Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/12/21

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Subject: Re: [Leica] 21mm finder distortion (was 21mm Super Angulon)
From: "Henning J. Wulff" <henningw@archiphoto.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 1997 20:36:31 -0800

Michael Volow wrote:

>This is a general question about distortion in finders for ultra-wide lenses
>for M-Leicas.
>
>Of all the 21mm finders for rangefinder Leicaas, are there any that have no
>barrel distortion out at the edges of the finder?
>
>I do not have a Leica 21mm but I do use a Canon 19mm/3.5 LTM/M-adapter on
>my M6. Although the Canon 19mm finder is metal and extremely rugged, it
>does have considerable barrel distortion around the edges of the images,
>making it difficult to align the camera with verticals.
>
>I surmised that Leica might have better finders, but when I tried out a
>21mm finder accommpanying an (old style) 21mm/2.8, it too had barrel
>distortion. Is there freedom from barrel distortion in anyone's (Russian
>20mm, Contax G) 21mm finder.?

All wideangle finders I know of, whether Leica, Hasselblad, Sinar, Zeiss,
Horseman, etc. have barrel distortion. To make one without as much
distortion would be possible, but the additional cost and/or size would
make a rather expensive/bulky item worse, and since it does not affect the
quality of the picture, manufacturers have chosen to accept some
distortion. I can only agree with their decision.


   *            Henning J. Wulff
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