Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/08/28

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Subject: Re: External viewfinder
From: cmiller@berkshire.net (Curt Miller)
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 09:39:51 -0400 (EDT)

George (and group):

There are plenty of advantages (and some disadvantages) to the external
(Leitz Bright-Line) finders: they are MUCH brighter; they have longer eye
relief for us eyeglass wearers so we can actually see the 35mm framelines
(which we cannot in the camera's finder); they can be quicker in street
shooting - set a hyperfocal and just bring the finder quickly to the eye.  I
use a 28mm Leitz finder all the time - for the 28 lens and also the 35 (the
28 finder's framelines actually cut off much off the image that gets printed
to the film by the 28 lens, the area fairly well represents that which gets
printed on film by the 35).

Curt


George wrote:
>What advantage does an external viewfinder, attached to the hotshoe,
>provide?  I would like to know why they are used instead of just using the
>normal frames viewfinder on M cameras.  I can understand that for short
>focal lengths, less than 28mm, the external finder allows you to see the
>image area, and the camera's viewfinder window does not extend that wide,
>but what advantage would say a 35mm or 50mm external viewfinder provide
>that you don't already have built in to the camera?
>
>
>-GH
>
>