Hi all,

I'm planing to use 28/50mm lens on my "M" body, but at the moment I only have a 50mm, does the 0.58 would be all right ? btw I don't wear glasses.. Thanks in advance for your comments..

Best regards,

-- Simon

-- Simon Alibert (simonalibert@mac.com), March 27, 2002

Answers

I have been using the M6 TTL .58 for about 3 weeks, and it's very easy to see the 28mm frame line with or without glasses. The main reason I bought the .58 was for the lone 35mm frameline.

-- chris a williams (LeicaChris@worldnet.att.net), March 27, 2002.

If you don't wear glasses I think you'll be better off with the 0.72. There is a 28mm frame which you can see easily. The 0.58 was produced mainly by demand from specs wearers (or so I'm lead to believe!)

I have a 0.85 M6 and a 0.72 M7. I wear specs but use a dioptre lens. I wish now I'd got the M6 in 0.72 as well but...... it seemed a good idea at the time. I tried the 0.58 before it was released (at UK Leica) and found the display to be far too small for me.

Find a dealer and try out the 2 sizes. It's a personal choice. Good luck!

-- Giles Young (youngg@middlesbrough.pds.gov.uk), March 27, 2002.

I have recently bought the .58 because I do wear glasses and wanted to be able to (barely) see the 28 marks and have the 35 much more visible and alone. I have used my 50 quite a bit since buying, and find it works just fine. If I didn't wear glasses, I probably wouldn't have gone to the .58. But it is a great finder, for me, and using the 50 is no problem.

-- Charles (c.mason@uaf.edu), March 27, 2002.

Do the users of the .58 find it difficult to frame and focus accurately the 90mm lens? Thanks, Jack

-- Jack Belen (jbelen@aol.com), March 27, 2002.

jack, I have only shot the 90 sparingly, but didn't notice any framing inconsistencies. Works quite well actually. I have a 1.25x coming in from Leica today, and want to see if that makes the .58 the perfect finder for us glasses wearers (my 135mm 2.8 pulls up the 90 frame, though I hardly ever use this lens).

-- Charles (c.mason@uaf.edu), March 27, 2002.

Hi Simon,

I have O.58 and 0.72. I like the 0.58 feeling of distancing with the 50 (a small frame floating in a wide field) and the easy to see 28mm framing. I find it almost as ease to focus as the 0.72 because of the brightness of the finder. I've used 75/2.5 and 90/4 with it with not major problems (unlike the Hexar RF). I sometimes wear shades when shooting and the 0.58 is wonderful for this. (The shades help against center patch white out--I think.) An added bonus is that the area around the 28mm frame approx's the 24/ 25mm frame.

You'll have no problems with 50/2 wide open. I've used 50/1.4 as well--recently photographing my newly found long lost cat in Shikoku at dusk in a park just as the lanterns were switched on to iluminate the premature cherry blossoms. No problems even under these difficult circumstances.

I think if you are basically a wide angle person the 0.58 is a good choice. But test before buying.

Cheers,

Alex

-- Alex Shishin (shishin@pp.iij4-u.or.jp), March 27, 2002.

I don't wear glasses and have very good vision, and can tell you from my experience with a Hexar RF (very similar magnification to the .58) and a Leica .72 that a .58 is certainly WAY better for a 28mm lens, much better for a 35mm lens and that for a 50 is is probably tied with the .72 - different but tied in my opinion... - i personally would like the .58 for my 50 cron, but expect to get a 75lux, and wanted to keep one body, so the .72 made more sense for me.

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

I shoot a .58 M6ttl with 24-75 lens'. No focus problem with any. I too like the smaller 50mm frame with loads of room around it.

Besides all you have to do is add the 1.25x finder mag and you have a .72 body with all of its advantages.

I wear glasses and became fond of smaller .58-.60 finders from a Hexar RF I owned. I would have bought a .58 even if I didn't wear glasses.

For 20 years I used somehow .72 M4-2s, M4s and M2s with my glasses but until I had something smaller to try I had no idea how much I'd like it.

-- Neil Swanson (neilsphoto@yahoo.com), March 27, 2002.

I have a .58 body that I use exclusively with my Tri-Elmar. Being a glasses wearer I needed the .58 to be able to see the 28mm frameline. It seems to work equally well at all the 3E's focal lengths, including 50mm but the maxumum aperture of that lens is only f/4.

When I use my 50/1.4 'lux or 90/2.8 Elmarit, I prefer the .72 body for easier composition and focusing. I find the 90mm frameline too small on the .58 body.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), March 27, 2002.