21 ASPH with beyesb

[mattinasi]

I have seen a used 21mm ASPH for sale, and it claims to have a Leica modification - eyes! I am presuming that these eyes make viewing in the standard viewfinder possible, reducing the magnification of the VF in other words. Does anyone know about this modification? What VF magnification does it work with? I love the idea of not having to use an external VF for the 21mm...

Thanks for any info,
- marc

 

[hektor]

Dear Marc,

It is not a "Leica modification". There is a camera mechanic in Canada who buys old 35mm lenses in the M3 mount (mostly Summaron), discards the 35 lens, installs the 21 lens and somehow alters the viewfinder.

I cannot say how successful the adaptation is, however on the M3 the additional air/glass surfaces reduced the quality of the viewfinder.

Try before you buy!

Regards,

Justin

 

[frank]

I think the lens he installed is the 24 NON Asph..... Now he may do the 21 ASPH as well, but that I am not aware of. Tom Abrahamsson did the design, XXX Mueller of Toronto does the mods..... They show up on Ebay every once in a while... the 24 runs around $1200 when it does sell......

 

[mattinasi]

The lens I saw for sale is the 21 ASPH, and it is about $1800 in MINT- condition.

Knowing that Tom was involved in the design gives me a lot more confidence in it! I'm a big fan of his...

It seems like the 35mm goggles should be fine as-is: 50mm to 35mm is a 0.7x magnification factor. Applying that to the 28mm framelines would yield approximately 20mm, pretty close to the 21mm.

Personally, I dislike using an external finder. I never really trust it at close distances, and I like to use the 21 with close foreground subjects. Maybe it is just my finder, or maybe it is me, but I find it to be cumbersome at best and I generally end up being conservative and then having to crop. Being able to focus and frame at the same time would be cool too...

Thanks for the information!

- marc

 

[frank]

Gee Mark, for $1800 it is a good deal.... I have thought about it myself, but I have a 24 ASPH that I rarely use... I should sell the one I have instead of buying a replacement. BTW, I do not claim that the lens you are looking at IS the Tom lens..... You could email him and ask.....

 

[sdmjr]

Gentlemen, Framing with his modification isn't as accurate as with a traditional external 21mm viewfinder. Plus, as I remember it, the viewfinder gets very dark. Happy Snaps, Sal