sebboh wrote:
do you have any idea how it compares to the others i listed with regard to magnification and coverage? i can never find specs on leica viewfinders.
It's more than magnification and coverage (which I'm pretty sure is like the OM1's specs). The SL's viewfinder is all microprism, coarse in the center, extremely fine over the rest of the image area. The effect is like ground glass except that it's brighter, clearer, contrastier, and when it pops into focus there's absolutely no question exactly where the focus plane is. It makes stuff like this possible with slow film (K64):
telyt wrote:
It's more than magnification and coverage (which I'm pretty sure is like the OM1's specs). The SL's viewfinder is all microprism, coarse in the center, extremely fine over the rest of the image area. The effect is like ground glass except that it's brighter, clearer, contrastier, and when it pops into focus there's absolutely no question exactly where the focus plane is. It makes stuff like this possible with slow film (K64):
The SL's viewfinder also has no fresnel rings because it uses a pentaprism with a convex bottom surface instead.
intriguing, i'll have to look into it (literally).
I recently bought a Yashica TL-Electro X with a 50mm F 1.7 DX lens for $20.00. I pop a new PX28 battery into it, and the meter was working fine. The Yashicas from that era had robust discrete electronics, and this one was no exception. The Yashica GSN rangefinders share some of the same electronics. As I do not shoot film anymore, I shipped it off to my brother, but for that price and the shape it was in, I could not resist.
Viewfinders, magnification, ergonimics, size, weight etc are all relevant but the cameras metering is often overlooked and sometimes the most important consideration. Many cameras have nice viewfinders but they often have poor light meters. A camera like the Canon 1V has a very fine spot meter which allows you to shoot E6 with a very high level of metering accuracy, as long as you know what you are doing in the first place. Most cameras such as FM2, OM2n, R8/9 have a centre weighted meter or possibly a spot meter which isn't really narrow enough to isolate important parts of the image. This is the main reason I think the Canon 1V trumps most other cameras, although it has no shortage of other features/advantages too.
Of course if shooting black and white or C41 then metering accuracy isn't as important.
I loathe the SRT-101. I like the Rokkor lenses, but I really dislike the camera body.
oh and if you get the camera changed over to a modern battery the meter is fine. people used to shoot k25 on these things so the meters were set up to handle slides and as long as you know ahead of time how your meter will react there is no reason you cant shoot slides with them.
sebboh wrote:
...do you have any idea how it compares to the others i listed with regard to magnification and coverage? i can never find specs on leica viewfinders.
p.3 #12 · Most desirable Analog 35mm SLR cameras ?
sebboh wrote:
thanks. i'm guessing coverage on the R8/9 is 100% and that is the reason for the lower magnification?
It's not 100%. I'll have to dig out my info & get back to you. Except for the built-in diopter correction, I like the SL's viewfinder better than the R8's.
p.3 #13 · Most desirable Analog 35mm SLR cameras ?
For fun, my Petri f1.9 Color Corrected Super. (circa 1957)
For adventure in wondering what I will end up with, Argus model AF dating from the late 1930's. Yep, still works.
For sure results on film, F4.
For display, my Kodak Vest Pocket Rainbow Hawkeye. The bellows leak at every fold.
that is rather disappointing. coverage is one of the poorest reported specs, i'm not sure if the ones i listed were area or linear. makes it hard to compare without looking through them yourself.
p.3 #16 · Most desirable Analog 35mm SLR cameras ?
With film it was less important in some ways due to printing the edges being somewhat fiddly. I also believe that many viewfinders were sized to give an accurate preview of a mounted slide, which is probably where that 93% comes from.
Note that the R8/R9 had a 120% viewfinder as digital cameras
p.3 #18 · Most desirable Analog 35mm SLR cameras ?
JohnJ wrote:
Viewfinders, magnification, ergonimics, size, weight etc are all relevant but the cameras metering is often overlooked and sometimes the most important consideration. Many cameras have nice viewfinders but they often have poor light meters. A camera like the Canon 1V has a very fine spot meter which allows you to shoot E6 with a very high level of metering accuracy, as long as you know what you are doing in the first place. Most cameras such as FM2, OM2n, R8/9 have a centre weighted meter or possibly a spot meter which isn't really narrow enough to isolate important parts of the image. This is the main reason I think the Canon 1V trumps most other cameras, although it has no shortage of other features/advantages too....Show more →
The F6 should trump the 1V in that department. Note that the OM-3/OM-4 had multiple weighted spot metering. Awesome for accurate metering. I do miss that camera.
p.3 #19 · Most desirable Analog 35mm SLR cameras ?
carstenw wrote:
With film it was less important in some ways due to printing the edges being somewhat fiddly. I also believe that many viewfinders were sized to give an accurate preview of a mounted slide, which is probably where that 93% comes from.
poppycock! they did it to save money. modern dslrs have much worse viewfinders as well. to quote your favorite camera blogger (mike johnston): "One of the delightful little lies the industry just loves to tell is that "amateur cameras have 93% finders to correspond to the image area of a mounted slide." I love this one. It makes perfect sense — until you stop to realize two inconvenient little facts. Fact one, less than 3% of film sold in North America is slide film. Fact two, if this is such an advantage, then why do all the top pro cameras have 100% finders — especially since pros are the ones who shoot the most slide film?"
honestly, i care much more about magnification and seeing actual dof at f/1.4. 95% is probably good enough (unless it's only on one edge).
edit: i don't think i'll ever be shooting slide film again anyway.
