Leica EVF-2. Fun with 28mm lenses. Re-appreciated.

Optical finders are nice. EVFs are nicer.

I've bought and used wide angle optical finders on rangefinder cameras and they work just fine but they aren't exactly stunningly accurate, as regards frame lines, and they are quite limited in the scope of things they can do. Most optical finders are designed for use with one focal length and, a further detraction, there is no ability to automatically compensate for parallax distortion. There is, of course, no way to see what the taking lens on the camera is actually seeing and (we've all done this...) you can't tell when using an auxiliary optical finder if you have left the lens cap on or not. So....optical finders/bright line finders....are limited to narrow one narrow function: approximating the composition of a specific focal length with direct viewing. 

In the pre-digital age a hardworking Leica M photographer who needed a better view for his or her wide angle and short telephoto lenses might have invested in a range of separate 21mm, 28mm, 90mm and 135mm bright line finders. One for each of those focal lengths. A working professional photojournalist might have dedicated a unique camera body for each focal length he or she commonly used. The 35mm and 50mm focal lengths didn't really need auxiliary optical finders as the view through the camera's finder window was generally as good as it was going to get and also included parallax correction. But that's still a lot of separate components to buy and keep track of in a full kit. 

When Leica resurrected the M rangefinder as a digital camera one of the things they added to the system was an EVF for the various models of cameras. These are enabled using the live view capability of the cameras (from the M9 onward, I think...).  While the need to use live view to see through the EVF slows the camera operation down a bit Leica M users can now use on auxiliary finder to cover the compositional needs of a very wide range of lenses, from at least 21mm all the way through long adapted lenses such as 135mms and even 300mms. But it's not just parallax compensated composing and framing that the electronic viewfinders provide. They also allow for magnification of the live frame which has several advantages. The first being that a magnified, real time, finder frame allows for pinpoint focusing with all manner of lenses, giving you higher focusing accuracy. And includes those with rangefinder coupling and those that have no focus coupling with the camera at all. 

The EVF can also show the effects of depth of field which is not possible with the optical finders. The EVF, with magnification, is a godsend for rangefinder calibration and, lastly, a live view enabled EVF will tell you, definitively, whether or not you still have your lens cap "engaged." 

Leica made available an EVF that you can use on an M240. I believe it's an exact copy of the one I had from Olympus, which was branded "Olympus" and which I used for several years with that company's EP-2 cameras. The Leica version, as you can see above, was branded as Leica. The specs are the same. The viewfinder provides an electronic screen with 1.4 MP of resolution. Low by today's standards but practical enough for a certain style of rangefinder shooting. The finder also articulates up 90° from eye level for times when you would like to work with the camera held at lower and lower angles. ( I think both the Olympus and the Leica EVFs were made by Epson!!!).

I bought one a while back to use mostly on an M 240 with the Carl Zeiss 28mm ZM lens. The M240 camera has 28mm frame lines but they are so close to the edges of the optical finder that they are hard to see without having to move your eye around to see your composition, and the 28mm frame lines are almost impossible to see when wearing eyeglasses. The EVF-2 does a great job remedying those problems.

And, having the EVF-2 mounted in the hot shoe of your camera doesn't mean you can't default to rangefinder focusing and the camera's viewfinder viewing if that's what you want to do in the moment. You can refrain from pushing the live view button and you can keep the EVF out of the operating process. 

In some instances I like working with two lenses at nearly the same time. My way of making life easy is to choose two identical cameras and use lenses with a fairly big gap between focal lengths. For example, on a recent job I used the 28mm lens on one camera and a 75mm f1.9 Voigtlander VM lens on a second camera. I could use the EVF with the 28mm and that made perfect sense but I also found that for critical framing with the 75mm lens it helped to use the EVF on that camera as well. 

Rather than switching lenses on one body or switching the EVF-2 back and forth between two cameras I thought it would be most efficient to just acquire a second EVF-2 and use one on each camera. I found a second one at a trusted supplier and had it sent along. It also fills a role in my overly cautious "need" for back-up gear. I feel more at ease, once I've learned to enjoy a certain tool, by having a back up copy in my bag; just in case. It may seem like overkill to have two identical EVFs for what are 12 year old camera models but there it is. If you are diligent you can pick them up all day long for around $200 USD. 

The EVF-2 even has a spiffy adjustable diopter on the eyepiece... nice. 

And, if you are afraid of Veblenism you can always cover the logo with 

some black tape. Or, better yet, you can seek out the Olympus version instead.

Warning: The EVF-2 does not work with later cameras such as the M10 or M11 variants.

Those will need newer EVF models. Check the specs before buying. 

Sure wish camera makers would give us all a break and decide on one universal battery to fit all cameras in a certain class. It's the batteries, I've decided, that give digital its patina of misery.

Mannequin image made possible through the advanced use of an EVF.

I was able to see how the background would go out of focus.

But if you need to focus and compose in a hurry you could just rely on zone focusing...

That works too.

Yeah, sure, you could just use a mirrorless camera but what's the fun in that? Not enough friction. Not enough immersion in the process. Winnowing down into the M black hole. Might be a mistake but it's never impossible to course correct.