The rangefinder couples with M glass only to 70cm and with the EVF you can get much closer with many lenses, this is a major advantage. Also, with the EEVF you can use all the wide angle lenses there are no framelines or coupling built in M rangefinders. So you can do landscapes. Also like on other cameras with EVF in B&W JPEG mode you can see the scene in B&W so you can compose, no longer guessing how it looks. Older people will find the EVF easier to focus with.
The M is a limited tool good for specific uses, and I see the evf as not so much as another way to do those things, but adding a few additional uses to the camera. Focusing on closer subjects than the RF allows, having more exact framing, shooting at a low angle with the EVF tilted up, more easily checking whether Leica has the rangefinder properly calibrated...
Totally agree with your comments, although I do like to use it for very wide or long lenses when it helps (especially with my 18mm SEM). Also, I really like the ability to flip it up and use it as a right angle finder when you get low or want to look a bit more discreet. On the point about about not being able to change the focus point when looking through the Visoflex, I wonder if they can change this via firmware and copy what the Hasselblad X1DII does, where you can move your finger around the touchscreen to change the focus point while you are looking through the EVF.
Great comment Alex. I was about to pull the trigger on the Visoflex 2 for my M11- which is coming in this week. I will try to get adept at suing the rangefinder focusing before I consider the purchase. Thanks for the honest review!
I mostly agree on your thoughts though there are occasions when you need absolute precision in focusing on a tripod or at ground level for instance. I received yesterday my 35/2 apo and at close distances (30cm) the evf is a required tool as it looks like you are almost using a macro lens. In all other circumstances the rangefinder is the way to go…
Agree with you 50%. The rangefinder/patch experience is superior and more pleasing then the flex2. However the patch is near unusable in low light astuations and that's t where the flex FLEXES it's ability to make your M usable in all lighting situations.
Thanks. This is refreshingly frank. I think your conclusion might have the benefit of youth behind it. However, for someone in his mid 50s with terrible eyesight, always heavily corrected in three aspects by spectacles, this EVF does give me the best focusing/framing supplement ever on an M camera if I cannot zone focus or nail things in the RF because, for example, the scene is low contrast. There is no doubt it is still a league behind the EVF in SL2. Why we couldn't have that atop an M camera I know not. At the price of this gadget we perhaps ought to have an EVF that capable. It is like looking round a big , bright amphitheatre. It would only be commensurate with the price of M11. I have a feeling that there would be too much product convergence for the marketeers to tolerate might be the reason. Shooting wide lenses (whether on or off a tripod) and shooting a 75 or 90 is now much more achievable for me. I am afraid the silly , absurdly priced little magnifiers for RF focusing at longer lengths are a long way behind the function of this. Once you have lost one and need to replace a 1.4 magnifier you end up in a not dissimilar price territory to this eVF which, I think, I won't lose.
Really great review, even if it’s not for you, and I agree with your reasoning. My thoughts on the Visoflex is that it could make the M a replacement for my SL. Super light without the Visoflex. Flexible enough to use 21mm and 15mm wides and 135mm… also it’s tillable so it makes the M more useable for landscapes. After all it was a camera that was originally made for hiking.
Same here: I have 24mm, 35mm, 75mm and 135mm lenses and use them through the rangefinder only except when my subject is between 10-50m and I want to use 135mm. In that case, the throw on the lens is so small and sensitive that the patch really isn't a reliable way to focus. It's really a corner case, but not willing to dismiss 135mm because of that.
Thanks for the advice. If you are a black and white photographer like me, the viewfinder cancels out your real vision of what you want to photograph. Is that correct?
Um focusing on something on the left or right of frame with the range finder would be the same process as with the visoflex if you don’t apply an auto focus work flow punch in at the center focus reframe, I really wish this guy would have talked about the focus peaking on the visoflex because when I tried one out at the store I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on.
Can't tell for sure but looks like the 28mm summicron is on your camera now? I had the summilux 35mm and returned while I could and got the 28mm instead. Liked the lux 35 but so close to the lux 50 and now the 28mm gives me breathing room and $1500 back to pay for the Visoflex when it finally arrives with money left over. Glad you liked it and makes me feel better about waiting since mid-January for it.....
