6 bit coding for Zeiss ZM lenses?

[gurtch]

Can anyone mill notches in my ZM lenses to convey info to my M8?. I am interessted in coding ZM 21, 28, and 35mm lenses. I also have an uncoded 24mm Leica Aspherical...can a 3rd party do this as well?
Thanks in advance
Dave Gurtcheff
Beach Haven, NJ

 

[noimmunity]

John Milich jm@milich.com
If your 21 is the C Biogon 21/4.5, it's a complicated process, unless you bought one from Popflash who have exchanged the mount. Otherwise you would need to send it to DAG and ask him to mount a new flange milled by JM.
The 28 and 35 lenses are straightforward and easy.

 

[gurtch]

John Milich jm@milich.com
If your 21 is the C Biogon 21/4.5, it's a complicated process, unless you bought one from Popflash who have exchanged the mount. Otherwise you would need to send it to DAG and ask him to mount a new flange milled by JM.
The 28 and 35 lenses are straightforward and easy.

Thanks; the 21mm is the f2.8 lens.
Dave

 

[xthunder]

Dave, if your Biogon 28mm brings up 50/75 frame line then you need to get another mount flange. If your Biogon brings up 28/90 frame line then you are good to go~
My ZM28 has 50/75 flange so I am still thinking if I should code it or not....

 

[Tom Niblick]

Dave,

You can also order the flanges from Zeiss and then send the lenses and flanges to DAG for milling and marking.
DAG charges $75 and Zeiss charges 26 Euros each (if you need to change the flange for one that brings up the proper mount).

Here's DAG's contact info:

dagcam@chorus.net

Here's Zeiss's contact info:

hoenlinger@zeiss.de

Carl Zeiss AG
Geschäftsbereich Photoobjektive / Camera Lens Division
Internationaler Vertrieb / International Sales
Kundensupport / Customer Support

Telefon/Phone: ++49 7364 20 3398
Fax: +49 73 64 20- 40 45
e-mail: hoenlinger@zeiss.de
http: www.zeiss.de/photo

Carl Zeiss AG, Carl-Zeiss-Straße 22, 73447 Oberkochen
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates:Tilman Todenhöfer
Vorstand: Dr. Dieter Kurz (Vorsitzender)
Dr. Hermann Gerlinger, Dr. Michael Kaschke
Sitz der Gesellschaft: 73446 Oberkochen, Deutschland
Amtsgericht Ulm, HRB 501555, USt-IdNr: DE 811 119 940

Tom

 

[Tom Niblick]

By the way Dave, how do you like your Zeiss 28 Biogon?

Tom

 

[gurtch]

By the way Dave, how do you like your Zeiss 28 Biogon?

Tom

Tom: Thanks for the info. I like the ZM very much, but I seldom use it, as I am a wide angle seascape shooter mostly. On my M8 I find myself using the ZM 21mm f2.8, and Leica 24mm ASPH most of the time. When I shoot full frame, I use either the Canon 17~40 f4L and my "walk around" lens the 24~105 f4L. See here:
www.modernpictoriaals.com

Best regards
Dave G
Beach Haven, NJ

 

[xthunder]

Zeiss Support is AWESOME!!!

I've ordered the 28/90 flange and it arrived in 3 days!!!!
I have not received the invoice yet but as far as I understand, I have to pay via wire transfer which sucks because my bank will charge me a huge fee for that

I have sent total four(4) Leica flnages to John Milich for 6-bit milling and as soon as I get them back from John, I am going to send in three(3) more flanges(ZM & Leica) to complete the 6-bit coding

The fun part is removing the existing ZM flanges which I heard from Carl Zeiss that the screws are in with loctite so they need to be heated in order to get removed but I am going to try the "acetone" method and see how it goes...

Thank you.

 

[Sam N]

Very nice photos gurtch. The site is http://www.modernpictorials.com/ (just linking here for people who don't want to manually remove the extra a from the link above).

Whenever I hear about all the trouble one has to go through to get the M8 to recognize lenses, I wonder why they don't just let you use a menu to select the lens. Most people only regularly shoot with a handful of lenses, so it would take seconds to scroll through a short list.

 

[sfokevin]

The fun part is removing the existing ZM flanges which I heard from Carl Zeiss that the screws are in with loctite so they need to be heated in order to get removed but I am going to try the "acetone" method and see how it goes...

Thank you.

The trick is to get the right screw driver (narrow & wide)... Don't try to make due with a narrow one that just fits... Use a steady slow turning pressure until the loctite releases... I never used any acetone but go ahead - just make sure you don't get any on the lens or inside!... As for heating method... Never heard that one... I would not go over 300 degrees in the oven or more than 30 seconds in the microwave... (That WAS a joke!)

 

[bherman]

I absolutely would not heat the lens! This will cause the grease and oils to run, and it's a great way to ruin your lens.

Another method that I have used successfully to remove all kinds of lens flanges is to use the tip of a hot soldering iron right on the head of the screws. This way, you are only applying heat to the screwhead, and not the lens. This has always worked fine for me.

You can pick up a soldering iron at Lowes, Home Depot or the hardware store.

Brad

 

[jaapv]

Thanks; the 21mm is the f2.8 lens.
Dave

To loosen the screws Zeiss recommends heating the lens; I would never do that. One little *little!* drop of acetone and then first tighten slightly more or attempt to do so, and they will unscrew easily.

 

[jim_buchanan]

Question: Why is it popular to change the ZM flange of, say a 21mm biogon 2.8/4.5, to a flange that brings up the 28mm framelines versus one that brings up the widest 24mm framelines on a M8??

 

[Roger Hicks]

Very nice photos gurtch. The site is http://www.modernpictorials.com/ (just linking here for people who don't want to manually remove the extra a from the link above).

Whenever I hear about all the trouble one has to go through to get the M8 to recognize lenses, I wonder why they don't just let you use a menu to select the lens. Most people only regularly shoot with a handful of lenses, so it would take seconds to scroll through a short list.

Dear Sam,

More seconds than you might think, with the M9, because there are multiple lenses at each focal ength. Yes, it's a great feature, but not as quick as you might think/hope.

Cheers,

R.

 

[rxmd]

Question: Why is it popular to change the ZM flange of, say a 21mm biogon 2.8/4.5, to a flange that brings up the 28mm framelines versus one that brings up the widest 24mm framelines on a M8??

Probably because the Leica 21mm lenses all bring up the 28mm framelines, so if you want to get the right focal length in the EXIF data you have to bring up the 28mm framelines as well.