Walter RX Eyepiece Review

[MGrayson]

Alas, my love affair with the Walter eyepiece was very short.

It fell off my camera a few times. No problem, I thought, it's easy to put back on. I'll adjust the screw at home. About 50 yards later, I noticed that the viewfinder was quite blurry. The prescription lens had fallen out. :angry: An hour of path retracing later, I have to give up on it and accept the loss. And I was just getting to like the M system.

Matt

 

[jlm]

damn...I placed my order and will be very closely examining mine. they do say you can have your own optician replace the lens; does that seem possible?

 

[Double Negative]

Ugh, sorry to hear that Matt. Yes, the set screw should be snugged up to where it begins to tighten and a tiny bit more. But it is compressing against rubber, so a good knock might take it off. Real bummer that you lost the optic though! As Jim mentions, you can have your favorite optician make a new one - or contact Walter/Jean-Louis about it and see if they might help you out.

On mine, I have to admit - the inner/outer part separated due to glue failure (likely due to me mounting/unmounting it many times during review). I just added a fresh couple of dabs of contact cement (in more places than just two) and put it back together. It's held great since, with quite a bit of carrying/jacket stuffing. I think they use the glue conservatively so you can get inside to update your prescription later on - but perhaps a little too much so.

 

[Muizen]

Some observations regarding the Walter Eyepiece:
If you wear glasses you will have to take these off when using the Walter eyepiece. After shooting you will have to put your glasses back on again for looking at the LCD and for possible camera adjustments. Kind of complicating the use of the M9!
If you use a leather half case the eyepiece will sit tight and not automatically move when changing from horizontal to vertical shooting. One can cut away part of the leather material but I would hate doing this!
I also feel that the price for what is offered is high.
I am notwithstanding the above considerations still thinking about a purchase but would first like to read about the practical use of this eye piece.

 

[Double Negative]

^ Indeed, good points. It won't be the best solution for ALL eyeglass wearers, but for me it's the perfect solution (I only need glasses for reading). As for the half case, yeah - it wasn't meant to be used with one, though I do. I just rotate the eyepiece by hand as needed. I'll probably mod my Luigi case (enlarging the radius around the eyepiece).

If you want more info - read my review as linked to in the first post.

 

[jlm]

received mine today, took about 14 days from SA to NY.

seems to work well! you can hold the camera still and rotate the adapter and watch your astigmatism correction come into play.

at first glance, however:
the unit is held to the leica eyepiece with one tiny screw on one side only. in my opinion, this is not enough, there ought to be three screws. not much room, so the screws are tiny, but the gizmo can pop off pretty easy. even better if there was a slightly larger mating groove in the leica eyepiece to lock in the screw tips.

also heard from a leica dealer that Lecia had made one of these rotating eyepieces to correct for astigmatism and orientation. Ha.

I may have to do some tweaking.

 

[wattsie]

My eyepiece which came before Christmas clearly did not have enough cement holding the lens on as it came off as soon as I took it out of the box. I took it up to my optometrist for re-cementing but they didn't do a great job. It also didn't seem to rotate properly. I contacted Jean-Louis and he was extremely helpful, asked me to send it back and a new one is now on its way. It's required a bit of patience, but when you have to order fairly bespoke items from offshore that's the deal. I guess I'll see how it works when the new one arrives, but it seems to be a great little product and the service from Jean Louis and Walter has been second to none. So, if you had any problems I'd be minded to get in touch with them first about how to proceed.

 

[Double Negative]

They do seem to go light on the glue - my inner piece separated from the outer - probably as a result of mounting and unmounting it repeatedly. I just applied some contact cement and re-glued.

I can understand why though - as your prescription changes, you'll have to "get in there" to change the lens sooner or later. Nevertheless...

Glad to hear wattsie, and I'd have to say that I'm sure Jean Louis and Walter will make things right if you approach them with concerns.