@@ABarrera Nice. I did really like the 35 lux's 'light' and milky feel, just wanted wider and more flexibility in my kit. the 28 lux was just too much $$ and weight.
congratulations on the summilux f1.4, its a great lens and so small! Finally someone doing a review on the visoflex 2, My goal is to sell the 020 visoflex and get this for my M10, at least I will get an OLED display, right? When another visoflex comes out, we know it will not be compatible with the M10 but I have to agree with you, for the most part, the RF does a brilliant job at focusing. During low light conditions an EVF becomes useful. Using the visoflex, you really dont need to zoom in all the time, it should be crisp enough for your eyes to see where the focus is, especially with wide aperture lenses like at f 1.4 or better f0.95!
Im liking it with the 50mm f0.95 but I don't magnify at all just use the peaking and its been ok. My only peeve is the Visoflex is sharp on the screen but if you look at the playback image its very soft compare to what you just saw
Solid review and opinion. I was surprised when you mentioned that you bought the V2 for your 50 Lux and 35 Lux - I find both of these lenses super easy to focus wide open - super symbiosis between these lenses and the RF of the 11. I have a V2 - but only bring it out to focus wide open on my APO 75 as I previously missed optimal focus with this lens on a fair number of shots.
When you get older in 70s you will need it. I use it because of my old eyes. When I was 20-30 yo there was not Visoflex for my Leica and it was not needed for me. Regards.
I bought the EVF to get a better view and the advantage of seeing changes I made with aperture, ISO, and Shutter speed online. It is much easier to learn or relax when you change the aperture and see for example how the image is changing, or ISO for example. After I put Visoflex 2 on Leica 11 I couldn't find the way to use EVF in this way, as I can't find the Menu settings to set such an option. On my Leica M (240) I can do this with EVF. If somebody know what I am talking about please help me with this option. Thank you !
excellent video and congratulations for your opinion, I congratulate you because you gave a negative opinion of something I use... there are people who make videos, and give their opinion without ever having the article in their hands.-
I am a professional fotografeer with Leica M and Hasselbad etc My Kodak Tri-X, was always OK since the Sixties; no grain. There are no fast tele lenses, so buy 3200 ISO film. Do you print your "experiences" in colour or B&W ? You talk like a salesman. Jaco van Lith, The Netherlands @@arthurlamir494
@@jacovanlith5082 yeah well you ever shot moving subjects in the woods, under a clouded sky at night, lit only by the break lights of a car thats 10 meters away? I’m not a salesman, but as a press photographer I have to be able to do my job in conditions like that. Try to keep shooting in such conditions at f4 with 3200 asa color film: In the 60s, everyone would’ve just told you it’s impossible to get shots like that unless you work with 1/6s or something, which is quite possible but I don’t always want to do that when I’m working at night soo really glad there are fast lenses available nowadays
I share the same views. I bought a rangefinder for the RF experince. A £600 attachent that is not fully funtioning with a fast camera joystick also counters the objective.
Thanks so much for this feedback. At first I was reluctant to buy one because I wanted the rangefinder experience. Having some doubts from time to time, the new visoflex seemed like a good idea. But I really have a M body to shoot differently and you confirmed what I expected: it kinda wrecks the experience and the whole purpose of the camera.
I bought the visoflex bcoz of what u said on previous video, not everyone comfortable with RF and i thought i never realised, for a decade shooting digital body, i seldom if not, very rarely being in the frame And i agree very much with you, the experience with RF is quite valuable
I hope M12 should have hybrind view finder, both in one, EVF and Leica M standard view finder. It will open the world to Leica M users to use wide variety of lenses with many focal lengths not just limited to 50mm or 35mm. Fuji has developed hybrid view finder probably almost 10 years already to their cameras X100 and X-Pro series. While Leica users must buy Visoflex or EV magnifier separately and cost all together almost same as amount of money buying Fuji camera. I have used Leica M from M9, MM, M262, and M10 (which is my last one). I decided not to move to M11. Now I am using SL2s and Fuji X100V.
It received a brief mention below but it deserves another rehash, the Visoflex remains the last resort for an end user experiencing failing eyesight. The rangefinder commands good eyesight as a prerequisite, and some M owners with this issue who do not wish to part with their cherished Leica-M really have no other choice, forsake the very essence of this unique camera with this Visoflex add-on or continue to take blurry, soft shots in vain..
No one’s mentioning massive mount contact issues with these, nor the horrendous optics with distracting pupil swim when moving the eye side to side. Found out about both of these only after buying it. As is typical of leica community.
