Has anyone used the 1.25X viewfinder accessory on a .72 M6. Sounds great for us aging folks. Any comments would be great. Thank you.

-- Richard Hoag (wpcdallas@aol.com), February 13, 2002

Answers

I use it permanently on one of my M6 bodies, with 90 or 135 lens. Those frames are so small, however, that a 25% increase in area is not exactly astounding. I wear glasses and I am unable to see even the 50mm framelines with the magnifier in place. I think the 1.25x makes a heck of a lot more sense than a pair of different-mag bodies. At least this way you have 2 bodies that are interchangeable in case one is damaged, or you don't want to carry both.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

I agree with Jay on all points. I can only add that it also noticeably darkens the finder in already dim light. I was shooting a music recital in the evening with my .72+1.25 M6TTL plus 90APO, and the slight loss of light was enough to make me try focussing without the magnifier attached. For me it was a trade-off -- it was easier to see the definition on lining up the now smaller RF patch without it, but the smaller RF patch was more difficult to use. Net, net, in low light it is a coin-toss, but in normal light, the 1.25 is a great tool with the 50's-up on the .72 bodies. I suspect a .85 body is equally as dim as the .72 with the magnifier (though I have not owned one, so best to hear from actual users of the .85 and .72 here) which IMO makes the .72 body with the magnifier more versitile.

:-),

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), February 13, 2002.

I got a .58 TTL because I wear specs, and it was the only way to see the 28mm frame lines. This however meant the 50mm and 90mm frames are a little small, and I worried about accurate focusing. So I got the 1.25x finder. After using it for a while I find that I was focusing OK anyway in daylight, but it does help in low light. The framelines are more comfortable, although I go back to my old habit of squinting around the edges just to see what I am missing. But the problem I find is that I feel slightly 'divorced' from the camera body. The finder keeps your cheek from snuggling against the camera back if you wear specs, and I no longer feel that I know when I have held the camera still. If you don't wear specs I would expect this would make much less difference as the finder simply gets closer to the eyeball. So now it spends less and less time on the camera.

-- Steve Barnett (barnet@globalnet.co.uk), February 14, 2002.

Forget it.

It need a dioptre correction for us ageing folk

-- Justin Scott (jcdscott@bigpond.net.au), February 14, 2002.

Good idea Justin! Me too. I already forgot that thing. I wear glasses all day, and they are even as bad as +7.0 so I'm old enough. I think I realize how useful my 0.72 and a 1.25 might be if I had a 135, but I don't. I mostly use my 50, 35 and 21 and have no problems here.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), February 14, 2002.