If you think Leica accessories are expensive try this. I am a prodigial son of Leica. A few years ago my eyesight began to fuzz out slightly. I was convinced that auto focus was the only answer. So I (gulp) sold all my Leica gear (my M pictures were not what they use to be because of difficulty focussing in dim light). I went to Canon L lenses and EOS auto focussing. Not bad. Not Leica however. After an eye exam it dawned on me that I had not tried a range of the M diopters to see if the problem could be fixed. Plus the new 21/24/28 W/A finder takes a M diopter where the fixed ones don't. Sam Shoshan at the Classic Connection sent me an M6 and a range of M diopters, and, you guessed it, problem fixed. Conservatively speaking, that Diopter cost me about 10 large to get back into the Leica fold. The point of this story? same as always...A fool and his money are easily parted. And for God's sake get an eye exam and update your diopter.

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), March 27, 2002

Answers

Marc Look on the bright side - if you'd just spent that on digital photographic equipment, it would be worth $5000 dollars by now... $4000 now...$3000..... Hope it goes well for you. Steve

-- Steve Jones (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), March 27, 2002.

My ancient screw-mount Leicas have infinitely adjustable diopters built-in. The M should have had one from day one. Now that the majority of Leica M users are in the 40+ range it should have been an M7 feature.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 27, 2002.

Jay is quite right. The Contax G has a built in variable diopter arrangement and you don't even need it to focus with, but it increases the width of the camera a good deal, so I suspect this is the reason it is not on the M camera.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), March 27, 2002.

every one´s fear Marc...

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 27, 2002.

Marc, if you're an idiot, then I am too. I bought Canon EOS because of the automation, but I did not sell my Leica. After playing around with the AF a little while, I now use the Leica exclusively and the Canon EOS camera/lenses just lie dormant. Who among us has not "sinned"?

As far as diopters are concerned, I just use my glasses. The problem with dioptric adjustment is that it does not correct all visual aberrations. I have a curvature of the cornea which cannot be corrected by the simple diopters offered for cameras.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), March 27, 2002.

Jay's point is well taken. The R8 has a built in series of diopters. Since Leica's market is focused on people mostly over 40 and since this group is most prone to visual changes, it seems foolish to me that they don't build in adjustable diopters to the RF line.

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), March 27, 2002.

over the past 3 years i have been a camera whore. I have been with Nikon, then Canon, then sold Canon, Then leica M, then Canon and now back to Leica M (with a bit of Canon left over)... i estimate that i have lost $4000 in the whole process... and have probably contracted some camera VD disease. I have put aside my childish ways however and have a concrete commitment to keeping my leica M gear for life, sure i will flirt with other systems over time, but in the end i will spend the important times with the Leica M. All i can say from this experience is that you should borrow gear from a friend for 3 months (possibly by letting them borrow your gear in exchange) in order to see if you are compatible with a certain body or set of lenses.

-- Matthew Geddert (geddert@yahoo.com), March 27, 2002.

i almost forgot, but i have also had a one night stand with a Hexar RF... although it had a lot of tricks and was very flexible it certainly wasn't a leica.

-- Matthew Geddert (geddert@yahoo.com), March 27, 2002.

Diopter adjustments are fine; this assumes that you can see the shutter speed and ap. settings without your glasses. It also assumes that, after taking the shot, you don't fall into the abyss because you can't see it without those rimmed-things in front of your eyes.

Årt

-- Art (AKarr90975@aol.com), March 27, 2002.

Art

It is not quite as simple as that with diopters. I wear glasses and keep them on when using the camera, but as ones eyes age it is still good, to be able to make fine adjustments using a variable diopter. The M would be a better camera for for me if it had this feature, although the R/F method is pretty good and objective. On a manual focussing SLR then I really need the fine tuning a variable diopter affords - this is why my SL is currently languishing.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), March 28, 2002.