Alex, I could not agree more! The Visoflex 2 to me is kludgy. The rangefinder of the Leica is quick, accurate & easy to use. I *want* the RF experience (multi-decade D/SLR user here) & I rarely shoot w/a 50 or longer (I mainly shoot w/an 18/21 SEM). The Visoflex 2 is going back! Less is more.
I am a professional fotografeer with Leica M and Hasselbad etc My Kodak Tri-X, was always OK since the Sixties; no grain. There are no fast tele lenses, so buy 3200 ISO film. Do you print your "experiences" in colour or B&W ? You talk like a salesman.
Thanks for the advice. If you are a black and white photographer like me, the viewfinder cancels out your real vision of what you want to photograph. Is that correct?
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
The rangefinder couples with M glass only to 70cm and with the EVF you can get much closer with many lenses, this
is a major advantage. Also, with the EEVF you can use all the wide angle lenses there are no framelines or coupling built in
M rangefinders. So you can do landscapes. Also like on other cameras with EVF in B&W JPEG mode you can see the
scene in B&W so you can compose, no longer guessing how it looks.
Older people will find the EVF easier to focus with.
Keep it just in case you buy a lens under 28mm or maybe use it with a 90mm or 135mm.
The M is a limited tool good for specific uses, and I see the evf as not so much as another way to do those things, but adding a few additional uses to the camera. Focusing on closer subjects than the RF allows, having more exact framing, shooting at a low angle with the EVF tilted up, more easily checking whether Leica has the rangefinder properly calibrated...
The historical practice is to find focus using the rangefinder and then look through the evf for precise framing.
From a Leica user, in terms of aesthetics it certainly doesn't add to the beauty of a M camera
indeed, one would get it purely for performance.
still an improvement over the 020
Haha! That’s a very diplomatic way to put it. “Doesn’t add to the beauty”. 😂
Totally agree with your comments, although I do like to use it for very wide or long lenses when it helps (especially with my 18mm SEM). Also, I really like the ability to flip it up and use it as a right angle finder when you get low or want to look a bit more discreet. On the point about about not being able to change the focus point when looking through the Visoflex, I wonder if they can change this via firmware and copy what the Hasselblad X1DII does, where you can move your finger around the touchscreen to change the focus point while you are looking through the EVF.
Canon does the same thing, if they enabled the touchscreen while using the Visoflex it would be 1000x better.
Great comment Alex. I was about to pull the trigger on the Visoflex 2 for my M11- which is coming in this week. I will try to get adept at suing the rangefinder focusing before I consider the purchase. Thanks for the honest review!
I mostly agree on your thoughts though there are occasions when you need absolute precision in focusing on a tripod or at ground level for instance. I received yesterday my 35/2 apo and at close distances (30cm) the evf is a required tool as it looks like you are almost using a macro lens. In all other circumstances the rangefinder is the way to go…
Agree with you 50%. The rangefinder/patch experience is superior and more pleasing then the flex2. However the patch is near unusable in low light astuations and that's t where the flex FLEXES it's ability to make your M usable in all lighting situations.
Thanks. This is refreshingly frank. I think your conclusion might have the benefit of youth behind it. However, for someone in his mid 50s with terrible eyesight, always heavily corrected in three aspects by spectacles, this EVF does give me the best focusing/framing supplement ever on an M camera if I cannot zone focus or nail things in the RF because, for example, the scene is low contrast. There is no doubt it is still a league behind the EVF in SL2. Why we couldn't have that atop an M camera I know not. At the price of this gadget we perhaps ought to have an EVF that capable. It is like looking round a big , bright amphitheatre. It would only be commensurate with the price of M11. I have a feeling that there would be too much product convergence for the marketeers to tolerate might be the reason. Shooting wide lenses (whether on or off a tripod) and shooting a 75 or 90 is now much more achievable for me. I am afraid the silly , absurdly priced little magnifiers for RF focusing at longer lengths are a long way behind the function of this. Once you have lost one and need to replace a 1.4 magnifier you end up in a not dissimilar price territory to this eVF which, I think, I won't lose.
How do you focus on something off axis wide open using range finder? The point of focus will shift.
Hi, great video; I was wondering on adjusting the Diopter for near or far sighted people, do you know which way is + and which way goes to - ?
Thanks for your honest review! Spot on with this accessory!
Really great review, even if it’s not for you, and I agree with your reasoning. My thoughts on the Visoflex is that it could make the M a replacement for my SL. Super light without the Visoflex. Flexible enough to use 21mm and 15mm wides and 135mm… also it’s tillable so it makes the M more useable for landscapes. After all it was a camera that was originally made for hiking.
