Hey everyone -- I just bought a Leica II that came with a 50mm f/3.5 lens. Last week I bought a 35mm f/3.5 in Vancouver. Do I need a viewfinder for the 35mm or can I just use the camera's composition window? Thanks in advance for all responses.
Thanks, Justin. What's the difference between the chrome and nickel? I don't have the camera here in front of me but it looks nickel (it's all black but some of the black laquer has been rubbed off). I can send the serial number later.
The VIDOM finder matches the age of the Leica II however the later VIOOH is a better finder as, unlike the VIDOM, it does not reverse the image laterally. As Justin said it depends how original you want to be. Both finders have manual parallax correction and both work by masking (cropping) the image as the focal length increases. If you intend to stick to your 35mm lens this does not matter as 35mm is the largest area of the finder.
I understand the Russian turret finders regularly advertised on ebay are pretty good as is the Zeiss KM2 but I have no experience of these. I understand these are zoom finders so that you always have the full viewfinder image area at each focal length.
The VIDOM was/is a very common item in both nickel and chrome. Search eBay, Google, the LHSA. It is likely that the optics will need cleaning after seventy years, so do not be put off when your prized VIDOM arrives. Malcolm Taylor in England or Don Goldberg in the United States can restore it to new for little cost. Just make sure the VIDOM you buy is cosmetically perfect. E-mail me off-Forum if I can help further. jcdscott@bigpond.net.au
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