Mega Viewfinder

Universal Viewfinder

Leica Universal Wide-Angle Viewfinder M

Along with the loaner WATE, I received the Leica Universal Wide-Angle Viewfinder M. Because the built-in viewfinder on the M9 doesn’t have frame lines below 28mm, you’ll need some other way to compose your shots for lenses that are wider than 28mm. Fortunately, Leica sells this viewfinder in a package deal with the WATE. Despite its large size, this viewfinder is a wonderful example of German precision engineering.

The Universal Viewfinder is commonly referred to as the Frankenfinder. Leica fans affectionately call it that because it’s big and bulky (like Frankenstein) compared with the more typical single-focal-length viewfinders from Leica and other manufacturers.

Don’t let the size fool you. Leica has squeezed an amazing amount of functionality into a relatively small amount of space. Along with covering the most popular focal lengths from 16mm to 28mm, you can adjust the focal distance for parallax correction, which you can’t do with the built-in viewfinder. There’s a large visible area outside the frame lines, which is useful for seeing what might move into the frame as you’re composing the shot. And there’s a built-in spirit level to help you keep the camera level with the ground. A level camera is especially important for wide-angles lenses because the wider perspective can look odd when the camera is off-axis. Unfortunately, the spirit level didn’t work on the loaner unit I had.

All in all, I really like this viewfinder, though with it attached, I had a more difficult time getting the M9 in and out of my small camera bag. If you don’t mind bulking up your M-series camera, it’s a terrifically designed and extremely useful accessory.

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