Same here: I have 24mm, 35mm, 75mm and 135mm lenses and use them through the rangefinder only except when my subject is between 10-50m and I want to use 135mm.
In that case, the throw on the lens is so small and sensitive that the patch really isn't a reliable way to focus. It's really a corner case, but not willing to dismiss 135mm because of that.
Thanks for the advice. If you are a black and white photographer like me, the viewfinder cancels out your real vision of what you want to photograph. Is that correct?
Um focusing on something on the left or right of frame with the range finder would be the same process as with the visoflex if you don’t apply an auto focus work flow punch in at the center focus reframe, I really wish this guy would have talked about the focus peaking on the visoflex because when I tried one out at the store I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on.
Adapting other lenses make an EVF a reasonable alternative, since none of the R, or many classic lens from other brands function with the rangefinder.
i had one for my m10, but i never really used it. If I were to ever get an m11, I would probably skip the Visoflex.
Awesome review. Thanks for the input. I was also not sure if I should get the visoflex 2 for my M11. Your video made it clear. 😀. Thanks.
Can't tell for sure but looks like the 28mm summicron is on your camera now? I had the summilux 35mm and returned while I could and got the 28mm instead. Liked the lux 35 but so close to the lux 50 and now the 28mm gives me breathing room and $1500 back to pay for the Visoflex when it finally arrives with money left over. Glad you liked it and makes me feel better about waiting since mid-January for it.....
35 Summicron was on at the time, I did sell it and pick up the 35 Lux. Loving it so far
@@ABarrera Nice. I did really like the 35 lux's 'light' and milky feel, just wanted wider and more flexibility in my kit. the 28 lux was just too much $$ and weight.
You bought the Visoflex2 before you discovered what the rangefinder could do? Isn't that a bit like looking before leaping?
More on the 35mm Summilux? How much later???? :38
Entire new video later 😆
I’ve had Invisalign for almost 9 months now. Over time, you’ll almost forget that you have them in haha it’s totally worth it!
It’s already better after just 2 weeks 🙌🏼
thank you! saved me some money
On the M11 this Visoflex 2 perform much better than on a M10 witch cannot produce full resolution.
congratulations on the summilux f1.4, its a great lens and so small! Finally someone doing a review on the visoflex 2, My goal is to sell the 020 visoflex and get this for my M10, at least I will get an OLED display, right? When another visoflex comes out, we know it will not be compatible with the M10 but I have to agree with you, for the most part, the RF does a brilliant job at focusing. During low light conditions an EVF becomes useful. Using the visoflex, you really dont need to zoom in all the time, it should be crisp enough for your eyes to see where the focus is, especially with wide aperture lenses like at f 1.4 or better f0.95!
Im liking it with the 50mm f0.95 but I don't magnify at all just use the peaking and its been ok. My only peeve is the Visoflex is sharp on the screen but if you look at the playback image its very soft compare to what you just saw
I don’t find peaking to be very accurate at all
Please can you do a comparison review of the Leica 35mm apo vs Leica 50mm apo.
Help me find a 35 APO 😆
@@ABarrera haha yes difficult lens to get hold off. Which lens do you use Leica M?
Solid review and opinion. I was surprised when you mentioned that you bought the V2 for your 50 Lux and 35 Lux - I find both of these lenses super easy to focus wide open - super symbiosis between these lenses and the RF of the 11. I have a V2 - but only bring it out to focus wide open on my APO 75 as I previously missed optimal focus with this lens on a fair number of shots.
Great review buddy. Loved it. Thanks.
When you get older in 70s you will need it. I use it because of my old eyes. When I was 20-30 yo there was not Visoflex for my Leica and it was not needed for me. Regards.
That’s a great point. I’m happy a product like this exist, I want to be able to use my camera and still take awesome images.
Thank-you👍👍
I bought the EVF to get a better view and the advantage of seeing changes I made with aperture, ISO, and Shutter speed online. It is much easier to learn or relax when you change the aperture and see for example how the image is changing, or ISO for example. After I put Visoflex 2 on Leica 11 I couldn't find the way to use EVF in this way, as I can't find the Menu settings to set such an option. On my Leica M (240) I can do this with EVF. If somebody know what I am talking about please help me with this option. Thank you !
excellent video and congratulations for your opinion, I congratulate you because you gave a negative opinion of something I use... there are people who make videos, and give their opinion without ever having the article in their hands.-
I would mount the Lica on a tripod.
