Q&A: Why Do You Use 0.85x Leica Rangefinders instead of 1:1 Voigtländers?

by Johnny Martyr

Yesterday, long time photo buddy Brent Legum Levenson asked a really great question on my Facebook page. He was referencing my Leica M6 TTL cameras which have 0.85x viewfinder magnification.

“Any reason you got the .85? I think I’ve only seen the .72 versions in person. Also, I liked that the Bessa R3s were 1:1 finders, has Leica ever done that? It was cool being able to keep both eyes open”

Another shooter, Jeremy Yong chimed in with a good response: “0.85s magnification is awesome for framing a standard 50 mm especially in low light situations. It’s was the perfect combination with an additional 50mm viewfinder as the bright frame lines gives you super clarity in many situations.. you can do a scale focus and snap almost instantly. With a Noctilux it’s a great weapon”

I don’t know about adding an accessory viewfinder to a great M6 finder (once it’s been upgraded with flare free optics), but back when I was choosing my first Leica M, the Noctilux was precisely what I had in mind. 

When SLR’s were my primary camera, I wanted all my lenses to be fast, fast, fast. But fast Leitz lenses are expensive, expensive, expensive! And I realised that I probably wouldn’t like dealing with the practical issues that a Noctilux, or many fast rangefinder lenses, present, such as the need for all of ones cameras to be perfectly calibrated all the time and size and weight imbalance that blocks viewfinders, garners attention and makes for an uncomfortable camera to hold for long periods. 

But still, I do shoot longer/faster (cheaper) lenses like the 50mm 1.5 Summarit and 90mm f2 Summicron. So here’s what I said:

Brent Legum Levenson combined range/viewfinders are all about balancing baselength with magnification. The less you magnify, the bigger your viewfinders field of view but the less accurate your focusing is. And the more you magnify, the more accurate focusing is but the more narrow your field of view.

This means you can’t fit framelines for wider lenses in a higher magnified finder or make it 1:1.

But longer/faster lenses require more a more accurate rangefinder since they can have a more shallow depth of field. And that’s what I tend to use, longer/faster lenses. The .85 finder doesn’t have 28 framelines and barely has 35. This is fine for me since I don’t use 28mm and use a 40, rather than a 35mm lens.

.72 is the standard Leica magnification since the M2. It’s a good balance between having all possible framelines and focus accuracy for most lenses. You get lines for 28 and 35 but 135mm is very hard to see and everything is less accurate than .85.

The problem with the Voigtländer Bessa R series is that the cameras have a very short baselength; only 37mm compared the the M6’s 68.5mm.

Non-1:1 Voigtländers such as the Bessa R2 can get away with the short 37mm baselength because they have some magnification to help out. But when you take that magnification away completely for a 1:1 finder, you lose alot of focusing accuracy. 1:1 Bessa R3ma and R3a viewfinders look very nice but are only useful for wider/slower lenses. For faster/longer ones, they are nearly useless at wider apertures/closer distances.

Leica has never done a 1:1 finder, probably for this reason. The M3 has a .95x finder though. With that and my .85s, you can definitely keep both eyes open while shooting if you like, but it’s not perfect.

If you like to shoot with both eyes, you can always add a vintage Voigtländer Kontur viewfinder to any camera’s accessory shoe. They are 1:1 and have projected framelines too! Oh and I forgot, Nikon rangefinders like the S2 and SP have 1:1 zero magnification finders also. But they have a 60mm baselength so focusing accuracy is not compromised.

And of course, if you shoot wide angle or small maximum aperture lenses, you can also feel free to use something with little or no viewfinder magnification that gives you a better view, such as the Voigtländer Bessa R3m and R3a or 0.58x Leica Ms.

If you want to learn more about viewfinder magnification and effective baselength, check out this blog that drills down on the topic, that Petapixel also picked up.

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