Using 35mm FL on SP

[Vincent.G]

Is it difficult to use since the 35mm framelines and RF patch are in different part of the viewfinder and requires a slight shift in viewing to focus and compose?

Anyone uses the entire main viewfinder window as a guide to 35mm framing? Or is it possible for someone who wear spectacles?

[furcafe]

No & yes.

Using the 28/35mm VF on the SP is just like using an accessory finder on any other camera. Less convenient than a built-in frameline? Yes, but not as inconvenient as having to put something in the accessory shoe. Difficult? No.

In a pinch, you can use the entire VF window as an approximation for the 35mm coverage, as the framelines are only an approximation, too (e.g., just like Leicas, the frames are sized for the closest focus distance, so you will always get substantially more on film if you're shooting @ middle & long distances). If you wear glasses, I think the coverage of the entire main VF is more like 40mm.

[jonmanjiro]

Compared to an accessory finder that slots into the hot shoe, its much less of an eye shift so easier to use the SP's inbuilt wide angle finder. Definitely easy to use once you're used to it.

It always puzzles me when people say they use the entire SP finder to frame a 35mm lens. 35mm is a lot wider than 50mm and IMO its much easier to frame accurately using the built-in wide angle finder than scan around the entire main finder with your eye.

[Tom A]

Having spent the last 4 weeks shooting with only Nikon Rf's in Europe (2 Sp's and 2 S3's) I find the SP 35 finder quite easy to use - just a slight shift and you are there. Were it really works well is in vertical mode too.
I tend to use the SP with either 28 or 85/105 - but this trip one of the SP's had a 35f2.5 on it (the 35f1.8 was on a S3) and it was a small compact, almost pocketable set up.
Only problem is the viewfinder frame on the SP - because you are forever shifting from right to left, pushing the camera against the glasses, you now have an entirely different set of scratches on them. OH, well, every couple of years I replace the left lens anyway after it has gotten that nice "cross hatch" pattern from various M2's and Nikon Rf's.

[furcafe]

I don't think 35mm is really that much wider than 50mm (it's not like it was that hard for Nikon to modify the VF for the S3, after all) & it's not like the framelines in the wide angle VF are particularly accurate, but mainly it's a decent workaround when you don't want to take your eye away from the action in the main VF.

Originally Posted by jonmanjiro

It always puzzles me when people say they use the entire SP finder to frame a 35mm lens. 35mm is a lot wider than 50mm and IMO its much easier to frame accurately using the built-in wide angle finder than scan around the entire main finder with your eye.

[VinceC]

Sometimes framing is critical and you shift your eye to the wide-angle finder. Sometimes focus is critical, and after framing with the wide-angle I shift back to the main finder to track focusing. In that case I try to maintain the approximate framing and to pay attention to what's happening outside the 50mm frameline. If you have both an S3 and an SP and use them often enough, it's very easy to visualize the relationship between 35mm and 50mm framelines. Then framing the 35mm becomes second nature.