I am looking for a 50mm fixed viewfinder that fits into the flash shoe. I think it may have the name VIDOOH or something like that. It was made for non rf leicas and is great for composing photos as it allows a perfectly cropped view which is a lot more accurate than the range finder - which can be up to 10% out at infinity.

-- Charles Curry-Hyde (charles@chho.com.au), March 31, 2002

Answers

you might want to check out the C/V finder - or.. one of those cheepo Russian copies of the Zeiss finder. I've seen some good examples of the latter (clean glass and body) for as low as $50

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), March 31, 2002.

Only the Imarect and VIDOM Universal finders (inverted or reversed image and used by HC-B) show 100% of the field. The Leica Brightline finders as well as the Zeiss and Russian turret finders show a little less, about 90%.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@comcast.net), March 31, 2002.

The brightline finders are much nicer to use for composition than the turret finders because the 50mm image in the latter is extremely tiny.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 31, 2002.

Check out one of the CV finders for about $150. They are very well built. You can read about them here:

http://www.CameraQuest.com/voigtacc.htm

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), March 31, 2002.

I think the best 50 mm fixed focal length VF is the Leitz 50 mm brightline VF code name SBOOI. The eyepiece glass is very large for easy viewing and the image appears to me slightly larger than lifesize, with bright bold lines that allow you to see outside of the image area too. There is no parallax adjustment lever, but there is a dashed line to show the degree of parallax correction at closest focus. These finders are engraved Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH Germany, except for the very earliest, which omit "GmbH".

The all metal and glass SBOOI and its sister, the SBLOO (35 mm finder), in my view are the two best brightline finders ever made by any manufacturer. The 50 mm SBOOI should cost about $ 150, which makes it a better buy than the CV finder, since it will hold its value. Unfortunately, the 35 mm Leitz BL finder is much more expensive ($ 350-450, depending on condition).

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), April 01, 2002.

Bill,

i think the vidom is the one i am looking for. is that a variable focal length? Where should i look on the web for an image or price?

thanks - this is a great resource!

-- Charles Curry-Hyde (charles@chho.com.au), April 01, 2002.