I have been using an M6 with 35 mm lux for about a year now. I am very happy with this system, but I would like a wider lens. I donīt think that there is enough diffrence between a 35 and a 28 to justify the expence, so that leaves me with two choices a 24mm or a 21 mm. I have been in doubt about this choice since I havenīt used any of these primes before (instead I have used a Canon 17-35 mm). I have settled on the 24 mm, because I think it fits my style best (photojournalism).

Now to the questions:

1. I donīt have any experience with accesory finders, so I would like to know how easy it is to use in dynamic situations.

2. Also I will propably buy an 0.58 M6 so that I can better use the built in viewfinder, how well does this work (coverage, parallax e.t.c)?

3. How precise is the accesory viewfinders coverage (I supose it depends on subject to camera distance)?

4. What accessory viewfinder should I get: the 21-24-28 og just the fixed 24mm? Are there any cheaper acc. viewfinders made by others companys?

I hope to hear from others that have gone through the same considerations...

-- Jonas Vilslev (jonasvilslev@groenjord.dk), May 16, 2002

Answers

Jonas,

1. Finders are a learned skill, switching back and forth between the camera for the RF and the finder for framing. It's not hard, it just takes pratice.

2. With a .72 body, you'll need the accessory finder for framing. A .58 body will effectively show the FOV of a 24mm lens if you extrapolate outside the 28mm frameline and use the whole VF.

3. Framing - The closer your subject, the more error you'll get. IMO, a little testing and experience will tell you the relationship between the finder and what the lens sees.

4. The 21/24/28 is quite a beast of a finder. The 24 from CV or Leica is much smaller.

The cost of a 24 Elmarit-M and a .58 body is quite a bundle. If 21 isn't too wide, you might want to consider getting a CV 21/4 lens, which can be had in the US for $375, WITH THE FINDER! That quite a difference from $1500 for a .58 body and $1500 for a 24 Elmarit. If you don't like the 21/4, you can sell it. CV also has a very sharp 25/4, but it's a scale-focus lens. If you're using the lens outside, the 25/4 would be a great choice, and it's only $250-300, with the finder.

Skip

-- Skip Williams (skipwilliams@pobox.com), May 16, 2002.

I went through the same 21/24mm decision a few months back, and settled on a used 24mm that included a fixed, 24mm aux viewfinder. My decision was based more on the fact that the 24mm shows less wide-angel distortion than the 21mm, rather than strictly on the angle of view. (See this sample, and note how it treated the exit sign in the top left corner of the image.)

The 24mm Elmarit is excellent, although using the aux viewfinder is a bit of a pain. Not only does it take extra time during framing/focusing, you have to be careful to keep your nose out of the main viewfinder.

The aux finder provides no parallax correction, of course, so you'll need to do some experimentation to develop a sense of framing approximation. I'm using it on a 0.72 body. My understanding is that the 0.58 body's viewfinder can be used to approximate coverage of the 24mm, if you don't wear glasses and can see the extreme edges, but again with no parallax correction. That may be a better option for your PJ work than using the aux finder.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), May 16, 2002.

I find I like the 21mm finder on my 21 VC, but the nose going in the main finder is a royal pain. Why people say the M is so great for w/a photography is always a little bit of a mystery to me. I have not noticed any framing issues with the 21mm - which has surprised me. There may be more parallax issues with a 24mm. The 24mm ASPH is a big lens with a 55mm filter. There is no doubt the VC21mm is a small beauty. I have not had it long enough to really pontificate about its image quality yet, but it is good to excellent. But one does notice the difference between it and my other 35-135mm (well perhaps not with the 135mm) Leica lenses. However, I fear I might also find this with the 21mm ASPH too. I would prefer a 24mm, I think, but the size and the expense definitely put me off. The VC viewfinders are excellent and one could probably use the VC 25mm v/f if you got a 24mm and they probably are not that much different - you could get by OK despite the 1mm difference in focal length. As I wear glasses I would need a 0.58 M to see the 28mm frames in the normal viewfinder and to see the 24mm "edge" I would need to remove my glasses. So for me the 0.58 would therefore not be OK for the 24mm without a separate v/f.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), May 16, 2002.

It should be pointed out that the Leica 24mm finder is actually a 21mm finder with bright lines for 24mm. So if you buy that finder you 1. See the area just outside the field of view, an advantage for PJ work. and 2. Can use the same finder with a 21 lens if you get one in addition.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), May 16, 2002.

I believe that the accessory viewfinders give you a better approximation of the perspective of the 21mm or 24mm lenses, rather than just the frame lines on an otherwise more normal perspective. In that sense, they should equate to the perspective available on an SLR-wide angle combination.

-- Ben Crabtree (bcrabtree@mn.rr.com), May 16, 2002.

If you make use of the DOF of the lens, you can keep the same aperture and focus settings and just change the shutter speed so infact you should be able to work faster. Viewfinder accessory wise, I would go for the smaller plastic 24mm version, unless you plan to get a 21 or 28 as well I would stay away from the 3in1 viewfinder as its very large and in my mind can be easily caught on something and wrenched from the hotshoe!

I also find that the current 24 and 21 lenses are harder to use conpared to the 35mm variations. This is esp true with the hood on as this gets in the way of the aperture ring and you cant grip it properly, prob just a case of getting used to it.

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), May 17, 2002.

I have a .58 body and I have used the viewfinder with the 24 mm sometimes. It isn't as good as the shoe 24mm finder. As has been said the separate 24mm only finder gives a better impression of the effect but in a pinch or with a flash in the shoe I do it.

What is never mentioned about using the .58 body w/o the separate finder is the 35mm frames come up, not the 28mm frames.

So you need to hold the frame preview lever over to see the 28mm frames to see outside them or just try to envision the framing as the whole viewfinder image. BTW you'll never do it with glasses on. Glasses are fine with the 24mm finder.

BTW the 24mm lense gives an impression of depth and volume and shape to people and things I don't see in my other M lenses, not even other ASPH lenses I own.

-- Neil Swanson (neilsphoto@yahoo.com), May 17, 2002.

(1) Do not use the old 21 mm/4 or so. It does not fit the M6! (2) The quality lens of the 24 as. is unbeatable! (3) The single viewfinder is the best solution (4) In the future, if you need a larger wide angle, why do not buy the 15 Voigtlander? By Joe

-- Joe Pelizza Salusso di Volpedo (breglumasi@hotmail.com), May 17, 2002.