This website has been optimised for the Safari internet browser. You can download this browser for free on the official Apple website here. There is a Windows and a Macintosh version. Please install this great software appropriate and enjoy your visit on this site.

The finder is made of a durable black painted die casting housing, which incorporates the same intelligent optics for displaying the brilliant Leica bright lines for each focal length, you know form your Leica M body.

The proper focal length are set by a selection dial on top, while the frames are parallax corrected for different focus distances, which can be set manually by a second dial.

This adjustable parallax correction makes the Leica finder superior for critical framing to the available single focal length finders from several vendors, including the excellent ones from Leica or Zeiss.

Additionally, the finder displays a bubble level insight the viewfinder window, which works excellent for accurate framing the shot for architectural work.

A few last words regarding the myths, floating the internet about this accessory:

    The finder is not heavy!

In combination with the shown Voigtländer 15 mm Heliar M, it does not feel more heavy, than just using a Leica 50 Summilux ASPH with the same body. It indeed is far from reaching DSLR weight categories, which brings me to the next myth:

    The finder is not too big!

It is indeed lower in total height than the latest multi focal length finder offering from Voigtländer.

    The finder is not expensive!

It does give you superiour brilliant frames for five differnet focal lengths inclusive adjustable parallax correction. It does give a brilliant and bright view, as the single focals from Leica or Zeiss with bright lines for framing, still showing some scene outside of the frame for anticipation of movement and decisive exposures.

It does so including even a (horizontally oriented) fully functional bubble level. For vertical framing, one has to judge the orientation without the bubble level.

It does all this for 5 differnet focal lengths for just the price of two Leica single finders. And all of this in a most compact, ingenious design.

If you use several wide angle lenses on your Leica M rangedfinder camera and you are serious about your framing, there is simply no better.

One advice though for people, who think about buying this finder for use on several different cameras:

The Leica Universal Wide Angle Finder is designed for the offset between accessory shoe and lens axis for the Leica M. This is different from other cameras (namely the EPSON R-D1 and Voigtländer film bodies), which results in introduced horizontal parallax error in your framing.

…

28. March 2010

T he Leica Universal Wide Angle Finder is a product which does create some interesting discussions amongst users.

Some suggest it is a quite big and even “ugly looking” accessory to use, attached to the over decades perfected Leica M camera gestalt.

Others, who seemingly have used the finder to a certain extend do swear by it as the best, brightest and most accurate finder available for different focal lengths for the Leica M camera.

I had my reservations regarding size, weight and costs as well before actually using one. Nevertheless, was I always interested in this accessory, as my share of more affordable different finders already have reached a certain level of costs, where a multi focal length finder would have been a potential better solution - especially with the reported qualities of the Leica finder.

There are other multifocal wide angle finders available, namely from Leica and Voigtländer, which I will not comment here. I suggest, to have a good look at Dante Stella’s website for a very compact and informative overview.

“ enjoy photography”    © 2010 Dirk Steffen

All images can be found in my gallery of product shots in higher resolution.