastly superior" to the CV 15. Better with regard to center and corner sharpness, but not vastly so. Better build, but at the expense of greater size and weight - on the other hand, the CV 15 is compact and light. Zeiss colors from the 18 are great, sure, but it's not like the CV 15 is a slouch here.

If I'd been more comfortable with an effective FOV of 21mm versus 24mm, I'd have kept the CV. If you're not a frequent UWA user, I think the CV 15 is an especially good value.

Just my 0.02

Original topic: I'm using a CV 21/25 with my ZM 18. Close enough for me.
 
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I haven't use CV15 so no comment. However, I am very happy with Zeiss 18mm. The build is excellent. The engraving is much better than my zeiss 21mm. The aperture ring has well defined clicks. The focus ring is wide and easy on my fingers. The color rendering is very similar to my 35mm lux asph... maybe slightly warmer? Overall, I love it.
 
kbg32 said:
Rogier, the Zeiss 18 is a vastly superior lens in every way. People have had mixed results with the CV 15 on their M8s/M9s.
Click to expand...

I am frequently searching for images taken with either of these lenses on Flickr taken with an M8.

Unfortunately there is not Zeiss 18mm a lot out there that are not heavily processed...

There are more CV 15mm / M8 on Flickr but I am not impressed with most of these images. But that could be the photographer as well.
 
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