I did go for the new CV 21/25mm finder.
The Zeiss 21mm finder has a better eye point and higher magnification, but the new CV 21/25mm finder is still very good and a lot smaller.
ampguy
Veteran
I haven't used any Zeiss finders, but the CV 21 is pretty good. Good enough that you can actually use the whole image area as a 15, and the brightlines for the 15 FOV. Side by side, they seem to be the same shell and FOV, with the 15 removing the brightlines.
kossi008
Photon Counter
Not directly. But less distortion does make framing that much easier. Having said that, I tried the Zeiss 21 finder alongside my old CV 21 plastic finder, and I stayed with the latter, because the Zeiss eyepoint was a little less comfortable for me (I wear glasses)...
Mister E
Well-known
Keeping straight lines straight in your shots with a very distorted finder can be a challenge.
squinza
Established
Man, this is very interesting
Mister E
Well-known
Not quite the case. Looking at the side by side the plastic CV 21mm finder covers probably 18mm while the 15mm is still a few degrees wider.
How's the distortion of the plastic CV 21mm finder compared to the Zeiss 21mm finder?
The new metal CV 21/25mm finder has slightly more distortion than the Zeiss 21mm finder, but only a little more - not enough to make keeping the horizon level problematic.
Mister E
Well-known
I have a ton of trouble keeping the horizon straight so I take every little bit I can get. The 21mm Zeiss has a bit less distortion but is MUCH darker, at least a stop. It also has far lower magnification, but I can see the all of the bright-lines while I just barely cannot in the zeiss so the eyepoint a bit different.
Outside of the bright-lines on the CV finder the distortion is really out of this world.
Outside of the bright-lines on the CV finder the distortion is really out of this world.
umcelinho
Marcelo
that is probably right, I've compared both and the full area of the 21mm finder shows less than the 15mm finder. I thought of keeping only the 21mm finder to use the 15mm Heliar on full frame and the R-D1 (so 21 would be the crop factor), but it wouldn't quite work.
peter_n
Veteran
kossi008
Photon Counter
Yes, in one way, no in another. You get more problems framing the shot, but less distortion in the final picture. With an SLR, you get better framing, but often nasty (i.e. non-correctable) "moustache" distortion in the final picture due to the more aggressive retrofocus designs at short focal lenghts.
A friend of mine states that he prefers his Leica R with the 15 and 19 mm elmarits to e.g. the CV 15 mm on his M7 because of the better framing, but I really don't care for the resulting distortion in architectural shots.