The Leica brochure for the 1.25x VF Magnifier states that when used with the .58, .72 and .85 views the +25% maganified images are .72, .9 and 1.06 respectively. The VF accessory is primarlily used for long and tele work (75-135mm) where a 25% gains would be most beneficial to critical focusing. There is also, but perplexingly, a table that lists what frames will not be viewable because of the magnification in all M cameras. On .85 TTL, the 35mm frame is listed as non-viewable. It is surprising though, because the light meter diodes are only just above 35 frameline. It seems to me that the diodes would be forever lost when using this combination. Does anybody have experience with this situation (1.25x with .85). To get a better idea of these items following are the addresses of both the 1.25x VF accessory and the Leica onboard VF images for the three M6 TTL versions.

1.25x VF Brochure: http://www.leica-camera.com/imperia/md/content/pdf/msystem/30.pdf

M6 TTL VFs: http://www.leica-camera.com/produkte/msystem/m6ttl/sucher/beispiel/index.html

-- Andrew Meissner (meissner@predawnraid.com), December 30, 2001

Answers

Well,in order to see the whole 35mm frameline, you'd have to be able to see the left and right ones, which are farther off-axis than the horizontal lines; and if the diodes are inside the lower frameline, they might be a lot easier to see. Someone out there must own this combination by now, though, so maybe we'll hear more about it.

I notice that the magnifier works even on the M3. That would be the ideal setup for the 90 & 135 lenses, wouldn't it? The most accurate possible focusing, and a large area to compose in.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), December 30, 2001.

Could there be a use for a 1.5x magnifier? Probably not for the .85, but OK for the 0.58 & 0.72. It would be interesting to see sales figures for all three magnifications. I believe the .72 is still the way to go.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

I have the .85 + 1.25x combination and had posted some observations in the following earlier thread:

http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007B1q

But to answer your question...

When the 1.25x magnifier is used with the .85 viewfinder,

1. The diodes are clearly visible if you are not wearing glasses. 2. If you are wearing glasses, you need to tilt the camera slightly to see the diodes, and then compose. Unless you need to reset exposure very often, this is no practical impediment. 3. Without glasses, it is even possible to see part of the 35mm frame, contrary to the information from Leica. You get a rough sense of where they are, and for loosely framed 35mm lens pictures, its quite useable. With glasses, it vanishes entirely. 4. My eyeglass magnification is 1.5 diopters. With higher magnifications, the 35mm lines may disappear for you. In other words, your mileage may vary. 5. 90mm lens composition and focusing are greatly easier than, say, with the .72 alone. 6. For some reason, the fragmented framelines are more annoying to the eye with the magnifier and .85. The magnification moves the framelines more to the periphery of one's vision, and I think the eye is less able to fill in the blank. One has a greater feelinge of imprecise framing while shooting.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), December 30, 2001.

The 1.25 eyepiece with the .72 works better for composing the image, as with the .72 magnification the 1.4/75 & 2/90 lenses does not intrude as much in the framelines as it happens with the .85, therefore you get .9 mag. and a better view of what is getting into the picture. The .72 wins again over the.85 as you get the 28mm. framelines taking the eyepiece away.

-- Marco Hidalgo (marco_hidalgo@hotmail.com), January 18, 2002.