As we get older, our eyesight deteriorates, which can be fatal when taking photographs, especially when focusing on manual lenses, as I use on my rangefinder cameras. This applies in particular to focal lengths above 50mm. Now Leica offers correction lenses that can be adjusted to the respective diopter strength. Not bad, but not cheap either, and if your vision changes, you have to buy new ones. So why not a magnifying lens that can be used to magnify the viewfinder image and also adjust the diopters flexibly? Of course, Leica was also smart enough to realize this, but at equally professional prices. Fortunately, there are the Chinese, or more precisely, the people at
Light Lens Lab, who have been reproducing lens classics such as the 1966 Noctilux from Leica, whose patents have expired, in
excellent quality for a few years now. And a magnifying glass that can be screwed onto the viewfinder of various M Leicas -
a thread adapter is included - with 1.4x magnification and +3/-3 diopter compensation. As with the lenses, the material used here is brass, which is painted black to match the cameras, which are also painted black and, like the cameras, will develop a beautiful patina over the years and with wear. It also comes with another rubber protector that can be put over the eyepiece to protect plastic glasses, for example, which are softer than brass and could easily scratch. Fits and tested on my M11M, the M-P (240) and the analog MP. For just €122.95, it's a no-brainer, to which €9 or so in import duties are added. By way of comparison,
Leica charges €275.00 for its viewfinder magnifier and
€60 for the adapter ring, which has to be purchased separately. However, to my knowledge, the Leica original does not have a diopter adjustment.
Of course, you always have to decide for yourself what suits you. Another aspect of the Light Lens Lab optics that should not be neglected is the price, which in the case of the original mentioned above, if it is still available in
acceptable quality, is only a tenth of the Leica price for the
Light Lens Lab replica of the Leica price: depending on the version - aluminum body black paint: €1856, brass body chrome/black paint: €2134 or titanium body grey: €2320 (excluding import duties).
This makes you wonder, even though Leica has been manufacturing the
Noctilux again for a few years and sells it for €7,390.00, but not with the "classic" invoice from 1966 or the imitated glass types, etc. Various reputable tests, such as those by
Ed Schwartzreich or
Richard Clompus, confirm that the LLL 1966 also has the mechanical and optical quality mentioned above, which is produced in hand-made individual production.
In my opinion, the main arguments against buying are the fact that copies will of course not have the same resale value as the original classic or the current model. In addition, there is no European distributor, which means that you have to become an importer yourself. Likewise, the claim of any guarantees is of course problematic insofar as you have to send the lens to China yourself. In any case, the customs office is happy to charge up to 19% in import sales tax and other customs fees. If that doesn't bother you, you will receive your ordered treasure in just under 14 days via a trackable DHL shipment. The same logistics company also collects the import costs due plus "expenses", so that you usually don't have to go to the customs office in person.
Personally, I can only speak for the viewfinder, which has been doing its job "to my complete satisfaction" for a few days now: focusing with 90mm or 135mm lenses is much easier, and for wide-angle to normal focal lengths, the pupil distance should be taken into account for people wearing glasses: it is possible that not all viewfinder frames are recognizable.
I have a little goodie for you: If you order something from Light Lens Lab via
this link, you will receive a 5% discount.
While in my
short report from May 6 this year I still said that I still had to save up a bit to buy the 1966, I can now report that I was lucky enough to get hold of another lens. I imported it myself directly from China, and I was lucky because the customs didn't take much interest in the package. ;-)
Anyway, a report on the 1966 will be online soon. Stay tuned.
Transparency: I purchased the viewfinder magnifier and the 1966 at my own expense. I do not receive any money from Light Lens Lab (LLL) for the review. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you buy one of the linked products, you will be supporting me. The product itself will not cost you any more than usual. Thank you very much for that.