Why shooting wide open?
What is the use of fast lenses?
I shoot reportage photography and press photography with my m10-p, I really need fast lenses if I want to shoot under 12k iso
I am a professional fotografeer with Leica M and Hasselbad etc
My Kodak Tri-X, was always OK since the Sixties; no grain.
There are no fast tele lenses, so buy 3200 ISO film.
Do you print your "experiences" in colour or B&W ?
You talk like a salesman.
Jaco van Lith, The Netherlands
@@arthurlamir494
@@jacovanlith5082 yeah well you ever shot moving subjects in the woods, under a clouded sky at night, lit only by the break lights of a car thats 10 meters away? I’m not a salesman, but as a press photographer I have to be able to do my job in conditions like that. Try to keep shooting in such conditions at f4 with 3200 asa color film: In the 60s, everyone would’ve just told you it’s impossible to get shots like that unless you work with 1/6s or something, which is quite possible but I don’t always want to do that when I’m working at night soo really glad there are fast lenses available nowadays
Very helpful! Great to know. Thank you.
I share the same views. I bought a rangefinder for the RF experince. A £600 attachent that is not fully funtioning with a fast camera joystick also counters the objective.
Thanks so much for this feedback. At first I was reluctant to buy one because I wanted the rangefinder experience. Having some doubts from time to time, the new visoflex seemed like a good idea. But I really have a M body to shoot differently and you confirmed what I expected: it kinda wrecks the experience and the whole purpose of the camera.
I bought the visoflex bcoz of what u said on previous video, not everyone comfortable with RF and i thought i never realised, for a decade shooting digital body, i seldom if not, very rarely being in the frame
And i agree very much with you, the experience with RF is quite valuable
Very helpful thanks 🙏
I hope M12 should have hybrind view finder, both in one, EVF and Leica M standard view finder. It will open the world to Leica M users to use wide variety of lenses with many focal lengths not just limited to 50mm or 35mm. Fuji has developed hybrid view finder probably almost 10 years already to their cameras X100 and X-Pro series. While Leica users must buy Visoflex or EV magnifier separately and cost all together almost same as amount of money buying Fuji camera. I have used Leica M from M9, MM, M262, and M10 (which is my last one). I decided not to move to M11. Now I am using SL2s and Fuji X100V.
Hybrid viewfinder would be incredible. It would make the camera a lot more flexible. Hopefully one day 🤞🏼
Nice work on the review , try it on longer lenses even 135mm and you will notice the digital stabilization, It helped a lot !!
It received a brief mention below but it deserves another rehash, the Visoflex remains the last resort for an end user experiencing failing eyesight. The rangefinder commands good eyesight as a prerequisite, and some M owners with this issue who do not wish to part with their cherished Leica-M really have no other choice, forsake the very essence of this unique camera with this Visoflex add-on or continue to take blurry, soft shots in vain..
Good point
Lucky man getting all these toys so early. Fast forward to mid-March and I’m still waiting for mine.
Adorama shipped everything super quick
@@ABarrera Adorama is a snail right now
Thank you for an honest appraisal and opinion.
No one’s mentioning massive mount contact issues with these, nor the horrendous optics with distracting pupil swim when moving the eye side to side. Found out about both of these only after buying it. As is typical of leica community.
That hand grip doesnt look like it was made for your leica though lol
aligned....
Alex, I could not agree more! The Visoflex 2 to me is kludgy. The rangefinder of the Leica is quick, accurate & easy to use. I *want* the RF experience (multi-decade D/SLR user here) & I rarely shoot w/a 50 or longer (I mainly shoot w/an 18/21 SEM). The Visoflex 2 is going back! Less is more.
I am a professional fotografeer with Leica M and Hasselbad etc
My Kodak Tri-X, was always OK since the Sixties; no grain.
There are no fast tele lenses, so buy 3200 ISO film.
Do you print your "experiences" in colour or B&W ?
You talk like a salesman.
Just wait until you get old and your eyes start messing up the rangefinder...!
Way over price over $1400.00 AUSTRALIA dollars . Only for bad eyesight and in experience shooter but Good for night shooting .
Ditch the teleprompter
I don’t own one 🤣
imagine paying $7000 for the $700 SONY a6000 experience
Thanks for the advice. If you are a black and white photographer like me, the viewfinder cancels out your real vision of what you want to photograph. Is that correct?