Leica 1.4x Magnifier Review

Here is a short review of this magnifier.
I am using this on a 50mm Nokton 1.1.
The price is pricey, around USD 3xx but it served a very unique purpose.
Now before i get to that purpose, lets just see what exactly it is supposed to do.

Basically it just magnifies whatever you see on your viewfinder by 1.4. The aim is to enable you to superimpose (focus) much easier on your M camera. Does it work? Of course, it is much easier
to focus using this 1.4 magnifier.

On the M9, which have 0.68 on the default viewfinder, this 1.4 means that it will be : 0.952.

Now let me iterate on the unique purpose. Don't buy this if you plan on using anything lower than 50 mm!
- it will obscure the wide frame and you will have a hard time guessing what is the frame that you will be getting if you are using something lower than 50 mm


On the 50 mm that i have, i find it VERY suitable because the frame is actually the whole viewfinder when i use the 1.4. So its not hard to estimate where is the wide frame because it is more or less equivalent to the whole picture that you see.

The unique purpose however is :
- You can focus with both eyes open on the M9.


It gives you a view of around 1.0 real life image so you can open both eyes and still be able to focus! This also means you no longer need to depend on the viewfinder to see if anything is entering/leaving the scene, because its just going to be like you wore an eyewear and you are looking plainly at the subject while you are composing.

So thats it. A short review and probably not helpful for users of anything except M9. But if you are an M9 user and you frequently use the 50mm or above, i guess this buy can't be wrong.

The magnifier comes in a rugged leather hardcase and a chain that you can mount on your strap. You can basically carry it seamlessly with the camera and mount at will. For me, i just mount it and spend the time learning to estimate the wide frame.