Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I asked a while back: >>Why doesn't Leica make a full magnification viewfinder??? More recently, Doug Richardson said: "Years ago, someone asked me "What's that little thing on the accessory shoe of your Nikkorex?" That "thing" was a SBOOI - a finder which gives a 100% full size image and was easy to use with spectacles. Now that's what I'd like the M6 finder to be like - 100% image size but with variable frames. (We can all dream, can't we?). However I suspect I'm asking for an optical impossibility." >>Eric Welch replied to my first question: >Because it would not work with 28 or 35mm lenses. >-- Well, I think there must be more to it than this. Almost 40 years ago, the Canon P was made with a full magnification viewfinder that worked well with 35mm lenses. Canon's description of the Canon P viewfinder/rangefinder went like this: "Coincidence rangefinder integrated with Lumi-field viewfinder featuring frames for 50mm and 100mm lenses within the full field for 35mm lens. Automatic parallax correction. Accessory shoe's parallax correction pin coupled to lens draw to adjust accessory finder." So, I still wonder why Leica doesn't (or didn't) make a full magnification viewfinder. The reason I ask is this. I find a real advantage to keeping both eyes open when focusing. This only works for me with a full magnification viewfinder. It seems to me that the HM viewfinder is a good thing, but it is only part way there. - -Mark Walberg