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Viewfinders and visibility

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Here are some comparisons of the two viewfinders available to the GR family with 4:3 formatting. The little GV-2 (on the left, installed on a GR-D2) is actually bigger and brighter than the Cosina/Voigtlaender mini 28/35 that it seems to be derived from. The mini 28/35 is the silver rectangular viewer also sitting on top of the GR-D2. As a glasses-wearer, I found the mini hard to use for framing at 28mm (prefer the CV28 metal viewer), but use it at 35 mm.

Both are much smaller than the 21/28 mm GV-1 finder that can be used with the GR-Ds and with their wide angle attachment. That's the 21 mm-e attachment on a GR-D at right, with a GV-1. The GV-1 looks too big for the new larger soft case -- I probably could squeeze it in, but it seems a bad idea. The lens adapter, however, is not as conspicuous as the GT-1 (40mm) seems to be. For some reason (not to obstruct the built-in flash?), the GV-1 is offset away from the center of the lens, and has parallax-correction lines in its field of view. The GV-2 needs these less and doesn't have them.

scott
 
H

Hypnohare

Guest
Hi Scott:

Thanks for posting these comparative photos. Can you tell me, when wearing eyeglasses, how does the GV-1 compare to the GV-2?
 
M

mourges

Guest
You must be psychic as I was going to ask if anyone had done a comparison!!

Does the new smaller Ricoh viewfinder have the 21mm field of view as well as the 28mm?
 
S

Sun

Guest
Thanks for this.. I was thinking of getting both the GV-1 & 2..
I will be using an OVF for most of my shooting.. and I really like the compactness
of the GV-2.. would also need the GV-2 for the 21mm lens..
Though the cost of all this turns me off a bit..

So I think I'm going to stick with just getting the GV-1.. Makes more sense..
 
V

veriwide

Guest
Thanks for this.. I was thinking of getting both the GV-1 & 2..
I will be using an OVF for most of my shooting.. and I really like the compactness
of the GV-2.. would also need the GV-2 for the 21mm lens..
Though the cost of all this turns me off a bit..

So I think I'm going to stick with just getting the GV-1.. Makes more sense..
Using just the GV-1 makes perfect sense as you can change from the 28mm to 21mm and not need to change the OVF as well. Unfortunately, for the GV-1 to be truly effective, in my view, you will need to do the modification that I have done - see above post - or, you will need to compensate for the skewed field of view that the GV-1 offers. By compensate I mean you will need to remember that you will be getting less of the left and more of the right of the frame in your actual capture.

The GV-2 would be a nice luxury to have for when you want to travel light with just the standard lens and of course, as it is centered over the lens it does not have the offset problem of the GV-1.
 
S

Sun

Guest
I didn't realize the VF was offset.. Thats not right..
..$200 for something thats not exact..

Thanks for pointing that out..
 
P

Player

Guest
The way I've reconciled this is that I have the GV-2 for the built-in 28mm lens, and I picked-up a Voigtlander VTVF40 for, obviously, the 40mm accessory lens. If I ever pick-up the 21mm adapter lens, I'll just use the camera's LCD screen.
 
V

veriwide

Guest
I didn't realize the VF was offset.. Thats not right..
..$200 for something thats not exact..

Thanks for pointing that out..
It is offset to allow the flash to pop up.
 
S

Sun

Guest
Ya I realized that.. though I think I'd rather sacrifice the flash.
 
V

veriwide

Guest
Here are some comparisons of the two viewfinders available to the GR family with 4:3 formatting. The little GV-2 (on the left, installed on a GR-D2) is actually bigger and brighter than the Cosina/Voigtlaender mini 28/35 that it seems to be derived from.

scott

Hi Scott - I wonder if you could put up a photo of the GR with the GV-2 mounted but taken from above. I am curious to see how much over the front and back it extends.. thanks.. or, perhaps you could just tell me ?

Bernard
 
V

veriwide

Guest
Great ! thanks for that.... a very nice fit !... think I will get me one :D

Bernard
 
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