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Oh Joy!

Godfrey

Well-known member
My happiness in the pursuit of "the perfect modern anachronism":

The 1960s vintage Ernst Leitz Wetzlar SBOOI 5cm optical finder I found in an Austrian camera shop's web listing for €80 just arrived. It's a perfect match to the GXR A12 50mm camera module. Total all up with shipping was US$145, and it's in much cleaner condition than the listing suggested. :)

 

OlliL

Member
Looks nice Godfrey!

Eventhough I have to admit, I'd have bought the silver-black Voigtlander replica. ;)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Looks nice Godfrey!

Eventhough I have to admit, I'd have bought the silver-black Voigtlander replica. ;)
Well, CameraQuest is out of them (and Steve told me that if he could find one in his warehouse, it would have been $250 plus shipping). At the time I didn't know that Photo Village carried them ... and still have them for about $190 + $16 shipping. So I saved about $60 on this one ... not a bad deal considering that it's at least as good optically as the Voigtländer replica.

I bought the Voigtländer 75mm brightline finder some time ago used for $100 or something like that, so I'm set for the 50mm (optical) when the M-lens module arrives too. Having that in black and the 5cm finder in chrome will make them easy to distinguish when they're in the bag or on the camera ... :)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I was shooting with it set up this way at a party last evening. It works brilliantly! Very very pleased with the setup.

The Skopar 50mm f/2.5 arrived yesterday evening too. Lens, M-bayonet adapter and hood. I already have the matching 75mm viewfinder. I also have the Nikon F and Pentax M42 adapters to Leica M mount, and the EVF, to use the Nikkor 85 and Pentax 135. Now I'm just waiting for that M-lens camera expansion module ... all set for it. :)

Oh yes: I discovered a nice detail in using the GXR with external optical viewfinder. If you set the option to show review only on the LCD and then press the EVF/LCD button, you're effectively turning the LCD off except when you use control adjustments (EV compensation, ISO setting) in the absence of the EVF. This makes shooting in dim circumstances very nice ... no bright LCD under your eye as you frame.
 

Oren Grad

Active member
Oh yes: I discovered a nice detail in using the GXR with external optical viewfinder. If you set the option to show review only on the LCD and then press the EVF/LCD button, you're effectively turning the LCD off except when you use control adjustments (EV compensation, ISO setting) in the absence of the EVF. This makes shooting in dim circumstances very nice ... no bright LCD under your eye as you frame.
Excellent, thanks for sharing that.

That finder/camera combination is really elegant.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Excellent, thanks for sharing that.

That finder/camera combination is really elegant.
You're welcome.

Forgot to mention you can turn off the auto-review after an exposure too ... Settings Menu again, LCD Confirmation Time -> OFF.

Yet another setting that makes the camera even more transparent in use. And speeds up the shot-to-shot time (a little bit...) as well. :)
 
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