[Leica] Which Visoflex for my M7?

[john.o.newell at comcast.net (John O. Newell)]

Mark, you either have great patience or you are photographing things that 
don't move. ;-)   I used to own and use a pile of Viso gear, but sold it all 
years ago.  It was simply too slow to use, in my opinion.

For any subject that was moving, it was pretty frustrating -- my 
recollection is that the time from the decision to press the shutter release 
to the actual exposure was pretty lengthy, and TTL metering with the M5 (and 
later M6) didn't work at all under those conditions.  Metering pretty much 
required using a tripod and a static subject.

Even for static subjects on a tripod (like close-ups), it was very slow.  
With an M5 or M6 (or now M7) you had to compose and focus using the Viso 
with the mirror down, then shift to the camera's finder to use the meter 
with the mirror up...and this was a big improvement over using it with an M3 
or other meter-less body, where you had to calculate exposure adjustments 
based on magnification ratios...using it was like a form of penance.

I admire your dedication, and I agree with you that the whole thing is 
(still) fascinating as a demonstration of the ingenuity of the Leitz 
engineers, but the system was already outdated in the 1960s and has not 
become less so in the succeeding decades -- at least that's my opinion -- 
you are definitely entitled to your own.  From time to time I look at Viso 
prices, though, and one thing is certain -- a lot of that gear now goes for 
pennies on the dollar, except where collector-mania has taken over for rare 
or highly sought-after lenses.  If it works for you, though, enjoy!!!

Best,
John Newell